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The Opportunity

Salary: £58,685 - £62,705 per annum (includes 10% Market Supplement)
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
Location: Based at County Hall North, Horsham

Are you looking for a fantastic opportunity to progress your Social Work career and improve outcomes for our children and families?

We are looking for a Team Manager who will lead, motivate, nurture, and manage our Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) within our Integrated Front Door teams. This includes supervising Advanced Social Workers who are responsible for triaging referrals and who oversee a group of IFD Support Officers who provide initial advice and guidance. The role also includes managing Social Workers in the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). You will be responsible for ensuring the service provided is effective and delivering the required outcomes. You will ensure that children and young people are adequately protected in line with our policies, procedures and relevant legislation.

You will have experience working with multi-disciplinary teams as the IFD and MASH are built on strong relationships with a wide range of partner agencies. These include police, health, education, probation and housing professionals who are co-located and working together to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people.

We are seeking a Team Manager who is experienced and passionate about leading the team towards achieving positive change for children and families. You will be ready to demonstrate great practice, share good ideas and expertise. We are looking for emotionally intelligent, organised, resilient individuals who will continue to champion the development of a well-established team whilst maintaining swift and quality responses to safeguard children and young people.

About You

To succeed in this role, some of the skills and qualifications you will require are:

• Ability to make sound pragmatic problem-solving decisions informed on strong, evidence based social work practice.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and develop effective long-term relationships both with other teams across WSCC and external partners enabling the achievement of high-quality outcomes.
• Effective people and performance management skills and the ability to provide direction and motivate and inspire the team to deliver quality professional practice.
• Understands the need for emotional intelligence/resilience, specifically in relation to risk, ensuring that there is a positive balance between perceived risk and protection from harm where necessary.
• Ability to challenge existing practices and identify innovative solutions within the required framework.
• A recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree 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.
• Experience in dealing with significant issues, for example management of complex child protection matters, staff under performance, managing resources to address team performance priorities through allocation of limited resources.
• You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes are available.

For a full list of experience, qualifications and key skills required please review the job description attached.

How We Support You

As a Team Manager you will manage a small team comprised of social workers, child and family workers and have access to a Coordinator who provides flexible administrative support for the team. We provide regular group supervision and peer learning alongside specialist roles within the team to focus on the most vulnerable children. You'll also have a minimum of 5 CPD and training days per year with access to excellent learning and development provisions such as Research in Practice and Community Care Inform and 29 days annual leave, as well as the option to buy up to 3 additional days.

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 employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. You be able to access the Local Government Pension scheme. For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

About Us

Here at West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We have made great improvements in our service for the children and families in West Sussex over 5 years. We are proud of the work we do and we are proud to be a supportive 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. Join us and 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 CAFHE06464.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and application form. In your application form please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and 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 Social Work England registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.