Workforce Development Manager

Grade K SCP 39 £50,269- SCP 43 £54,495
Contract: Permanent
Essential Requirement: DBS, Registered with SW England and be at least five years post qualified with experience working in a children’s social work setting
Essential Qualification: Must have a Social Work Qualification and registered with Social Work England.
Interview date: 18th June 2026
For further information about this role, contact Jennifer Kenny Jennifer.kenny@bolton.gov.uk

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Applications that rely too heavily on AI may be rejected during shortlisting, however we understand that AI may be used as a reasonable adjustment, if using AI to support your application, please give a brief explanation why to help ensure fair selection process.
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The Role
As Workforce Development Manager, you will play a pivotal role in shaping, delivering and evaluating a workforce development offer that supports high quality practice across Children’s Services. Working under the leadership of the Principal Social Worker, you will lead on the delivery of the workforce development strategy, learner programmes and career pathways that strengthen recruitment, retention, progression and succession planning.
You will oversee social work entry pathways and learner programmes, including ASYE, apprenticeships, students, return to practice routes and practice educator development, ensuring they are well designed, effectively delivered and continuously improved. You will lead training needs analysis across the workforce, using insight from data, evaluation and feedback to inform training priorities and align workforce development activity with organisational improvement and statutory requirements.
You will work in close partnership with managers, advanced practitioners, QA and practice improvement colleagues, HR and wider partners to embed a strong learning culture. You will champion Bolton’s Practice Approach, practice standards and values, ensuring learning is purposeful, practice focused and translates into improved outcomes for children, young people and families.
As a member of the Principal Social Work management team, you will provide professional challenge, influence strategic decision making and contribute to inspection readiness and service improvement. You will also represent Bolton through partnership working and external engagement, helping to position the council as a credible, supportive and aspirational place to work and learn.
If you would like to discuss this role further, please contact Principal Social Worker, Jennifer.Kenny@bolton.gov.uk

About You
You are an experienced and credible registered social worker, with significant post qualifying experience in children’s social work and a strong commitment to developing a confident, capable and values led workforce. You have a deep understanding of statutory children’s services, current legislation and national drivers, and what good practice looks like in complex, pressurised environments.
You ideally bring strong expertise in workforce development, learning culture design and programme delivery, with experience of leading social work entry pathways, ASYE and learner programmes, and supporting career progression. You are skilled in training needs analysis, evaluation and reporting, using insight to shape effective, evidence informed development activity that has tangible impact on practice.
You are confident working strategically and operationally, able to manage multiple priorities and lead complex workstreams while maintaining focus on quality and outcomes. You have strong influencing and communication skills, enabling you to work effectively with senior leaders, managers, practitioners and partners, and to provide constructive challenge where needed.
You are organised, reflective and resilient, with excellent written and verbal communication skills. You are committed to partnership working, continuous improvement and professional development, and you model Bolton’s values in everything you do. Above all, you are motivated by making a difference, creating the conditions in which practitioners can thrive and deliver the best possible outcomes for children and families.
If you think you could be what we're looking for, please apply now with your CV and covering letter explaining how you meet the requirements of the role as outlined in the job description and person specification

About Us
This is your opportunity to join us at an exciting time as we have strong ambitions for the borough.

Bolton is a great place to work. We are a welcoming organisation that wants to contribute to a place where people feel active, connected and prosperous. We are passionate about improving the outcomes and experience of Bolton people. We want Bolton to be a vibrant place built on strong cohesive communities, successful businesses and healthy, engaged residents.

As an employer we want to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment, by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits, including discounts and exclusive gym membership prices and salary sacrifice schemes. In addition, we offer a generous annual leave allowance, flexible work opportunities, access to a Pension Scheme, as well as a range of employee wellbeing and support services.

Our Values are really important to us, read all about them below, along with all our great staff benefits, the job description/person specification for the role and the important legal bits, and our Top Tips too.
Ready to apply? Then please click Apply and upload your anonymised CV and supporting statement discussing your relevant skills and experience and explain how you believe they make you a strong fit for this role.

Within Greater Manchester, local authorities have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel. Please see greater.jobs for further information before you apply.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance - this post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (amended in 2013). Employment offers are conditional subject to satisfactory clearances. For roles where a criminal records check from the DBS is required, this includes satisfactory clearance of this check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily bar an individual from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of an individual’s offence/s. Information provided by you or the DBS will be dealt with in a confidential manner and in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice which can be viewed here. Bolton Council’s policy on the Employment of Ex-Offenders is available here.

This post is a designated customer facing role under the fluency duty and requires a specified level of spoken English as per the person specification.

This organisation has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. That means we will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’ service in any Greater Manchester local authority or NHS organisation that has signed the commitment, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority, giving you access to our service-related benefits. Please see the home page of greater.jobs for more information.

For more information about working for Bolton Council, please see greater.jobs; for advice and support with your application, contact recruitment@bolton.gov.uk