South Gloucestershire Council
Service Manager – Family Help and Social Care (Patchway Hub)
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How you'll make a difference
South Gloucestershire’s children’s social care service is rated Good by Ofsted, and our senior leaders are central to how we maintain that strong foundation while continuing to improve. As a Service Manager, you will provide visible, confident and values-led leadership across your service area, creating the conditions for managers and practitioners to deliver consistently strong, child-centred practice.
You will use performance insight, quality assurance and partnership working to shape services that are responsive, well-coordinated and focused on improving outcomes. By setting clear direction, supporting managers to lead with confidence and driving a culture of learning and continuous improvement, you will help us strengthen practice and continue progressing as a Good local authority with ambition for every child, young person and family we support.
As a Service Manager within Family Help and Social Care, you will provide strategic direction and senior operational leadership for a key service area, helping ensure children are protected from significant harm, families receive the right support at the right time, and children in care and care leavers experience high-quality, child-centred services.
What you will be doing
This is an opportunity to take on a highly visible senior leadership role where your judgement, influence and commitment to excellent practice will make a real difference. You will lead a key service area within Family Help and Social Care, supporting Team Managers and staff to deliver safe, effective and child-centred services while helping shape the next stage of improvement across South Gloucestershire.
You will lead through managers, set clear priorities and create the conditions for confident, consistent practice. Using performance, quality, financial and workforce insight, you will help services respond well to demand, prepare for inspection activity, manage resources effectively and continue improving outcomes for children, young people and families.
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As a Service Manager at South Gloucestershire Council, you will:
- Provide senior leadership across a key Family Help and Social Care service area, setting clear direction and supporting effective service delivery.
- Lead through managers, developing confident practice, workforce capability and a culture of learning and improvement.
- Use performance, quality, finance and workforce information to respond to complex challenges, work with partners and drive continuous improvement.
What we need from you
- A recognised professional social work qualification, with Social Work England registration.
- Extensive post-qualification experience, including managing social workers and managers within children’s safeguarding, Family Help and Social Care services.
- Strong knowledge of statutory responsibilities, safeguarding, national policy and the legal framework for children and families.
- Proven ability to manage performance, budgets, resources and change, using strong leadership, communication and judgement to drive safe, child-centred improvement.
- You will need to operate with confidence in a complex political, partnership and statutory environment, bringing sound professional judgement, emotional intelligence and clear leadership to decisions that shape services and improve outcomes for children and families.
What you need to know
- Although this post is advertised as a full-time position, we encourage and welcome applications from experienced leaders who may be seeking flexible working arrangements.
- Please note that due to the nature of this role, it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained.
- You will be expected to travel throughout the authority and surrounding area, so you must have a full, valid driving licence with regular access to a vehicle insured for business use or have an alternative suitable means of travel.
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How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different
As part of our benefits package, you will receive generous annual leave (pro rata), employee wellbeing support and you will have access to a range of staff discounts, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities.
We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.
We invest in the careers of our people, and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps our people make the greatest long-term difference in their work.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.
Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.
We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of.
We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.
We’re making a difference, be part of it!
To view the full job description, please refer to the Service Manager – Family Help and Social Care role profile.
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