Assistant Team Manager – Children with Disabilities - Swindon Council Salary: £275 Per Day Hours: 37 Hours Working Schedule: Monday to Friday Contract Length: 4 Month Contract Location: Civic Campus Swindon, SN1 2JG Job Details This role is responsible for leading and improving services for children, young people, and families through high-quality social work practice and effective partnership working. The post holder will manage and support a team of social workers and related staff to provide statutory services in line with relevant legislation, Council policies, and agreed budgets. You will champion social work values, ensuring interventions prioritise safeguarding while supporting children to remain safely within their family or extended networks where possible. The role includes operational leadership, supervision, quality assurance oversight, and ensuring timely and effective service delivery. Working closely with the Team Manager, you will help set priorities, promote quality, support co-production, and ensure the voice of children, young people, and families informs service development and practice. Key Accountabilities Lead, manage, and motivate a professional team to deliver high-quality safeguarding and support services. Recruit, develop, and support staff to meet changing service needs and make sound decisions in children’s cases. Allocate workload and resources effectively within budget and support team managers in budget delivery. Ensure accurate recording, assessment, analysis, decision-making, and care planning on case management systems. Support implementation of the Quality Assurance Framework and ensure continuous practice improvement. Ensure compliance with statutory timescales and performance measures. Oversee effective risk management, safeguarding practice, and planning for vulnerable children and families. Provide reflective, challenging, evidence-based supervision and encourage professional curiosity. Build strong multi-agency partnerships, supporting collaborative safeguarding responses. Apply confident decision-making based on childcare legislation and guidance. Address resistant behaviours in families and escalate safeguarding concerns where necessary. Maintain high-quality supervision, appraisal, communication, and performance management processes. Support prioritisation and risk mitigation during high service demand. Promote inclusion, diversity, and respectful practice across the team. Maintain high standards in line with Council values, health and safety legislation, and professional requirements. Carry out additional duties and support other service areas as required, including deputising for the Team Manager. Knowledge & Experience Required Experience in social work management and leadership within a frontline setting. Post-qualification social work experience. Experience in recruitment, line management, performance oversight, and operational responsibility. Strong understanding of relevant legislation and ability to stay up to date with reforms. Strong digital capability and ability to analyse data to improve practice and performance. Ability to prioritise workload and work flexibly under pressure. Excellent interpersonal, listening, coaching, and communication skills. Qualifications Degree or Diploma in Social Work (Essential) Postgraduate qualification in relevant practice area (Essential) Registered with Social Work England (Essential) Leadership or management qualification (Preferred) Coaching qualification or working toward one (Preferred) Enhanced DBS required Decision-Making Responsibilities Decision-making aligned to statutory delegation, safeguarding thresholds, and service priorities. Oversight of team delivery against statutory duties and corporate policies. Responsibility for devolved budget monitoring and reporting concerns to the Team Manager. Creativity and Innovation Ability to apply knowledge, judgement, and creativity to support children and families in crisis and safeguard their welfare. Scope Line management responsibility for: Newly Qualified to Senior Social Workers Social Care Workers Staff hosted from partner agencies Working Relationships Communicating across agencies, services, and organisational levels. Representing the service in external meetings and multi-agency forums. Chairing safeguarding and risk-related meetings where required. Deputising for the Team Manager