Job Description

Team Manager, Children in Care, North Essex

Permanent, Full Time

£55,892 to £69,241 per annum

Location: Colchester

Working Style: Fixed-base worker

Closing Date: 31st August 2026

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 2 nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.

The Role

The Children in Care Team Manager leads a Team of qualified social workers
to deliver high quality outcomes to children in care. The Team ensure cases
are progressed through Court and care plans are developed.

To read more about our business area, please visit:
Children & Families

Please take a look at our
‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

The Opportunity

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 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.

Accountabilities

• 
  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 Masters
  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.
• 
  Experience of working within a complex environment and leading change to
  ensure the Council delivers best practice.
• 
  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.

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
Everyone's Essex
. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are
looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex
is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will
be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In
addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution
priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral
Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what
this may mean for this role, on our
careers site
.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re
committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our
Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job.
Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments
during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care
leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are
applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive
many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and
flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly
ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the
Nolan principles
, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these
standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for
everyone.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area
including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting
service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency.
Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of
the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role
require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update
service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are
kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your
certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for
ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update
service please go to
https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and
volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities,
blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council,
please join
The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email
resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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Facebook
, Twitter,
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and
LinkedIn
. Further details can be found on our
careers page
.

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