• Job Description

  Req#: 1066

  Children’s Social Care, Service Manager – Fostering & Permanency

  PO9: £66,669 pa rising to £71, 058 pa incl. LW.

  Hybrid working / Permanent

  In Lambeth we put children and their families at the heart of our practice, and practice at the heart of all that we do. Our new Borough Plan has social justice at the centre and a clear vision for improving outcomes for our children and families.

  You will be joining an ambitious, passionate and committed leadership team. We are working at pace to create the conditions for effective social work to flourish and for all our children to receive a good service. We are clear on the challenges we face and have the courage and vision to deliver improvements. Following our inspection in 2022 Ofsted recognised the momentum and investment in Children’s Services. We are now seeking to complete our transformational leadership team at a Service Manager level.

  About the Role:

  Lambeth is looking for a highly motivated and influential Service Manager for our Fostering and Permanency Service to help us achieve our vision of making Lambeth one of the best places in the world for children and young people to grow up. In this role, you will play a key leadership role in the delivery of high-quality social care practice to ensure that these outcomes are realised.

  As the Service Manager for the Fostering and Permanency Service you will manage 5 mixed teams consisting of social workers and advanced practitioners, supporting the recruitment, retention and ongoing support to foster cares, connected and SGO carers and provide post order support to children and their carers.

  The expectation will be that the successful candidate will be accountable for the service, meeting all regulatory requirements and leading in our ambition to become an outstanding provider. We work hard to achieve positive and sustainable changes in children’s lives and support our foster families to a very high standard.

  As the service lead, you will ensure delivery of high quality, inclusive services, responsive to the needs of young people and the wider community, address the safeguarding needs of children and young people, and promote corporate parenting principles across the council.

  About You:

  You will have previously worked with recruitment of foster carers and have a proven track record in managing a such social work teams, work with fostering panels, service development and performance management.

  You will need to be an experienced Service Manager within the area of Fostering and Permanency, with a passion to lead and motivate staff to demonstrate best practice. You will have the ability to manage risk and use of multidisciplinary working with partner agencies is essential.

  You will be an expert in supporting social workers to be the agents of change and to empower and enable them to spend their time doing good quality, meaningful social work, coproduced and tailored around the needs and issues of each family they work with.

  You will need exceptional interpersonal skills, strong data analysis skills to be able to identify issues and address them within your service and be able to successfully develop working relationships with partners to achieve effective and excellent multi-agency working.

  You will need to provide leadership for a designated service portfolio and will work to ensure the service is effective and of the highest quality. The Service Manager will manage all aspects of the service’s work, and hold responsibility for the quality of this work, ensuring performance indicators are met and taking budgetary responsibility.

  You are expected to demonstrate and role model responses and decisions in the best interests of children, young people and families by using ‘role generosity’ when considering service / team / practitioner remits.

  Lambeth promotes Systemic approaches to working with families and communities.
  By embedding systemic values in our innovative ‘Children at the Heart of Practice’ framework, we are inspiring, resourcing and enabling social workers to undertake impactful relationship-based practice.

  Find out more about our approach by clicking here to visit our jobsite.

  Why Lambeth:-

  • Fantastic, modern working environment in the award-winning Lambeth Town Hall and Civic Centre buildings
  • Competitive Salaries
  • Up to 35 days annual leave, dependent upon continuous service
  • 5 Minutes from London Underground and excellent transport links into the centre of London
  • Hybrid/Flexible working
  • Cycle to Work Scheme (including City Bike Hire scheme)
  • Attractive Local Government Pension Scheme

  We are a Stonewall diversity champion; a Living Wage Employer and we guarantee to interview all disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria of the role. Please click here for a full list of our accreditations.

  If you have any queries in relation to this vacancy, please contact Shkelqim Luma on Tel. 0207 926 2558 or Email: Sluma1@lambeth.gov.uk.

  Successful candidates will be asked to apply for an Enhanced Certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Further information about the DBS can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/dbs.

  Please note we operate an anonymised application process. If you are uploading your CV or a personal statement, please remove your personal details and replace these with your unique candidate application number.

  Interested?

  Click the 'Apply' button and complete an online application form explicitly evidencing in the Supporting Statement field how you meet the criteria marked with an ‘A’ at shortlist stage, along with uploading your CV.

  Job Description and Specification

  Closing Date: Monday 20th November 2023 at midnight

  Lambeth aims for quality services and equal opportunities for all and is committed to safer recruitment.
  

• About the company

  Lambeth London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England.

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