Job type
PermanentLocation
SouthendWorking Pattern
Full-timeSpecialism
Qualified Social WorkerIndustry
Government & Public ServicesPay
£53,460-£58,959Closing date
23 Jun 2026
LAC Team Manager, Social Worker, Advanced Practitioner, Looked After Children, Southend, Essex
Your new role
Southend City Council are looking to appoint a full-time, permanent Children Looked After Team Manager to ensure that the Council provides a first-class professional service within the social work team, by being responsible for the efficient and cost-effective provision of needs-led services to children, young people and their families.
The new Team Manager will provide formal, professional supervision to their team, comprising Senior Practitioners, Social Workers, Children & Families Workers, ensuring that appraisals are undertaken and identifying skills gaps or training needs.
They will support their team in the provision of services to children and young people, ensuring that child protection enquiries, assessments and support services are consistently completed to a high standard. Ensuring consistent interpretation of eligibility criteria and risk thresholds within the service, implementing service strategy and performance management processes & ensuring the team’s contribution to the overall departmental and Council objectives.
Other responsibilities
- Keep apprised of the changing contexts, research, practice theories and statutory procedures that govern work with children looked after and young people leaving care, at the local and national level, and to implement these within the team.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of local policies and service improvement strategies and support their implementation within the team and service.
- Liaise, network, influence, and coordinate with other multi-agency partners to provide the best level of multidisciplinary support for children looked after.
- Represent the local authority in a professional and competent manner, especially when making representations in court, with families, or with other agencies.
- Ensure the practice and management oversight of all work and performance in the team is compliant with relevant laws, statutory guidance, and local procedures that govern children’s safeguarding, adult safeguarding, the social work profession, health and safety employment law, human rights, and data protection
- Chair strategy, review, planning, professional, and network meetings as required.
- To be available after hours as necessary to support workers who may be dealing with crises and casework responsibilities to safeguard young adults.
- Other duties as required are necessary to carry out the smooth functioning of the service and to meet our corporate parenting and safeguarding responsibilities to children.
Within this position, hybrid working opportunities are available. However, you are required to be on-site at the Civic Centre a minimum of 3 days a week.
What you'll need to succeed
To be successful in this position, you must have a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England and have completed your ASYE.
As a minimum, you are required to have previous management or supervisory responsibilities of other practitioners working within children's front line services, mainly Children Looked After.
As a team manager, you will be responsible for the oversight and support of a CLA team. You will have extensive knowledge of methods of social work intervention, child protection and looked after children. You will have knowledge and understanding of relevant legislation, regulations & key government initiatives and framework for the assessment of children in need and their families.
Knowledge of the principles of performance management and knowledge of equal opportunities issues in relation to staff and client management.
What you'll get in return
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
