Service Manager Independent Reviewing Team

Grade 11-  £64,317 - £71,319 with an additional Market Supplement (MS) of £4,000 subject to final confirmation.

Service Manager - Independent Reviewing Team (Children's) –  (Starting Well) London Borough of Havering

Contract: Permanent

Message from the Director

Are you passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of children, young people, and families? Do you have a strong desire to be part of a transformative journey that will shape the future of Havering’s community? If so, we invite you to join us in our mission to elevate our local authority's Children's Social Care Services, situated within our Starting Well Department.

Following our recent inadequate Ofsted inspection, we are embarking on an improvement journey where we aim to re-establish and reinvigorate great practice across all our services delivered in Havering. As part of this journey, we are seeking dedicated and enthusiastic social care practitioners ready to make a meaningful difference, driven by a genuine desire to advocate for children, promote their well-being, and who are not afraid to take on the challenge of working for a local authority who have been inspected by Ofsted as inadequate.

In return, we want to offer you the opportunity to develop your skills through our dedicated 10 days of learning a year offer and access to our very own Social Care Academy and Systemic offer. We are committed to creating an environment where every child receives the best possible support and care, and all staff are supported to thrive and excel in safe, supported, and nurturing environments.

Our Senior leaders have worked on an improvement plan, and if you are ready to embrace this challenge and play a pivotal role in shaping our journey, we encourage you to apply.

We look forward to welcoming individuals who share our vision and drive.

About the Role

The London Borough of Havering is looking to recruit a Service Manager - Independent Reviewing Team (Children's) to contribute to the delivery of an effective children’s social care service as part of a social work team, improving outcomes for children and young people, and manage caseloads dependent upon experience, grade of post and complexity of cases, utilising specialist knowledge for appropriate interventions, needs and risk assessments, care planning and child protection investigations.

If successful in your application for the role of Service Manager - Independent Reviewing Team (Children's), London Borough of Havering, you will/will be:

• Ensure compliance with the statutory duties for the delivery of child protection (CP), Child in Need (CIN) and Child in Care reviews.
• Provides strategic oversight, support and advice to operational services within the Starting Well Department Children’s social care in line with national guidance.  
• Leads a robust child-focused service that contributes to keeping children in Havering safe and achieves improved outcomes by promoting high standards of practice in planning and reviewing arrangements for the protection and care of children. 
•  Implements, delivers and monitors practice under the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) providing challenge and embedding practice improvements to ensure positive outcomes. This will include undertaking audits as necessary. 
• Ensures compliance with relevant management information requirements for all national and local performance indicators and to establish plans to improve performance where required. This will include tracking team performance, weekly performance data and analysis for the Senior Management Team as delegated by the Head of Service for Practice or other senior leaders as required. 

As one of the greenest boroughs in London, resourcefulness is in our nature. We don’t wait to be told, we take the initiative. We face the future head-on, embracing new challenges with open minds and fresh ideas. There’s lots of opportunities to progress here, and if you seize them we’ll support you all the way. Choose Havering and see the difference you’ll make to the people that live, work and learn here.

From caring for those who need it most, to ensuring our highways and streets are safe, providing a roof over the heads of our residents, providing excellent customer service or, enhancing our digital services for staff and residents, there are so many ways you can make a positive influence here. And, whether you’re outdoorsy, people-focused or analytical, we have a role that’s right for you.

Please view Job profile here

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Charmaine.Malcolm@havering.gov.uk 

The closing date for the receipt of applications is 8th June 2025 at 17:00, however interest in this job may be high and we therefore reserve the right to close the vacancy early.

You will be notified if your application has been successful.  Interview dates to be confirmed

Additional Information

We want everyone to choose Havering. When you apply for a job with us, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. Our residents and service users come from all walks of life, and so do our employees. 

The London Borough of Havering has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Please attach your supporting statement, explaining in no more than x2 A4 sides why and how you meet the criteria for this role.

We practice anonymised recruitment. Please ensure that you remove all personal information from any documents that you upload.