Team Manager - Kent Intake Unit PM Team (UAS Children's Service)

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Team Manager - Kent Intake Unit PM Team (UAS Children's Service)

Role Responsibility

Want to take the next step in Social Care leadership?

A competitive basic salary between £52,716 - £60,246 dependant on your experience, and the potential to earn up to £66,746 per year when market premiums are applied.

Kent County Council's Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking (UAS) Children's Service provides accommodation and support to newly arrived unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Kent. The Service leads on social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Kent, which Ofsted recognises as Outstanding. The Service is developing as a centre of excellence for social work practice nationally and we are seeking passionate social workers and managers to join us on this journey.

This is an exciting opportunity for a social-work qualified Team Manager to join the Service's social work teams that respond to children when they first arrive at Dover. These teams complete initial assessments with children before placing them in local authority accommodation. The nature of the work requires two teams, one working 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday, and another 1:30 pm - 10:00 pm, Monday to Friday. This post relates to the team working 1:30 pm - 10:00 pm.

You will lead a diverse and supportive team, committed to providing a high-quality initial assessment service, with a clear focus on protection and the wider safeguarding agenda.

This is an opportunity to work in a Service where you will be responding to newly arrived unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; you will support them on the start of the journey in the UK and ensure that their voice is heard.

You will work closely with senior managers, KCC colleagues and partners to deliver and improve services for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in the Service, in Kent and nationally.

You will support the development of skills and experience of staff in relation to in age assessment practice, so that proportionate and robust decisions are made when a child's age is disputed by the Home Office or significant concerns are raised by other professionals.

You will be able to evidence good leadership skills and a proven track record for delivering good outcomes for children and young people. Above all, you'll be focused on helping unaccompanied asylum-seeking children begin to navigate a pathway to resettlement in the UK.

You'll be a champion of social care values, delivering and improving services for children and young people. Your day-to-day support and high-quality caseload supervision will ensure your team can meet complex and changing demands of the service, as well as enable their ongoing development.

You should be confident in your ability to lead and develop a team. With an in-depth understanding of safeguarding procedures, legislative frameworks and social work theories relating to child services, you'll have the expertise needed to contribute to practice and policy development.

Your social work degree (CQSW, DipSW or equivalent) must be supported by professional registration and extensive post-qualification experience. This experience should include supervision, budget management and joint working with partners in the statutory, private and voluntary sectors.

Our Offer

• Full induction
• Manageable caseloads
• A minimum of 5 day's training each year
• Basic salary of between £52,716 - £60,246 (dependant on experience)
• Annual leave allowance of 29 to 30 days (plus bank holidays and an extra day off at Christmas)
• Up to £2,000 car market premium
• £3,000 annual retention premium (paid in instalments)
• £3,000 golden hello (welcome) payment
• An additional £3,500 market premium (paid in monthly instalments)
• Relocation packages up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
• Excellent local government pension scheme
• Opportunities to develop in your career
• The opportunity to develop knowledge in niche areas of social work and expand your knowledge and skills of working with children seeking asylum

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.

Contact Details

If you have queries regarding this role, please contact the Team on uascsrecruitment@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.