Team Manager - Life Chances (Maternity Cover)
Please apply online via the link provided.
Please note, we do not accept CVs submitted without a fully completed online application form.
We are looking for an experienced Team Manager from within Children Social Care or aspiring Assistant Team Manager, with management and supervisory experience, to join our Life Chances Service, to make a difference to the lives of children and young people. This is a 12-month maternity cover on a full-time basis.
To learn more about what it is like to work with us, take a look at our team's video.
About you...
You will deputise when required and work closely alongside the Head of Service to deliver our vision and strategic values. You will have direct responsibility for assistant team managers and social workers, including newly qualified social workers, students and support staff. You will work with the assistant team managers to drive performance, ensure the right plans are in place, and needs lead services and intervention, is provided for children and families.
You will be able to build effective relationships, demonstrate strong assessment and analytical skills have a well-developed understanding of assessment, planning and intervention and work effectively as part of a management team.
You will need to be a registered social worker with Social Work England and have significant post qualifying experience working with children and families in the statutory sector.
About the team....
Bracknell Forest Council 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 is a stable and established team of social worker and personal advisors who have a passion to support our young people to reach their potential.
Working collaboratively with multi-agency groups and being dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families, the team strives to improve outcomes for children and young people. With a strong focus on providing both high support and high challenge, the team enables you to deliver your best to the families who need it most.
The team focuses 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.
You can read what our team have to say about working at Bracknell Forest via this link: Children's social care jobs | Bracknell Forest Council
Key responsibilities...
- To manage a team of staff, including recruitment/retention, induction, training and development, performance support and management, disciplinary/capability, and succession planning.
- Providing 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* annual leave increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service, with the opportunity to buy up to 10 and sell up to 5 days*.
- Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance.
- Local government pension scheme, with life insurance cover.
- Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme (subject to eligibility).
- Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits. (Terms and Conditions apply)
- Career development through internal and external training opportunities.
- Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing
- Inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks and a sports and social club.
*(pro rata for part time)
Find out more about all our benefits or see the candidate pack.
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 are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you.
Reasonable adjustments
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. Find out more about reasonable adjustments.
Interview date
Interviews will be held on 20th August 2025.
Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team 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
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.
Any successful internal candidate will be offered the position as a secondment and, in line with Section 8.1 of the Secondment Policy, must consult with their manager before applying.
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.
Salary range
- £62,783 - £64,989 per year