About Us
We are committed to improving our services for the children and families we support in West Sussex. In May 2023 Ofsted Inspectors praised West Sussex County Council's Children’s Services for its 'relentless approach to improving practice,' giving the service an overall rating of 'requires improvement', with 'good' judgements for children in care and leadership and management. The judgements on children needing help and protection and children leaving care are they 'require improvement to be good'.
Inspectors recognised the 'strong, determined and cohesive leadership team' who have made significant improvements since 2019 and their commitment and focus to make further improvements.
About the Job
Salary: £55,057 to £58,829 (plus 10% MRS)
Working Pattern: Full Time (37 hours)
Contract Length: Fixed term until 28/02/2027
Location: Bognor Regis with some hybrid working
Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you therefore discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.
We're seeking a dedicated and experienced Team Manager to join our Children With Disabilities team based in Bognor Regis (temporary location at County Hall, Chichester).
Working within the Children With Disabilities team, you will offer a specialist social work service for disabled children and young people with complex needs. You will work with them, their families and other agencies to understand and meet their assessed needs; supporting them to achieve their potential. You will understand the impact of disability on children' lives. You will be able to work in partnership with disabled children and their families as well as other key stakeholders.
As a team manager, you will be directly responsible for supervising and supporting social workers and child and family workers, alongside support to the adult specialist workers who also receive clinical supervision from their own discipline. You will be responsible for performance management and quality assurance within the team, ensuring that the team contributes to the Directorate's priorities and maintains good outcomes for children.
You will develop and maintain strong working relationships with colleagues across WSCC, partner agencies and the voluntary and profit‑making sectors in order to improve outcomes for individual children and young people. You will contribute to the development and shape of future team or group service provision and inform the work of the organisation and that of other service providers, supporting and managing change as needed within their area of responsibility. You will contribute to and support the development of practice, policies and procedures within the operational team.
Experience and Skills
Key Skills (used for shortlisting):
* Ability to make sound pragmatic problem‑solving decisions, which will have a wider service impact. The ability to provide comprehensive professional advice and support within the service specialism, including tackling difficult problems of a technical, professional, resource or people related nature.
* Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate information which may be complex and contentious. This will include the ability to develop effective long‑term relationships both with other teams across WSCC and external partners enabling the achievement of high‑quality outcomes.
* Effective people and performance management skills and the ability to provide direction and motivate and inspire the team to deliver quality professional practice. You will use data to identify and address performance challenges, manage throughput of work, and manage team performance. The ability to use supervision, appraisal and data to have reflective and crucial conversations with staff to identify performance and improve practice.
* Able to manage self, is self‑aware and understands impact of work on self and others and responds constructively to situations. Understands the need for emotional intelligence/resilience, specifically in relation to risk, ensuring that there is a positive balance between perceived risk and protection from harm where necessary. Ability to respond calmly and appropriately to situations where others are in a stressful or anxious situation.
* Able to reflect on practice and learn from experience and feedback, taking responsibility for own performance and being proactive in relation to own work and professional development. Ability to challenge existing practices and identify innovative solutions within the required framework. Further to that the ability to interpret and manage political influences on social work practice and to work with peers and managers to address potential impactsli>
Qualifications and experience:
* A recognised Social Work qualification e.g., Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
* A recognised post qualifying award in Social Work or demonstrable evidence of continuous professional development at a similar level.
* Registration with the relevant professional registration body and maintaining registration with that body.
* Demonstrable experience of delivering or co‑ordinating a quality customer focused service to others.
* Experience in dealing with significant issues, for example management of complex child protection matters, staff under performance, managing resources to address team performance priorities through allocation of limited resources.
* Experience of managing/leading staff.
* Expert relevant experience in specialist area, including sound relevant operational experience in social work, ideally working as a senior practitioner or small team leader/supervisor.
* Experience of managing a small budget and/or contributing to financially related decisions on larger spends, how cost‑effective decisions are made and operating within the financial constraints.
* Experience of supporting initiatives in a political environment.
* Demonstrable knowledge of how to improve practice and performance in a supportive, positive way
* You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work‑life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.
In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:
* A competitive salary
* A generous pension scheme
* Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
* Flexible working
* A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 (Including: Argos, Samsung, Asos, B&Q and many more)
* Free access to employee assistance programmes
* Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
* A range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives
For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further Information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE06052.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Julie Cooper at for issues or queries regarding your application please contact .
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and cover letter. In your cover letter outline your motivations for applying and explain how you meet the key skills listed in full and the experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to SWE Registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.
West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.
For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.
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