Team Manager

Overview

Are you an experienced and passionate social work leader looking for the opportunity to make a lasting difference to children, young people and families?

Buckinghamshire Council is seeking an enthusiastic and skilled Team Manager to lead a locality-based Children's Social Care team. This is a rewarding leadership role where you will shape high-quality practice, support professional development, and drive positive outcomes for children and families across the county.

As a Team Manager, you will provide strong leadership and management to Social Workers and Family Support Workers, ensuring children receive the right support, protection and care at the right time. You'll be instrumental in promoting safe, effective and outcome-focused practice while working collaboratively with partners and stakeholders across the children's workforce.

Take a look at our Children's Social Care Candidate Pack to find out more.

About us

C2 Team within Service C is looking to recruit a Team Manager to join our busy and supportive locality service.

The successful candidate will lead a team of 10 staff, comprising four Social Workers (including one Senior Social Worker) and an Early Help Assistant Team Manager who oversees four Family Support Workers (including two Senior Family Support Worker).

C2 works closely alongside its buddy team, C1, with managers and staff working collaboratively across duty, allocation and support to children and families. As a result, we are looking for someone who enjoys partnership working and being part of a wider team.

In Service C, personality, relationships and a team-player attitude are vital. We pride ourselves on our supportive, aligned and cohesive culture, where colleagues work together to achieve the best outcomes for children and families. We are looking for a child-focused leader who shares these values and will contribute positively to our strong team culture while supporting staff to thrive and develop.

About the role

As a Team Manager within Children's Social Care, you will be responsible for leading and developing a high-performing team that delivers statutory social work and targeted early help services.

You will:

• Provide effective leadership, supervision and support to Social Workers and Family Support Workers.
• Maintain oversight of children and families being supported within the service, ensuring interventions lead to improved outcomes for
• Ensure risks are identified, assessed and managed through robust safeguarding and safety planning.
• Drive high standards of practice through quality assurance, performance management and professional oversight.
• Support and develop staff through supervision, coaching and professional development opportunities.
• Lead partnership working with internal services, schools, health professionals, police and other agencies.
• Manage service delivery within a designated locality, ensuring integrated and coordinated support for families.
• Contribute to service improvement initiatives, embedding best practice, policies and procedures.
• Monitor service performance and ensure compliance with statutory duties and service expectations.
• Investigate complaints, respond to concerns and promote continuous learning within the team.

The role is mobile and countywide, offering the opportunity to work flexibly while maintaining a visible leadership presence across services

Mobile:

A ‘mobile’ role gives you the flexibility to schedule your own diary, so you can meet with colleagues and clients in a variety of locations. You’ll access digital folders and resources on your laptop and be able to use the network wherever you are based. Working from home will be common, as well as meeting your team in the office where necessary

About you

We're looking for an experienced and confident social work leader who is passionate about improving children's lives and supporting others to achieve their best.

You will have:

• A recognised Social Work qualification.
• Current registration with Social Work England.
• Significant post-qualification experience within Children's Social Care.
• Substantial experience managing or supervising staff within a statutory children's social work setting.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams and working effectively in partnership environments.
• Strong knowledge of legislation, statutory guidance and safeguarding responsibilities relating to children and families.
• Experience undertaking workload and caseload management reviews.
• Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
• Proven ability to motivate, support and develop professional staff.
• Strong analytical and decision-making capabilities in complex and high-risk situations.
• Commitment to continuous professional development.

You'll also be:

• Passionate about improving outcomes and life chances for children and young people.
• Able to provide clear direction and professional leadership.
• Skilled at quality assurance and performance management.
• Solution-focused, resilient and adaptable in a fast-paced environment.
• Experienced in managing change and driving service improvement.
• Committed to collaborative working and building positive relationships with colleagues, partners and families.
• Confident in making evidence-informed decisions and managing risk effectively.

Other information

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

Closing date: 23:59 on 09/10/2026

Interview date: Week commencing 12/10/2026

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.

About the Service Area

Buckinghamshire is a successful, growing place with fantastic natural assets, a highly productive economy and many resourceful and thriving communities. However, we are far from complacent and our new and ambitious unitary authority is well placed to tackle the challenges associated with growth, an aging population, climate change and inequalities in both opportunities and outcomes – particularly for our children and young people.

Children’s Services is on an improvement journey and as our very recent Ofsted report shows, we have continued to improve despite the pressures of the pandemic and have built solid foundations for future success. Relationships with partners are strong and our collective response to the pandemic has strengthened and deepened our work together.

We have a big, ambitious agenda for Buckinghamshire, and our teams work collaboratively and at pace to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people across the county.

We are looking for talented and driven individuals to help us achieve the best outcomes for our children, young people and families in Buckinghamshire. Our key priorities include continuing to protect vulnerable children and young people from harm, whilst sustaining an environment where social work practice can thrive. Through our vital work with our partners, including The Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Childrens Partnership, we continue to improve our collective response to children and young people who have been exposed to domestic abuse, exploitation, substance misuse and mental health issues.

No matter what role you take on in our Children’s services, you will be part of a team who is dedicated to supporting children and their families to achieve their full potential.

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
• A ‘Golden Hello’ lump sum payment upon successful completion of probation
• 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.