Assistant Team Manager – Emergency Social Work Team (ESWT)

Overview

Are you ready to take the next step in your social work career and play a pivotal role in safeguarding adults, children and young people? Our Emergency Social Work Team is seeking a confident, motivated, and compassionate Assistant Team Manager to help lead a dedicated team delivering high‑quality statutory services at the point adults and families need them most.

This is a fast‑paced, highly rewarding environment where no two days are the same. You will help shape practice, support decision‑making, and ensure the safety and wellbeing of children across Buckinghamshire—making a direct, positive impact every day.

This is a fixed term/secondment position until April 2027.

In addition to the salary advertised, you will receive a market premium of £2,750 per annum.

Take a look at our Children's Social Care Candidate Pack to learn more about working in Children's Social Care at Buckinghamshire Council.

About the role

Working closely with the Team Manager, you’ll take a key role in guiding and supporting social workers and practitioners through complex and urgent situations. You’ll provide professional oversight, offer immediate guidance during referrals, and help coordinate the team’s duty system. This role involves ensuring that adults and children have robust plans in place to support them during out of hours crisis periods.

You will support the development of the team through reflective supervision, coaching and induction of new staff. Quality assurance is a significant part of the role—you’ll help maintain clear thresholds, monitor practice standards, and ensure accurate and timely case recording. You’ll also work closely with multi‑agency partners, building strong, positive relationships that enable effective support for children and families.

It’s a role where leadership, calm decision‑making, and compassionate professionalism come together to make a genuine difference every day.

About you

You will be a skilled and experienced Social Worker with at least three years of post‑qualifying practice in a statutory adult or children’s services environment. You’re someone who brings confidence, empathy and clarity to challenging situations, and you’re ready to take on a leadership role where you can support others to thrive.

You’ll be comfortable making sound decisions, even when under pressure, and have a natural ability to communicate complex messages in a clear and reassuring way. You value collaboration and understand the importance of teamwork, transparency and keeping adults and children’s voices central to practice. Your approach is reflective and professional, and you strive to uphold high standards while encouraging the same from those around you.

To join us, you’ll need a recognised social work qualification, Social Work England registration and evidence of continuous professional development. Leadership training is welcomed but not essential—what matters most is your passion for improving children’s lives and your commitment to supporting colleagues to do the same.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact Alina Suditu at [email protected]

Closing date: Midnight on Sunday 26th April 

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements.

We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants and shops, a generous employer pension contribution in line with the Local Government Pension Scheme, discounts on gym memberships and more - https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/

Social Workers are also entitled to a generous enhanced reward package, as follows:

• Competitive salary with a market increment
• Annual leave up to 30 days per year, as well as other types of leave and the opportunity to buy further leave
• Up to 15 days per year training, learning and development offer
• Free parking across all of our office sites

If you are interested in relocating to Buckinghamshire and working with us, relocation packages are also available.