Service Manager - Adoption South East

About the Job

Salary: £64,682 to £68,330 per annum
Contract: Permanent
Working Pattern: Part time - 22.20 hours per week (3 days a week)
Office Base Location: Hybrid working across four Local Authorities, with an office base either at County Hall North, Horsham or Worthing office dependent on candidate's preference.

We're looking for a Service Manager to join our Adoption South East Senior Leadership Team. In joining our team, you will provide energy and leadership to Social Workers and Managers employed by all four local authorities as they assess children's adoption related needs and find the right families for children with a plan for adoption.

We work to a hybrid working model, meaning that although you would have an administrative office base, team members work largely remotely, making best use of technology with the option to touch base at any of our offices across the region. Regular team meetings are conducted both online and in person at a central base.

This is an opportunity to join a supportive and committed team of adoption professionals. You will provide professional leadership with a particular focus upon child centred family finding, ensuring effective practices in situations of complexity, risk, uncertainty and challenge, in line with the Professional Capabilities Framework. You will develop and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders in our partner Local Authorities, and the systems around the child. Your expertise in family finding and adoption practice will offer value to joint working initiatives within and external to ASE, providing local leadership for pan regional and national service developments and adding to existing professional expertise within this specialist service. You and your service will be champions for children with a plan for adoption, ensuring that their future parents have the best chance of meeting their needs through quality assessments, effective care planning conversations with the Local Authority children's teams and robust practice.

If you are a qualified social worker, with management experience and significant knowledge, skills and experience of adoption and family finding processes, who can bring positive leadership and motivational skills to a team, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Experience and Skills

Some of the key skills and experience you will need for the role:

• Ability to deliver change and continually improve practice and performance in a supportive, positive way.
• The ability to analyse and make judgements to tackle difficult problems of a technical, professional, resource or people related nature, including highly developed risk management skills and project management skills, with the ability to apply appropriate principles and practices to complex issues.
• Sound partnership working skills including the successful co-ordination of partners to deliver objectives.
• Ability to challenge existing practices and models of service delivery and identify innovative solutions that are outcome focused and co-constructed. Ability to effectively apply solution focused leadership, take a systems analysis approach and use systemic leadership techniques.
• Effective research, evaluation and interpretation skills to derive conclusions and plan over the short term. The post holder will take into account changes in legislation and national policy. They will identify and influence practice improvements to meet the needs of the communities they are serving.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to influence the actions of others and communicate information which may be complex and contentious. Includes the ability to negotiate solutions across wide areas of the business and successfully convince others of the need to take a specific course of action.
• A recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
• A recognised post qualifying award in Social Work or demonstrable evidence of continuous professional development at a similar level.
• Registration with the relevant professional registration body and maintaining registration with that body.
• A recognised management qualification or demonstrable continuous professional development in this area.
• Valid full driving licence.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where you can achieve your full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work you do.

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page

About Us

Here at West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. You will join us as at a key time on our continuous improvement journey; the service you would be joining has a stable workforce with manageable caseloads and a fully permanent management team. We are proud of the work we do and we are proud to be a support and inclusive employer.

That's why we need professionals, like you, who really want to be part of the positive change that is happening for children. Be part of an ambitious ongoing improvement plan and make a significant difference to children and families in West Sussex. There has never been a more rewarding time to join.

For further information about us and about working in Children's Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children's social work in West Sussex.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05666.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Michael Wilson at for issues or queries regarding your application please contact

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and complete our application form. In your application please outline your motivations for applying and explain how you meet the key skills listed in full and the experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, SWE registration, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.