Essex County Council
Team Manager – Children in Care, South Essex
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
About The Role
Team Manager - Children in Care, South Essex
Permanent, Full Time
£55,892 to £69,241 per annum
Location: Basildon
Working Style: Anywhere worker
Closing Date: 23rd August 2026
Interviews: Scheduled to be held 1st September 2026
Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.
Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us having received our 2nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.
The Role
Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.
The Team Manager leads the team, developing and promoting capabilities and holding them accountable for performance and delivering improvements. Working with the Service Manager, contributing to the development of strategy and ensuring a service which adapts responsively to change.
With proven ability to focus on results, develop innovative solutions and build strong working relationships, this leader will possess a deep understanding of working in a challenging social and financial environment.
Children in Care (CIC)
Our Children in Care teams work with children and young people up to the age of 18 who are in care – those who are either placed with foster carers or who live in residential homes. They work with the children and young people to ensure their experiences.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
The Role
- Lead a team of social workers to deliver a high-quality professional service with positive outcomes.
- Accountable for individual performance, quality assurance, resources and budgets.
- Accountable for the practice of social workers within the team, providing professional and practice supervision, using available tools to address underperformance and coaching to enhance the quality of the practice.
- Responsible for development of individuals to maximise the capability and performance across the team.
- Responsible for the oversight and quality assurance of a range of social work reports and court statements.
- Responsible for responding to complaints and other feedback from service users in accordance with policy and in a way that fosters positive relationships.
- Lead inter-agency collaborative working, where a social work perspective is used to inform and drive decision making. Establishing and developing effective approaches to integrated working with partners, communities and the voluntary sector, to achieve successful outcomes for service users.
- Develop the training and tactical service delivery plan for the team.
- Use expertise and professional knowledge to provide advice and guidance for complex cases in line with legislative and organisational standards.
- Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
The Experience You Will Bring
- A recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or master’s in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.
- Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.
- Significant experience within a Social Care setting with evidence of challenging social and family situations.
- Experience of supervision of Social Work students and/or newly qualified Social Workers, possessing strong leadership and behavioural skills, with the ability to forge a highly performing and motivated team from diverse backgrounds, to deliver local objectives and work to required professional standards.
- Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies and the local community to achieve joint objectives and offer a supportive framework for children and their families.
- Recognise the financial implications of care packages commissioned.
- Evidence of clear decision making in order to highlight and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.
- Knowledge of relevant legislation and experience of legal processes including care proceedings.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
To read more about our business area, please visit: [Children & Families](Children & Families)
Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video
Why Essex?
As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills