Team Manager - Family Safeguarding

We are a small, welcoming and friendly local authority. We are proud of our connected and inclusive culture, with a strong focus on wellbeing, which provides our workforce with a strong sense of belonging.

As part of our grow your own culture in Bracknell, internal promotions and investment in management capacity, we have an exciting opportunity for an experienced manager with at least four years supervisory experience within children social care, that includes child protection to join our Family Safeguarding service, to make a difference to the lives of children and young people.

About you

You will be able to build effective relationships, demonstrate strong assessment and analytical skills, have a well-developed understanding of assessment, planning and intervention and work effectively as part of a management team.

The Successful candidate will work with assistant team managers to drive performance, ensure the right plans are in place and needs led services and intervention is provided for children and families.

The Team Manager will deputise when required for the Head of Service and work closely alongside the them to deliver our vision and strategic values whilst having direct responsibility for assistant team managers and social workers, including newly qualified social workers, students and support staff.

You will need to be a registered social worker with Social Work England with at least five years post qualifying experience working with children and families in the statutory sector.

About the team

Bracknell Forest Council have a nationally recognised practice model – the ‘Family Safeguarding Model’.

Everything we do in Children’s Social Care is about improving the life chances of Bracknell’s children, put simply, we change lives for the better.

Our leadership team is visible, available, and approachable. 

The Family Safeguarding Team is a stable and established multi-agency group of talented professionals who work collaboratively with specialist practitioners in domestic abuse, mental health, and substance misuse as part of our embedded family safeguarding approach. Dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families, the team strives to keep families together whenever it is safe to do so. With a strong focus on providing both high support and high challenge, the team enables you to deliver your best to the families who need it most.

The team focuses on longer term intervention, following transfer from our front door we undertake statutory social work interventions, including child in need, child protection, CLA and court proceedings.

Key responsibilities

You will be supported to carry out the specific duties and responsibilities of the job, which includes:

• Managing a team of staff, including recruitment/retention, induction, training and development, performance support and management, disciplinary/capability, and succession planning.
• Chair Pre-Proceedings meetings, professional meetings and other forums, working together with partner agencies to conclude with safe and proportionate threshold decision and planning
• Managing care proceedings and Pre-Proceedings ensuring that permanency for children is considered and timely.
• Promoting listening to children and young people at every opportunity, ensuring their views are heard, recorded and acted upon in an appropriate and timely manner.
• Actively engage with parents and carers so that their views contribute to service improvement, including responding to complaints and feedback.
• Leading within a secure base model and to support and encourage a culture where good social work practice can flourish. Providing a secure physical and psychological base from which to work safely and thus reducing the risk of harm to children and increase and improve their long-term outcomes.

Our benefits

• 28 days* increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service.
• The opportunity to buy up to 10 additional days* annual leave per year and sell 5 days.
• Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. 
• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks. 
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover (linked to the pension scheme)
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits such as annual leave entitlements, occupational maternity/paternity leave, and more. (Terms and Conditions apply – please refer to candidate pack for more information.)
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• A great office location next to travel links and Bracknell Forest’s thriving town centre. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing. 
• Sports and Social Club.
• Staff dental and health plans. 
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership. 
• Supermarket discount. 

*(pro rata for part time)

Our Values

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you. 

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. We will work with you to support you throughout the process.  

Interview date 

Interviews will be held on 30^th April 2025

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Cheryl Perry, Team Manager - Family Safeguarding: Cheryl.Perry@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

or 

Peter Hodges, Head of Service - Life Chances: Peter.Hodges@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

 

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambition and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council. 

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.