Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)
Service Manager
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Service Manager - Private Law / WAFH Teams
We are recruiting for the role of Service Manager in our Private Law / WAFH Teams covering the London area.
We trust and empower colleagues to work in a hybrid way, providing the resources, equipment, and support, so that individually and collectively, we can be the voice of children and young people when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures.
While these roles are contractually based in either our Gray’s Inn Road office or Croydon office, we support flexible working which means your proximity to the office doesn’t need to be a deciding factor, however, there will be a requirement to travel frequently for this role including regular attendance at the office
We are a diverse, inclusive organisation that is a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience, which helps ensure we provide a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds. We especially welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.
We provide extensive wellbeing support for colleagues, as well as excellent benefits, all of which we hope encourages you to join us.
About the Role
Being a Service Manager is very rewarding but as you would expect, challenging too. As well as being registered with Social Work England, you’ll be organised, resilient, empathetic, supportive and able to work independently.
In Private Law, Family Court Advisers are involved where families require the assistance of the court to agree on the best child arrangements for the child(ren) involved. Family Court Advisers are typically involved with children for a period of assessment for the court, undertaking direct work with children, gaining their views and wishes and representing these to the court via written reports and giving evidence and advocating for arrangements that are in their best interests. This will draw on robust risk assessment and mediation skills.
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What We’re Looking For
We also think you for you to succeed and truly make a difference you should be someone who has;
- Expert knowledge of children’s social work, including safeguarding, statutory and assessment frameworks
- A track record of highly effective practice management or supervisory experience
- Demonstrable experience of being a practice educator with the skills to continuously monitor, manage, develop and improve team and individual performance
- Proven ability to establish strong and effective networks with other agencies.
- Experience of leading individuals and teams through change
Next steps / timelines
If and when you are ready to apply, our application process is straightforward and quick to complete. You don’t need to complete your application in a single visit, you can start it and come back and amend your responses / update your CV, just make sure you come back before the closing date to submit.
Closing Date
25th August 2026
Initial Interview
We'll offer dates / times as close to when you apply as we can
Final Interview
Following your telephone interview, we aim to offer interview dates and times shortly afterwards.
We understand that starting a new role is a big decision, and you may require further information before applying. You can find out more about the role in the Job Description and there is a wealth of information about Cafcass on our Cafcass Careers page.
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If you wish to speak with a member of the team for more specific information you can contact Upekha Welivita - Upekha.Welivita@Cafcass.gov.uk from our HR Resourcing team, providing your contact information and best times / methods to get hold of you. If your queries in relation to the role, you can contact Louise Jones Head of Practice - Louise.Jones@cafcass.gov.uk.
Whilst we will always try and respond a.s.a.p. we wouldn’t want you to miss the closing date before we are able to. If this is the case, we recommend you apply and as part of your application you can ask questions, and this may allow us to contact you and provide you with the required information that will help you decide if you still wish to be considered.
Finally, in anticipation of your application being successful, you might want to read about the offer and pre-employment checks process. As part of your application you can highlight any concerns or questions about the pre-employment checks and we encourage all applicants to do so, safe in the knowledge such information will not be shared with individuals involved in the selection process.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Please be advised successful applicants will be subject to a range of pre-engagement checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). In accordance with the DBS code of practice and our own policy, should an individual have a declared criminal offence an individual assessment will be completed. Further information on what the assessment covers can be found by viewing the Cafcass DBS policy.
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