Team Manager – Children with Disabilities, West Essex

Permanent, Full Time

£55,892 to £69,241 per annum

Location: Harlow

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and flourish. We have a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion, focusing on promoting the development and well-being of children, young people, and their families, while protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners, we deliver a range of early help, family support, and effective social work interventions that build resilience, remove barriers, and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

Children With Disabilities

We have a specialised service supporting Children and Young People with Disabilities across Basildon, Chelmsford, Colchester, and Harlow. We operate through four teams:

The 0–15 Social Care team
The 16–25 Social Care team
Occupational Therapy (OT)
Preparing for Adulthood (PFA)

The Team Manager leads the team, developing and promoting capabilities while holding individuals accountable for performance and the delivery of improvements. Working closely with the Service Manager, they contribute to the development of strategy and ensure a service that adapts responsively to change.

With a proven ability to focus on results, develop innovative solutions and build strong working relationships, this leader will possess a deep understanding of operating within a challenging social and financial environment.

The role is pivotal in guiding, supporting and nurturing high-quality social work practice within the team and across the service. It involves working across the quadrant and county with colleagues, partners and families to ensure families receive the support they require, protecting children from harm and promoting their well-being.

Working as part of a highly supportive team, the Team Manager also ensures that Social Worker well-being remains a key priority, that families receive the right level of service, and that interventions are appropriate and proportionate.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Children & Families

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

Accountabilities

Lead a team of social workers to deliver a high-quality professional service with positive outcomes.
Accountable for individual performance, quality assurance, resources and budgets.
Accountable for the practice of social workers within the team, providing professional and practice supervision, using available tools to address underperformance and coaching to enhance the quality of the practice.
Responsible for development of individuals to maximise the capability and performance across the team.
Responsible for the oversight and quality assurance of a range of social work reports and court statements.
Responsible for responding to complaints and other feedback from service users in accordance with policy and in a way that fosters positive relationships.
Lead inter-agency collaborative working, where a social work perspective is used to inform and drive decision making. Establishing and developing effective approaches to integrated working with partners, communities and the voluntary sector, to achieve successful outcomes for service users.
Develop the training and tactical service delivery plan for the team.
Use expertise and professional knowledge to provide advice and guidance for complex cases in line with legislative and organisational standards.

The Experience You Will Bring

Degree in Social Work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent
Registration with Social Work England as registered Social Worker
Previous team manager experience or as a senior practitioner.
Previous experience of working with children with disabilities is preferable,
Delivery of services in Children’s Social Care
People Management
Resource planning and management
Quality assurance and customer care
Achieving person centred outcomes
Work with complex statistical, financial and performance information
Policy development and change management
Experience of working in a political environment, skills in understanding and responding to different perspectives and taking a cross organisational perspective
Required to work flexibly as required, including evenings and weekends if necessary.
You will be committed to systemic, relationship based social work, providing effective, innovative interventions and with the ability to build good partnerships, both with our external partners and within the organisation.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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