Assistant Team Manager - Fs & Cp

Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites. 
 
Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career.  
 
Part of that is offering excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes.  
 
As of February 2023, our Children’s Services have been judged ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted inspectors for the second time in a row. They found that the service had a ‘clear strategic direction, strong partnerships and good political and corporate support’ allowing it to make a significant difference to children’s lives. Inspectors found that the service has a well-trained workforce that is improving the lives of children and families and that frontline workers feel safe and supported because of the quality of management oversight and decision-making.  

We are looking for an experienced practitioner to step into the role of Assistant Team Manager. 
 
You will be responsible for supporting risk management and decision making within the team.  This requires you to have substantial knowledge and experience of professional standards for social work as well as the laws, statutory guidance, local policies and procedures and to ensure these are being modelled and adhered to within the team.  
 
In line with our Signs of Safety practice model, it is beneficial if you have previous training and/or experience working with a solution focused approach.  This will highlight the importance of respectful and collaborative working relationships with families and professionals in order to bring about improved safety and outcomes for the children we serve.  You will recognise both areas of strength and safety, as well as worries and danger which will then help inform the next steps in a child’s safety and support plan.  
 
Please refer to the Job Description attached for more information. 

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Antoinette Johnson, Service Manager on 020 3045 5828 or email: antoinette.johnson@bexley.gov.uk

   
We will offer you in return a package that includes a competitive salary, an excellent pension scheme and generous annual leave plus bank holidays. For more information on the benefits package on offer please refer to the Candidate Information document attached. 
 
We reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date. 

You will be expected to have a good breadth of experience working with children and young people and supervising staff.  You will be responsible for assisting with recruitment, retention, and for supporting the ongoing learning and development of those within the team.  
 
You will also contribute to the strategic oversight and development of the service.  This will involve making contributions and giving feedback to the Team Manager on performance as well as promoting and implementing any agreed service or strategic improvement plans.  
 
You will have a proficient ability to communicate in English and be able to influence others in an effort to help coordinate services and supports in the best way possible to keep children as safe and well cared for as possible.    
 
You will have experience in making decisions about legal planning meetings and supporting practitioners with the court process, especially where care proceedings are necessary.  
 
Do you think you have what it takes to join our team of excellent, creative and dedicated social work professionals?  
 
For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached. 
 
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service  
  
 
This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.   

Use the ‘Apply for vacancy’ button. 
 
Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload. 
 
If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence. 
 
Additional Information 
 
As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on  recruitment@bexley.gov.uk 
 
This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.