Service Manager - First Assessment Service

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Job description
Service Manager - First Assessment Service (including Edge of Care and Harm Outside the Home)

The First Assessment Service is Bristol's single point of access to Children's Services, and plays a vital role in safeguarding and supporting children and families across Bristol. Our role is to ensure that children and young people receive the best possible care and support when they need it the most. We are looking for a Service Manager with extensive knowledge and leadership experience in safeguarding children.

As the service manager you will lead the operational delivery of the service ensuring that children and families receive effective, timely interventions and services tailored to their needs. This is an exciting opportunity to dive forward improvements and shape the service as it expands to include responses to children on the Edge of Care, or at risk of Harm Outside the Home.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of our Families First transformation supporting us to expand our services in 2025. This is so that we can support children and families at the earliest point, whilst also providing intensive support to children and families when they need it.

As we move into the new year, we are looking forward to building on the brilliant work our teams already do with children by expanding our services to create the conditions for our teams to feel supported, have the time they need to work intensively with children and families, access good training, feel psychologically safe and listened to, whilst experiencing healthy challenge to thrive in their roles in our joint vision with children and families.

Role Overview:

As the Service Manager for the First Assessment Service, you will oversee the delivery of the Front Door, Edge of Care and Harm Outside the Home teams within Children's Services. You will lead a dedicated team of professionals to provide high-quality, responsive services to children and families, focusing on early intervention, prevention, and safeguarding.

You will be responsible for managing resources, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, and driving continuous improvement to enhance the quality-of-service delivery. Your leadership will help shape the direction of services, ensuring a child-centred approach and effective multi-agency collaboration.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead and manage the operational delivery of the First Assessment Service (including Edge of Care and Harm Outside the Home), ensuring timely and effective interventions for children and families.

Oversee the day-to-day management of staff and resources, ensuring that services are delivered in line with statutory guidance, safeguarding protocols, and best practice standards.

Ensure a responsive service for children and families in need, supporting the team in assessing risks, identifying appropriate interventions, and taking timely action where necessary.

Work closely with multi-disciplinary teams, including social workers, healthcare professionals, schools, and external partners, to ensure a coordinated, holistic approach to safeguarding and support.

Monitor and review service performance, analysing key performance indicators to ensure that services are being delivered effectively and continuously improved.

Provide leadership, support, and guidance to team members, fostering a positive and high-performing culture that emphasises professional development.

Ensure compliance with all relevant policies, procedures, and statutory requirements, particularly around safeguarding and child protection.

Work closely with the Head of Service, reporting on service performance, risks, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.

What We're Looking For:

A qualified social worker with proven experience in service management and leadership within children's social care.

Strong knowledge of safeguarding procedures, statutory frameworks, and best practice in relation to the Front Door and Edge of Care and Harm Outside the Home services.

Excellent leadership and management skills, with the ability to motivate and guide a team in a complex and dynamic environment.

Strong understanding of multi-agency working, particularly in children's services, and the ability to build effective partnerships with other organisations and stakeholders.

Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to engage with children, families, and professionals across a range of levels.

Ability to analyse data, review performance metrics, and implement service improvements.

Experience managing complex cases and decision-making under pressure.

Why Join Us?

• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• The opportunity to make a tangible impact on the lives of children and families.
• Access to professional development and training opportunities.
• A supportive, collaborative work environment where innovation and ideas are valued.
• The chance to lead and shape a vital service within Children's Services.
• See our recruitment site for more information: Social workers, make your mark in Bristol

If you are passionate about improving the lives of vulnerable children and families and have the leadership skills to deliver outstanding services, we want to hear from you.

Application:

Please note that as a condition of employment you and your household will be required to undertake enhanced police vetting as the team is based with Avon and Somerset Constabulary in the New Bridewell Police Station. For Police Vetting to be carried out without discrimination to any applicants you must have resided in the UK for a continuous period of 3 years minimum and have a 3 year minimum checkable history immediately prior to the date of their application. You be living in the UK free of restrictions at the time of application or must be entitled to do so.

Please note that this role is also subject to an Enhanced DBS Check.

Contact Us:

For more information or to discuss opportunities, contact: recruitment.socialwork@bristol.gov.uk

At Bristol City Council, we value having a workforce as diverse as the city we serve. We therefore welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. We particularly welcome applications from Young people, Black and racially minoritised, Disabled, LGBTQ+ and Male candidates who are currently under-represented within this Service of Bristol City Council. Appointments will be made on merit.