Assistant Team Manager – Children with Disabilities – Social Care Qualified

Job Category:   Social Care Qualified  
Job location Civic Campus, Euclid Street, Swindon, SN1 2JG,
United Kingdom
Swindon Borough Council
Hours per week: 37

Start date: Immediate start
Salary: £35.30 per hour

Job Purpose
To deliver and improve services for Children, young people and their Families through the provision of high quality social work interventions, and effective partnership working with all those involved with the child.
To lead and direct a team of professional social workers and other staff alternatively qualified together with
support staff to provide services to children, young people and their Families requiring support/ and or
intervention. Services to be delivered in accordance with legislation, Corporate and Directorate policies and
allocated budgetary limits.
To be a champion of Social Work values and delivering interventions that work to keep children safe and,
where possible and achievable, within their own family or extended networks.
To operationally manage and supervise the team to ensure high quality service to individuals, children,
families and/or communities; focussed on good outcomes with timely interventions at the right level; within
statutory guidelines and within given resource and budget availability.
To model good management by taking professional responsibility for the provision of a high
quality and responsive service.
To assist the Team Manager in the determination of priorities, and support the Team Manager to endorse
and promote our focus on quality assurance, value the importance of co-production and seek out the voice
of the child, young person and families in all aspects of service delivery. This will be done through effective
management and supervision of social care staff to ensure those we work with are safeguarded and their
welfare promoted.
Key Accountabilities
� You will lead and manage a team of professional, skilled staff to provide a high quality, high performing
outcomes driven service to ensure effective safeguarding practice is paramount and that children are
supported to reach their full potential
� You will recruit, develop and motivate staff groups capable of fulfilling the changing demands of the
service, through day to day support and providing high quality decision making with regards to children
who are allocated to your staff group and within the service
� You will allocate resources and workload across your team to ensure effective delivery of services within
allocated agreed budgetary limits. You will support the team managers in delivering the teams� staffing
budget and support the delivery of the team and service efficiency agenda and targets, as agreed by the
Team Manager
� You will ensure that team members record all case work, undertake assessments, analysis, decisions,
care planning and actions on the necessary ICS systems � signing off all decisions made and discussing
any issues that require clarification or further scrutiny with the relevant member of staff.
� You will ensure the team understands and adheres to the Quality Assurance Framework, including
ensuring the regular case file audits are undertaken by yourself when required and that continuous
improvement is evidence based and includes learning from national and regional practice
� You will ensure performance measures are adhered to and use this to drive a high performing team
where statutory timescales are met
� You will ensure effective assessment; risk management and child protection and care planning protect
the most vulnerable
� You are responsible for shaping and influencing the practice system to ensure confident analysis and
decision-making is in place
� You will ensure supervision is frequent, reflective, challenging and explorative to enable informed
decision making on cases that occur to safeguard children and vulnerable adults, and is based on the best
evidence from research to inform complex judgments, promoting professional curiosity ad solution
focused approaches to problem solving routinely within informal and formal supervision
� Develop effective and meaningful partnership working that is positive and constructive and respectful of
differing roles and responsibilities and the value they can bring to the safeguarding of children and
vulnerable adults. Support team members both internally and externally with partners as part of sharing
information and developing safety and care plans
� Demonstrate effective use of power and authority by being confident in child care practice and family
law and understand and ensure your staff also do what they need to do to ensure safeguard practice is in
place for children and Young People,
� Ensure your team members recognise and address behaviours or actions that are resistant to change in
Families, prioritising and acting where immediate action is required and taking necessary proportionate
action to safeguard children
� You will ensure that there is an effective supervision structure in the team, that delivers high quality
reflective supervision and bi annual performance appraisals for all, to enable you to effectively manage
poor performance and celebrate and share best practice
� You will support the Team Manager in ensuring effective prioritisation processes are in place and actively
managed to minimise and mitigate risks when demand is high
� You will ensure that processes are in place to ensure effective communication and engagement with the
team (team meetings/forums)
� You will offer robust oversight, guidance, supervision and support to practitioners to enable them to take
actions to prevent family breakdown or escalation of issues / risk, accurately recording the advice and
guidance given.
� Ensure that diversity is respected and takes account of the different needs of children and their carers,
and that the decisions made and service delivery is sensitive to and addresses discriminatory issues of
language, gender, ethnicity, religion, ability, sexuality and social background.
� Promote corporate working across teams, and wider across the organisation, ensuring that every
opportunity is taken to develop a wider understanding of the child or young person�s journey and the
impact that other areas of the Council have on this.
� Encourage and model behaviours that promote inclusion and value diversity of the team as well as the
people that access care and support
� Promote the development and maintenance of high standards within the team in accordance with the
Council�s and the Service�s values and behaviours.
� You will work in accordance with the provisions of the Health & Safety at Work Act (1974) and
subsequent enactments, take responsible care for the health and safety of him/herself and of other
persons who may be affected by his/her acts or omissions at work. Co-operate with the Council so far as
is necessary to enable the Council to perform and comply with its duties under any statutory health and
safety provisions.
� Undertake any other duties and responsibilities as may be required by the Team Manager commensurate
with the grade of the post.
� Swindon Borough Council have teams in various locations across the town. You could be asked to work
from a different team if the business requires you to do so.
Supplementary Accountabilities
� Because of the nature of the work and in accordance with the demands of the service, he/she will be
required from time to time to work outside normal office hours, including evening and weekend working,
for which time off in lieu of payment should be taken at a time agreed with the Team Manager. Overtime
will not be paid.
� This job description is intended as a general guide to the duties attached to the post and is not an
inflexible specification. It may therefore be altered from time to time to reflect the changing needs of the
Department, always in consultation with the post holder.
Knowledge & Experience
Candidates must have substantial knowledge and experience in the following areas of business and will be
required to provide evidence of this:
� Demonstrable evidence of management and Leadership Skills within a management role in a Social Work
setting
� Post qualification experience and evidence of practice in a front-line Social Work setting
� Management and Leadership experience of recruitment, performance, appraisal and direct responsibility
for operational staff
� Detailed knowledge of all primary legislation and policy relevant to the service, and experience of
keeping abreast of relevant legislation / reforms
� Computer literacy, performance management skills and the skills necessary to work with and analyse
information from management systems
� Ability to organise and prioritise work appropriately and to work flexibly under pressure to both selfdetermined and prescribed deadlines.
� Excellent interpersonal skills, including active listening and coaching skills
Qualifications
� Diploma or Degree Level Qualification in relevant area (essential)
� Post Graduate qualification in field of practice (essential)
� Registered Social Work Practitioner, SW England (essential)
� Qualification in, or working towards, Leadership/Management (preferred)
� Coaching certificate, or working towards (preferred)
� Enhanced DBS certificate required
Decision Making
� Responsibility for decision making according to the service�s scheme of delegation, including allocation of
work in accordance with priorities, and decision-making regarding nature and timeliness of service
provision for your service.
� Ensuring that team�s delivery meets statutory obligations and follows teams� procedures, and that this is
managed in accordance with corporate policy, and other procedures.
� Financial decision-making and responsibility for budget monitoring and for the control of income and
expenditure. Managing the team’s devolved budget within financial guidelines, agreed budget limits and
within delegated authority. Controlling and monitoring expenditure, reporting and issues that require
taking remedial action to the Team Manager.
Creativity and Innovation
� To respond to situations and use knowledge and experience to interpret the challenges faced and offer
guidance and tailored support to children and their families in crisis, to safeguard and promote their
welfare.
Job Scope
Number and types of jobs managed
� Social Workers (newly qualified to Senior Practitioner)
� Social Care Workers
� Hosted staff from alternate agencies as required.
Typical tasks supervised/allocated to others
Information gathering; analysis, care planning; assessment;
case; case transfer; case management; data upkeep, decision
making, management of limited resources, budget responsibility
Budget Holder
Asset
Responsibility:
No
No
Contacts and Relationships
(how the role relates to the work of others i.e. officers, groups, committees, general public, members, partner
organisations, internal and external contacts of the council)
� Communicating clearly to a range of audiences and across organisational boundaries and levels.
� Representing the Team with external agencies and providers of services, particularly voluntary agencies.
� Sound written and oral presentation of ideas and information as part of formal reports, strategies and
plans.
� Deputising for the Team Manager when needed
� Written analysis of financial and service specific information.
� Ability to understand, interpret and provide information in order to support the Team Manager to
develop strategies, plans and services
� Experience and ability to chair meetings effectively (including Safeguarding /risk and care of Children
meetings)