This is an exiting opportunity to join a newly established team within Durham supporting young people in care preparing them for independence. The Next Steps Team in Durham is looking for a team manager who has experience of working with young people aged 16 and 17 preparing them for being a Care Leaver. We seek a manager who is enthusiastic about setting aspirational goals alongside young people and supporting them to achieve these goals. The manager would need an understanding of the needs of this age group including how to work alongside other agencies to safety plan. The work the children looked after and care leaver service do with young people is recognised by OFSTED in 2025 as outstanding. WHAT IS INVOLVED? The next Steps Team is a new team in Durham which sits within the Children Looked After Service but works closely with the Care Leavers Service. There are strong links with the ASET Team who work with young people where there is harm outside of the home. The focus of the team is to support young people to plan for being a care leaver, this includes supporting them into their own homes, ensuring there is training, employment or education in place and developing networks so that young people feel emotionally well. The team includes both social workers and staying close workers and is supported by an emotional wellbeing worker and a peer mentor coordinator. The team manager will be responsible alongside the service manager for further developing the team and supervising social workers. The team manager has a consultant social worker who works alongside them to provide oversight of performance and support to the team. The team manager will be expected to work proactively with other professionals and services to provide the best possible support for young people. A Super Hub is in development and the team manager will be part of developing this Hub and promoting participation with young people to inform team development. For further information and a discussion about the role contact Lesley.baldry2@durham.gov.uk Service Manager WHAT WILL I NEED? You will need management experience and be able to have robust oversight of performance and provide high quality supervision. You would need to have the skills to communicate well and work alongside a wide range of professionals. A knowledge of the needs of this age group and ability to safety plan alongside them when needed. Ensuring young people are fully involved in their Pathway Planning is a priority of this team therefore the ability to evidence being able to engage this age group and actively promote participation is required. Please refer to the attached person specification for the full criteria. If successful, you will be required to undertake and pass an in-house driving assessment as part of our pre-employment checks before any offer of appointment can be confirmed. If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure. REWARDS AND BENEFITS We offer generous rewards and benefits that are designed to help you perform at your best: Competitive salaries and 27 days holiday per year rising to 32 days after five years continuous local government service. Option to purchase up to 10 additional days annual leave per year. Excellent work/life balance through schemes including job sharing, compressed hours and flexi-time (allowing up to 13 flexi days per year). Hybrid working (home and office working). Excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). Plus, top up options - Salary Sacrifice Shared Cost AVC scheme and standard AVC scheme for members of the LGPS. Wellbeing Portal and access to an Employee Assist Scheme. Wide range of learning and development opportunities including professional qualifications, coaching and mentoring. Employee Benefits Portal and Lifestyle Savings Scheme (discounts across a host of major retailers). Discounted DCC gym membership. Staff networks run by staff for our staff, including Race Equality and Diversity, Disability, LGBT, Armed Forces, Carers, Menopause. Trade Union membership. A range of other salary sacrifice schemes such as car leasing. Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. Take a closer look: Rewards and Benefits SOCIAL MEDIA Don’t see the perfect role for you right now? Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates on new opportunities at Durham County Council! Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook HYBRID WORKING Durham County Council currently operates a hybrid working policy where a model of 2 days in the workplace and 3 days at home/remote will apply. This model is pro-rated for part time roles and arrangements are at managers discretion, alternatively you can work all of your contracted hours within the workplace if you prefer. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise that a diverse, talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services. We are committed to ensuring that our employment policies and processes are fair and equitable to all. We welcome job applications from everyone, and successful candidates are considered only on their skills and ability to do the job. As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and provide support throughout the recruitment process. Take a closer look: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion INTERVIEWS Interviews will be held on 14th October 2025. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran. HOW TO APPLY In line with the County Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy, please note that we are unable to accept CVs. Applications must be submitted on-line via the Northeast Jobs portal. Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed. If you have any support needs or require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27 (option 2), or the Recruitment Team via email at RecruitmentCYPS@durham.gov.uk REMOVAL AND LODGINGS Removal, lodging and separation expenses may be available to the successful candidate if at the time of application for appointment their place of residence is outside the administrative area of County Durham and more than 30 miles in a straight line from their new administrative centre, along with several other criteria for eligibility. We collect personal information from you when you register with North East Jobs and make an application. Details on how we process your personal data is available in our Privacy Notice. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION FOR THIS POST WILL BE SENT TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOU HAVE REGISTERED WITH NORTH EAST JOBS, INCLUDING YOUR INVITE TO INTERVIEW IF YOU ARE SHORTLISTED. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL AFTER THE CLOSING DATE FOR NOTIFICATION FROM DONOTREPLY@NORTHEASTJOBS.ORG.UK AS YOU WILL NOT BE NOTIFIED BY ANY OTHER MEANS. PLEASE ENSURE YOU CHECK YOUR JUNK MAIL. VPRS/161