Service Manager – Children’s Residential Care
Permanent, Full Time
£69,241 to £78,950 per annum
Location: Countywide
Working Style: Fixed‑base worker
On‑call responsibilities will be required. An 8% on‑call allowance will be paid in addition to the salary.
Children and Families is recognised as a service where social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion. The role supports the development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families, protecting them from neglect and abuse.
Service Managers are accountable for performance and delivery of a lead service area. They must possess extensive social care experience, understand current issues, and ensure innovative use of resources to improve productivity and quality outcomes. They contribute to the development of policy and strategy, build strong partnerships with internal and external partners, and drive service improvements.
This specialist role focuses on children in care placement services – specifically the delivery, commissioning and quality assurance of children’s residential care.
Accountabilities
* Develop local approaches with partners and agencies for effective service delivery.
* Promote new ways of working in complex environments.
* Implement Children & Families’ vision to support early life success.
* Work with external partners to innovate and maximise opportunities.
* Ensure adherence to regulations and maintain links with governance bodies.
* Deliver services within budget, highlighting risks and contract issues.
* Lead on continuity and health and safety, updating plans and policies.
* Collaborate to ensure quality, cost‑effective solutions.
* Define and achieve annual targets and objectives.
The Experience You Will Bring
* Recognised social work qualification (Diploma, degree, Master’s, CQSW, CSS) with Social Work England registration (SWE).
* Ongoing professional development aligned with competency frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.
* Collaborative work with internal and external partners, demonstrating broad thinking across social care and the wider system.
* Significant social care experience with an understanding of current issues and local delivery implications.
* Strong leadership and behavioural skills to build a high‑performing, motivated team.
* Experience managing change in rapidly evolving, ambiguous environments with conflicting priorities.
* Proven influencing skills to lead and deliver cultural change for service quality improvement.
* Experience working and/or managing within the children’s residential care sector.
The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area, including travelling around Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and being able to do so in an emergency. A driving licence and a car, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements through other means, is essential.
We are a Disability Confident Employer. We will interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements of the role. We also interview all veterans and care leavers who meet the minimum requirements.
Where the role requires a DBS check, you will be required to register with the DBS update service.
You will receive employee benefits including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements.
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