Assistant Team Manager - Family Help (East Dorset))

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About The Role

We're looking for Social work qualified applicants to join our wonderful teams in East Dorset in a new role in our recently expanded teams.

As an Assistant Team Manager (Family Help) you will be responsible for a team of social workers and family workers in Family Help alongside the Team Manager, acting as Lead Child Protection Practitioner alongside the Lead Family Help Practitioner where there is a strategy discussion and/or s.47 enquiry. You will also serve as a link with the Multi-Agency Child Protection Team.

You'll be trailblazing a new innovative way of working, providing Social Work oversight of all s.17 child in need work within your team and across the locality, and support social work oversight of family help work.

The role includes direct line manager responsibility for student social workers, supporting group case supervision and individual supervision of social workers, student social workers and family workers.

You'll be leading and developing practice improvement across the service by providing regular workshops, information sharing events, reports and analysis of data.

About you:

You'll hold a Masters, BA or Diploma in Social Work or equivalent and demonstrate:

• Experience in dealing with complex cases
• Ability to manage, appraise and supervise staff
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Comprehensive knowledge of legislation, Regulations and Practice guidance (e.g. Children Act 1989, Mental Health Act 1983, NHS and Community Care Act 1990)

As part of our model, we have developed multi-agency locality teams bringing together colleagues from across Early Help, Children's Social Care, Educational Psychology, SEND and Inclusion services under the leadership of Heads of Locality and Strategy.

In East Dorset our office is based in Ferndown. As well as covering this area, this locality also covers Wimborne, Verwood, West Moors and surrounding villages as well as parts of Upton. This is a lovely area of Dorset offering a wonderful mix of bustling high streets, picturesque villages, beautiful countryside and stunning coastline. There are also good transport links to Southampton, etc.

Our colleagues in East Dorset and Purbeck are proud to have been at the forefront of our family hub roll out, having opened the first two family hubs in these localities, with more now planned or open across the rest of the county.

Join us and be part of our exceptional Children's Services team, recently recognised as Good with Outstanding Leadership by Ofsted. This is not just a job; it's an extraordinary opportunity to empower children and help them reach their full potential. With Pathfinder, we will be changing the way Social Care and how working with families is approached in Dorset and helping to shape this across the country.

As an Assistant Team Manager (Family Help) here in Dorset, you'll truly make a difference to the lives of children and young people in our beautiful county.

We prioritise your wellbeing by offering access to talking therapies, a network of Mental Health Champions, and workshops facilitated by our dedicated Employee Wellbeing Team.

You'll join a forward-thinking service, where you'll be encouraged to think creatively, question how we do things, and devise new, innovative approaches through our 'Diagonal Slice' initiative - our Children's Services' employee forum.

Our innovative model of working, Dorset Children Thrive, will support you to be part of a service that:

• Puts children and families at the heart of everything we do
• Focuses on 'getting it right first time' by providing early help
• Makes services easily accessible for all
• Develops a skilled, supported and confident workforce
• Provides quality and efficient services that meet the highest standards
• Measures success by how we have made life better for children and young people

Find out more about Children's Services in Dorset: Jobs in Children's Services - Dorset Council .

What our people say:

"Dorset is a great place for children to thrive - I am very proud to be part of an organisation that recognises the strengths of our staff and the creativity we have in achieving great outcomes for our children, young people and families."

"It was great to feel listened to about the big issues and developments within Children's Services".

"I am proud of the service I work in for their commitment to children and young people, working hard to collaborate with colleagues and agencies to achieve good outcomes."

Our teams are very welcoming and supportive of new members joining the team. We operate as flexibly as possible and are consistently supportive of employee wellbeing. Dorset is a great place to live, work and play.

Further Information

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Tracey Conelly: [email protected]

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders .

See our policy on safeguarding children and young people .

You must:

• Have a degree/diploma in social work/Occupational Therapy and be registered with Social Work England
• Have the right to work in the UK
• Be able to fulfil the travel requirements of the post

See the children's social worker framework .

Friends & Family Referral Scheme

The friends and family referral scheme applies to this post. If an employee recommended this post to you, please make sure to mention them when applying.

Employees can share this advert by using the button links alongside the job title.

Relocation expenses package

A generous relocation package is payable, of which up to £8,000 (of HMRC eligible elements) are free of tax. We can offer you help to move whether you are looking to buy or rent, depending on your circumstances.

Our package includes:

• an initial advance of up to £2,500 payable when you start
• help towards fees associated with buying/selling (up to £6,500)
• an option to receive help towards your rent or mortgage in the first two years

About Us

Dorset Council: A great place to work

We're passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents
• have ambitious aspirations
• are excited about our future
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success

You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours . We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn .

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

Find out more about how to apply .