Assistant Team Manager (Social Work Qualified) Family Help

Our innovative Family Help model brings together the professionals supporting the child, ensuring families tell their story once and build strong, consistent relationships with practitioners. We are committed to supporting children to remain safely within their families wherever possible through strengths-based, restorative practice.

As an Assistant Team Manager, you will:

• Provide social work oversight and leadership across Family Help.
• Work closely with our Multi-Agency Child Protection Team to ensure effective identification and management of risk.
• Support practitioners undertaking Section 47 enquiries and Child Protection planning.
• Line manage, supervise and develop Family Workers, Social Workers and Student Social Workers.
• Deliver reflective supervision, promote excellent practice and support service improvement.
• Lead on practice development, training and coaching across teams.
• Chair meetings and work collaboratively with partner agencies to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.
• You'll join a high-performing, supportive and reflective service that combines high support with high challenge, underpinned by our restorative Thrive approach.

About you

We're looking for an ambitious and motivated leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and families.

You will:

• Hold a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.
• Have completed your ASYE (if qualified after 2012).
• Have experience of supervising, mentoring or managing practitioners.
• Have a strong understanding of safeguarding, Child in Need and Child Protection practice.
• Be confident providing professional oversight, guidance and decision-making support.
• Be committed to strengths-based and restorative approaches.
• Demonstrate excellent communication, relationship-building and partnership-working skills.
• Be passionate about developing others and driving continuous practice improvement.
• Be able to fulfil the travel requirements of the post and have a driver's license and vehicle

We offer:

• Competitive salary and generous annual leave
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Ofsted Outstanding working environment
• High-quality supervision and supportive leadership
• Dedicated leadership development pathway and genuine career progression opportunities
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements where appropriate

Join us

If you're ready to take the next step in your leadership career and help shape the future of Family Help in one of the country's leading children's services authorities, we'd love to hear from you.

Together, we can make Dorset the best place for children and young people to grow up, thrive and succeed.

This post requires significant travel. You must have a driver's licence and vehicle available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

At Dorset Council, it's not just about the work we do, it's about how we do it. Hear directly from our employees about what makes Dorset Council special in this short video:

At Dorset Council, we are working together to create a fairer, more prosperous, and more sustainable Dorset for everyone, now and in the future.

We:

• provide essential services that support over 300,000 residents
• work in partnership to make a real difference
• value every role and the impact it has on our communities
• support our employees to grow, develop, and thrive

You will:

• be part of a team that works together for a better Dorset
• have access to a range of benefits and support
• receive training and development opportunities to help your career progress

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where different skills, perspectives, and backgrounds strengthen both our council and the communities we serve.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible, if you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application.

This role is UK-based, and we will need to confirm your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications, so the job title in any attachments may differ from the advert. If needed, we will provide additional details in a context statement.

If you’re passionate about making a difference, we’d love you to join us.

Find out more about how to apply.