Team Manager - Life Chances

We are looking for an experienced Team Manager from within Children's Social Care, or aspiring Assistant Team Managers with management and supervisory experience, to join our Life Chances service to make a difference to the lives of children and young people.

You will have Social Work England registration with significant post qualifying experience working with children and families in the statutory sector.

Deputising for the Head of Service when required as well as working alongside them to deliver our vision and strategic values, you will have direct responsibility for a range of staff including Assistant Team Managers; Social Workers, including newly qualified Social Workers; students and support staff. Working closely with Assistant Team Managers, you will drive performance, ensuring the right plans are in place so that services and interventions are provided for children and families.

Working effectively as part of a management team, you will have strong assessment and analytical skills with a well-developed understanding of assessment, planning and intervention.

About the team…

At Bracknell Forest Council we take our corporate parenting responsibility seriously and you will be the lead for the Children Looked After team and Care Leaving team.

The Children Looked After team and Care Leaving team are stable and established teams of Social Workers and Personal Advisors who have a passion to support our young people to reach their potential. They work collaboratively with multi-agency groups, dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families. With a strong focus on providing both high support and high challenge, the teams enable you to deliver your best to the families who need it most.

The teams focus on longer term intervention.  Following transfer from our Family Safeguarding teams we undertake statutory social work interventions, including statutory visits, Children Looked After reviews and Pathway Plan reviews.

We are a small, welcoming and friendly Local Authority. We are proud of our connected and inclusive culture, with a strong focus on wellbeing, which provides our workforce with a strong sense of belonging.

Our leadership team is visible, available and approachable. 

Everything we do in Children’s Social Care is about improving the life chances of Bracknell’s children, put simply, we change lives for the better.

Key responsibilities...

You will be supported:

• To manage a team of staff.
• To provide high quality, reflective supervision (in line with the supervision policy) including providing feedback and analysis of performance.
• To lead on panel meetings, professional meetings and other forums, working together with partner agencies to conclude with safe and proportionate plans for children and young people.
• To undertake regular reviews of, and track, performance data, completing audits and contributing to audit programmes and frameworks.
• To promote listening to children and young people at every opportunity, ensuring their views are heard, recorded and acted upon in an appropriate and timely manner.
• To actively engage with parents and carers so that their views contribute to service improvement including responding to complaints and feedback.

Our benefits… 

• 28 days* increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service.
• The opportunity to buy up to 10 additional days* annual leave per year and sell 5 days.
• Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. 
• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks. 
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover (linked to the pension scheme).
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits such as annual leave entitlements, occupational maternity/paternity leave, and more. (Terms and Conditions apply – please refer to candidate pack for more information.)
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• A great office location next to travel links and Bracknell Forest’s thriving town centre. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing. 
• Sports and Social Club.
• Staff dental and health plans. 
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership. 
• Supermarket discount. 

*(pro rata for part time)

Our Values

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you’re excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we’d love to hear from you. 

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. We will work with you to support you throughout the process.

Interview date 

Interviews will be held on 25^th February 2025.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the leadership team our workforce and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question? 

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact: 

Peter Hodges - Head of Service, Life Chances

Peter.Hodges@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambition and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council. 

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.