Service Manager - Children Looked After - CSRA £71,643 - £78,475

Essential Requirements

Qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England

Service Manager experience in managing services for children looked after through to permanence.

Experienced in leading and managing performance of team managers, ensuring the cases are allocated effectively in terms of skills and experience suited to the complexity of the case. 

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

Demonstrable commitment to anti-racist practice.  

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 use performance information to drive improvement for children and young people.

Able to produce high quality, analytical and evidence-based reports.

Able to manage, plan and control delegated budgets.

Experience of developing high quality services within a statutory setting, with a particular focus on contextualised safeguarding.

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

Able to work outside of normal office hours when required and to be part of the senior manager out-of-hours rota.

Home to 94,000 children, Croydon is a truly unique place to practice social work. We are a borough with big ambition, grit, and determination. Children's social care was judged ‘good’ in our last Ofsted inspection.

Our systemic practice framework places emphasis on relationships as key to supporting change for families. We make sense of the world through relationships, focusing on the whole family system and thinking about our own part in that too – what we bring, our own family stories and beliefs, how we use ourselves in the work that we do. Our practice model is all about collaboration - with our families, networks and partners; being open to challenge and ensuring our practitioners are highly trained in a variety of intervention approaches.  Our established clinical service will support you to grow your own systemic practice within the service, providing accredited training, co-working and direct work with families.   

Benefits of working with Croydon

• You will be valued for your skills and expertise, supported by the team of experienced professionals, as well as the management at Croydon Council, one of the largest employers in the borough. We also offer:
• Highly competitive compensation package
• Accredited Systemic Practice training
• A range of CPD opportunities
• 29-31 days (grade equivalent) annual leave in addition to Bank Holidays and option to purchase more
• A pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 20%
• Continuing Professional Development – genuine opportunities to grow, develop and specialise in your career
• Management development programmes
• Investment into your wellbeing
• Access to Employee Discount scheme with a range of programmes (Cycle Benefit Scheme, GymFlex, Retail Discounts and more)
• We promote flexible & hybrid working arrangements where possible to support a healthy work-life balance

What makes Croydon special is our people – both within the council and throughout the borough.

• Choosing to practice social work in Croydon will give you opportunity to develop, grow, thrive, and strive; it is not just a job but a career. Here are some of the reasons our colleagues like working at Croydon:
• Our team consists of experienced, dedicated practitioners
• We meet regularly to make sure everyone we work with has the support and knowledge needed to make a difference and be the difference to our families, communities and colleagues
• At Croydon relationships matter and we are about strong partnerships and working together to make lasting positive change
• We are an established team who can help you settle in and offer their expertise
• You will have the support of an extremely knowledgeable understanding manager
• You will have access to a busy, buzzy, committed workforce and work environment Opportunities to work from home and work flexibly provides you with more work-life balance
• Opportunities to think together with your manager about career development
• Support to help you grow, develop, learn and lead

For an informal chat about working in Croydon, contact Agata Stolowska at agata.stolowska@croydon.gov.uk