Team Manager (Referral and Assessment)

You will be expected to have a good breadth of experience working with children and young people and supervising staff. You will be responsible for assisting with recruitment, retention, and for supporting the ongoing learning and development of those within the team.   

 You will also contribute to the strategic oversight and development of the service. This will involve making contributions and giving feedback to the team manager on performance as well as promoting and implementing any agreed service or strategic improvement plans. 

You will have a proficient ability to communicate in English and be able to influence others in an effort to help coordinate services and supports in the best way possible to keep children as safe and well cared for as possible. You will have experience in making decisions about legal planning meetings and supporting practitioners with the court process, especially where care proceedings are necessary.

You will have experience in making decisions about legal planning meetings and supporting practitioners with the court process, especially where care proceedings are necessary. Do you think you have what it takes to join our team of excellent, creative and dedicated social work professionals?

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.

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)

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.

Our Approach to Children’s Social Care in Bexley

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. 

Our offer:

• 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