In Bexley, we are highly ambitious to continue to improve outcomes for our children and young people in our care. Wherever possible we support young people to return home to their family and securing permanence for young people is central to the work we do. As such you will work closely with our adoption and fostering teams. We have an active Signs of Safety Implementation group, and we will support and encourage you to work creatively in order to secure positive outcomes for young people. We are passionate about the work we do and if you want excellent support and supervision and if you care as much as we do about supporting the aspirations of children and young people in our care in Bexley then this is the service for you.
The service manager will be responsible for supervising, leading, and supporting team managers within the Children in Care and Permanence Service. This is an exciting role that requires a leader with ambition, creativity and proven experience leading Children’s Services and opportunity for a passionate Social Worker Manager to work with children and young people in our care.
This service has 3 teams with responsibility for all children in care, care proceedings and young people who we are helping prepare to leave our care or move into our dedicated Leaving Care Service. The role also includes having responsibility for the contact service and managing our Systemic Practitioners.
Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information.
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Tamsyn Basson, Deputy Director of Children’s Services, Telephone: 0203 0454630; Email : Tamsyn.Basson@bexley.gov.uk.
You will have managed operational teams within children’s social care and have a genuine commitment to the provision of high quality services for children and young people in our care. In line with our Signs of Safety practice model, it is highly desirable if you will have previous training and/or experience working with a solution focused approach as you will be expected to promote this within the service.
Due to the nature of the work, you will often be dealing with a variety of complex, risky, and diverse issues when supporting and safeguarding the young people and young adults we work with. This requires you to have extensive knowledge and experience with professional standards for social work as well as the laws, statutory guidance, and local policies and procedures and to ensure these are being modelled and adhered to across the service.
You will help implement the strategic oversight and development of the Children in Care and Permanence Service – working with children and young people in our care, young adults leaving care, staff and stakeholders.
For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact recruitment@bexley.gov.uk
This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Bexley is well connected, there are good transport links to central London, the Kent countryside and the Coast! It is the best of both worlds. Our residents and workers can benefit from the new high-speed Elizabeth Line which goes from Abbey Wood, here in Bexley and all the way to Reading, Southeast England.
We are a diverse and growing borough. By 2030 our population will be over 260,000 and almost 300,000 by 2050. Almost 25% of our population is Black and Asian Multi-Ethnic. Bexley is one of London’s greenest boroughs and has recently been awarded Public Sector Campaign of the year by Sustainable City’s prestigious annual awards.
We believe that everyone in Bexley Children’s Social Care should have the opportunity to grow and develop, in every role and at every stage of their career and offer a wide variety of social work roles, both for qualified and unqualified practitioners. Bexley Children’s Social Care offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in different areas of Children’s Services: we offer a comprehensive range of professional development opportunities and are committed to ensuring that Bexley is a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.
The children and families we work with, are always kept at the centre of our practice. We believe:
children should stay with their families whenever it’s in their best interests and safe to do so
where it’s not, we must act quickly through the courts to help children find a safe space
success depends on positive, respectful relationships with families and with each other
working with families is unpredictable, so we have to create a supportive environment for our teams
the most effective practice is based on ‘showing your working out’ – so that even when things don’t go to plan, the thinking behind decisions is clear and defensible
Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career.
We offer excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes.
flexible working - including opportunities for hybrid working, job sharing, compressed hours, and career breaks
a comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision for colleagues in all roles and at every stage of their career
clear career progression pathways, within a nurturing environment, which allows social work to flourish. From opportunities to undertake social work qualification; our dedicated ASYE Academy; to our Leadership Academy offering bespoke development for our aspiring and existing leaders. There are also opportunities for practitioners to be involved in university research & academic delivery with our partner universities and students.
family leave - includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave
mental health and physical wellbeing - including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, help to quit smoking, access to private healthcare, free eye tests and discounted leisure offers
financial wellbeing - excellent pension scheme, charitable giving options
generous annual leave - 25 to 33 days, with the option to purchase extra leave plus an extra bank holiday at Christmas
competitive pay - performance assessments with the opportunity for salary increments and transparent salary scales
transport offers - cycle to work scheme, carpooling, subsidised parking and interest-free season ticket loans
recognition - Thank you messaging to celebrate staff success and sharing of compliments received
professional and personal development - training and workshops to help you thrive and a discount on most Learning and Enterprise College Bexley courses
staff support networks - our networks support and encourage networking between staff with various events throughout the year
employee volunteering - get out of the office and help a local project blossom
MyChoice benefit scheme - your pick of perks from vouchers to car leasing
local authority discount scheme - attraction and theme park discounts and local offers in partnership with KAARP .
We work together in a modern, well-equipped, energising environment that supports team working and collaboration across the service and with partners