Our Fostering Service in Croydon is going from strength to strength, and we are proud of the support we offer to our foster carers and kinship carers. We are focused on giving children the very best opportunities to thrive where they are not able to remain at home.

The service is made up of a dynamic and creative Recruitment Team, 3 dedicated Support & Supervision Teams and two teams focused on kinship care – Family & Friends Assessment and Family & Friends Support (post-order). In addition, we have recently moved our Private Fostering work into this space to give us a strong focus on all arrangements of care for children away from home. We are determined to provide Croydon children with strong connections to their families and communities where safety allows, and to enable families to care for their children with the support they need to build a safe and caring home to see those children to adulthood and beyond.

If you are ready to lead a Fostering Service that is determined to do more and better, this may be an opportunity for you.

Working with the Head of Service, the Fostering Service Manager will take the lead on the full range of professional functions of the service. You will have line management responsibility for our skilled and hard-working Team Managers and together you will continue to build on our current initiatives – for example, the development of our Fostering Hub model - and create more opportunities to improve the experiences of our carers and the children they look after.

The Fostering Service Manager position is a full-time, permanent position. You will need to have demonstrable experience of fostering and kinship care as well as solid experience in safeguarding practice. You will need to be committed and have the drive to match ours.

Your responsibilities as the Fostering Service Manager include but are not limited to:

· Managing, leading and developing the service

· Effective management of performance and targets

· Identifying staff learning and development needs

· Continuously reviewing and growing services to make them outstanding

Benefits of Working with Us

· Highly competitive salary plus retention payment of £1,500

· A pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 20%

· 31 days’ annual leave in addition to Bank Holidays

A range of CPD opportunities to support your development
Accredited Systemic Supervision training
Manageable team caseloads
Investment into your staff well-being
Regular supervision, and access to a clinical therapist to support your work
Our Edge of Care Service works alongside social work teams

Why Join Us

· Our teams consist of experienced Social Workers

· You will be joining a highly diverse workforce

· Reflective supervision is actively promoted and supported

· The ethos at Croydon is very much about working together to make positive change

· Caseloads are manageable enabling managers to know carers and children well and ensure high standards of practice

· You will join an established management team who can help you settle in and share their expertise

· The council promotes a hybrid working where the role allows

Requirements

· Qualified and registered Social Worker who is Social Work England registered

· Experienced in making assessments, implementing plans and delivering interventions in the relevant service area of the child’s journey

· A clear commitment to services working in partnership with families and creating positive change in young people’s lives

· Demonstrable experience of leading and managing statutory interventions that are relevant to this service area and role (including high risk and high complexity work), and that deliver high quality performance and good outcomes for children and young people

· Able to lead, think, plan and manage strategically and systemically, as well as operationally.

· Able to manage, plan and control delegated budgets

· Experience of developing high quality services within a statutory setting, with a particular focus on fostering and kinship care

· Experience of developing a highly motivated, high achieving and stable work force with a positive, “can-do”, customer-centred culture.

Grade / Salary: CSRA £68,967 - £75,544 + £1,500 retention payment

Hours of work: 36 per week / Monday – Friday

Contract type: Permanent

Click here to view the role profile

Recruitment and Selection Timeline

The closing date for applications is 23:59 on 26th November 2023

Shortlisting will take place 27th November 2023

Interviews will take place in person week commencing 4th December 2023

Disclaimer

Croydon Council is an inclusive employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Subject to business needs, we will be pleased to consider applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements and support hybrid working, whereby staff attend the workplace for part of their working week and work from home, or elsewhere, remotely for the rest of the time.

Croydon council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. The Successful candidate will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check which allows them to work with children.

Additional Information

Service Manager – Fostering & Kinship Care CSRA (£68,967 -£75,544)

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