Deputy Service Manager – Family Help

Full Time, Permanent

If you are a capable manager/leader with a commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable children and families, we would love to hear from you.

We are seeking a Deputy Service Manager to lead our Family Help service in South Bristol, providing leadership and support to enable the service to deliver high-quality interventions for children and families.

Role Overview:

As Deputy Service Manager, you will play a crucial role in modelling, developing and managing the service for children and families.  You will be working closely with the Service Manager to ensure timely, effective interventions for children and families. You will lead the family help teams, our parenting offer, and our youth and participation work to deliver effective and intensive interventions for children and families, whilst also being the strategic lead for the integration of Early Help in the Neighbourhood.   

In addition to providing operational oversight and strategic development, you will support the Service Manager in managing all core tasks such as management of budgets, workforce and performance.

This is an opportunity to be part of embedding our response to the Families First Partnership Programme in 2026 and going forward.  We want to make sure our services respond effectively to children and families in a timely way, whilst also providing intensive support to children and families when they need it.  As part of the management team in South Bristol you will contribute to the creation of conditions for our teams to feel psychologically safe and supported, access good training and have the time they need to work intensively with children and families.

 What We Are About.

“We will help families to achieve the change they want to see for themselves and their children. We believe that children should live with their family or someone who knows them best. We act when children need to be protected from harm and we do everything we can to make sure that children in our care and care leavers are set up for life”

What We Offer 

Enjoy a competitive rewards package, featuring flexible working, competitive pay, an exceptional Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance.

Explore more about our benefits on our social work microsite here 

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

How do I apply?

If you share our values and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.

To be shortlisted for interview you’ll need to demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria in the Person Specification within the Further Information section of your application. On occasion we will receive high numbers of applications, we may then shortlist against the desirable criteria along with the essential criteria, so if you can, please demonstrate how you meet this in your application.

We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.

For more information or to discuss this opportunity contact: Katrina Murphy Area Manager South katrina.murphy@bristol.gov.uk 07795091412.

Bristol City Council strives to have a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, we are therefore committed to ensuring diversity in our hiring process. We 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.

The personal information section (including your name) you’ll complete as part of the application form will not be visible to hiring managers, but is used confidentially to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.