About the Role
Lead a High-Performing Families First Team. Cambridgeshire County Council is seeking an experienced Team Manager to lead within our Families First Service, supporting social workers who work with children and families through a relationship-based, multi-disciplinary approach. This is an exciting opportunity for an accomplished Children's Services leader with strong safeguarding expertise, management experience, and a proven track record of delivering high-quality outcomes for children and families.
The team works across Child in Need, Child Protection, and Care Proceedings, completing assessments, direct work, intervention planning, and managing complex safeguarding risks. As Team Manager, you will provide professional leadership, oversight, and support to ensure children receive the right help at the right time.
Location: New Shire Hall, Enterprise Campus, Huntingdon, PE28 4YE
Rate: £45.50 per hour (Umbrella rate)
Contract: Temporary
Hours: 37 hours per week
Office Requirements: Hybrid - office-based, flexible, travel required
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, supervise, and develop Social Workers delivering statutory children's services.
- Provide oversight of complex Child in Need, Child Protection, and court work.
- Quality assure assessments, care plans, reports, statements, and court documentation.
- Manage service delivery, workload allocation, and team performance.
- Provide expert safeguarding advice and leadership on complex cases.
- Support practitioners undertaking care proceedings and attending court.
- Ensure statutory timescales, policies, and procedures are consistently met.
- Lead audits, service reviews, and continuous improvement activity.
- Manage risk effectively and support informed decision-making across the team.
- Build and maintain strong multi-agency partnerships to improve outcomes for children and families.
- Oversee supervision, appraisals, performance management, and staff development.
- Lead on complaints, service planning, and team development initiatives.
- Manage budgets and ensure effective use of resources.
- Deputise for Service and District Managers when required.
About You
- Qualified Social Worker (Degree, Master's, Postgraduate Diploma or recognised Social Work qualification)
- Current Social Work England registration
- Full UK driving licence and ability to travel across Cambridgeshire
- Significant experience within Children's Social Care
- Proven experience leading and managing social work teams
- Extensive knowledge of:
- Child Protection
- Safeguarding
- Care Proceedings
- Risk Management
- Children's Social Care Legislation
- Performance Management and Quality Assurance
- Experience managing complex workloads, service delivery, and performance
- Strong partnership working and stakeholder engagement skills
- Ability to motivate, develop, and support practitioners to achieve high standards of practice
Why Cambridgeshire? Children, young people, and families are at the heart of everything they do. Believing that effective Children's Services can transform lives, build resilience, and create sustainable change. Their practice is underpinned by relationship-based social work and "Big 6" standards:
- Voice of the Child
- Meaningful and Planned Visits
- Chronologies
- Genograms
- Supervision and Management Oversight
- Effective Planning and Plan Reviews
If you're an experienced Team Manager with the leadership skills, safeguarding expertise, and passion to drive excellent practice, we'd love to hear from you.
This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. A DBS check may be applicable for this role, applicants are required to declare any cautions and convictions that are not protected under current filtering rules.
