Team Manager (DoLS) and BIA Lead

An exciting opportunity at Staffordshire County Council to lead a Team of Best Interests Assessors. (BIA's)

When you join Staffordshire County Council you will be joining a Health and Care Directorate which is committed and motivated to making a difference, improving outcomes. Staffordshire County Council is the eighth largest county in England. Our Services are here to make lives better.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards team primary areas of responsibility –The team’s Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards responsibilities are to ensure that adults who lack capacity to consent but need to be accommodated under a care and treatment regime that may have the effect of depriving them of their liberty have their best interests protected in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

An exciting opportunity at Staffordshire County Council to lead a Team of Best Interests Assessors. (BIA's)

When you join Staffordshire County Council you will be joining a Health and Care Directorate which is committed and motivated to making a difference, improving outcomes. Staffordshire County Council is the eighth largest county in England. Our Services are here to make lives better.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards team primary areas of responsibility –The team’s Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards responsibilities are to ensure that adults who lack capacity to consent but need to be accommodated under a care and treatment regime that may have the effect of depriving them of their liberty have their best interests protected in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

In this role you'll manage the Best Interests Assessor Team and lead professional practice development for Best Interests Assessors across Adult Social Care and Commissioned agencies.

You will:

• Continually developing frontline individual BIA practice
• Lead and oversee performance quality of an established team of Best interests Assessors
• Lead BIA across Staffordshire Adult Social care and external commissioned agencies BIA's.
• Share and develop MCA and DOLS knowledge across Adult Social Care
• Support development policy / procedure updates

To apply for this role you'll need:

• A professional Qualification CQSW, Degree in SW, DipSW, or equivalent qualification such as Nurse (RGN/MH/LD) or Occupational Therapist and be Professionally registered
• Current Best Interests Assessor i.e. has completed the Best Interests assessor course at an accredited provider
• Significant post qualifying experience
• Significant experience of coaching and mentoring others in a professional setting
• Knowledge and experience of reflective supervision
• Extensive knowledge of legislation and guidance underpinning delivery of Adult Social Care Services in particular the MCA 2005 and Care Act 2014

“We’re happy to talk flexible working”

Interviews will be held during week starting 22 July 2025.

Don’t feel you meet all the requirements? We value transferable skills, experiences, and qualifications so consider applying anyway or for an informal chat about the role please contact Peter Hampton - Peter.Hampton@staffordshire.gov.uk or Ruth Martin ruth.martin@staffordshire.gov.uk

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.