Assistant Team Manager - Safeguarding - Adult Social Care

About the Borough

In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

About the Service and Team

Safeguarding Triage team

Adult Social Care has implemented a wide range of changes to improve care for adults and create positive working environments for our staff. We have new leaders and experienced managers who bring innovative ideas to the service and are driving meaningful changes throughout your service delivery. Our goal is to deliver exceptional care that enhances outcomes for our community whilst providing an inclusive, diverse and stable environment for staff to grow their career.

We introduced a new Adults First Contact Service in June 2024, which consists of a General Duty Team and a Safeguarding Triage Team. Our service aims to provide an immediate response to our residents in need of support. The Safeguarding Triage Team focuses on managing risk, preventing harm and empowering the resident to engage in an ongoing plan to maintain their safety. The team works in collaboration with the Locality and Specialist Teams to ensure that concerns that meet the threshold for a Section 42 Enquiry, are allocated to an Enquiry Officer for ongoing work. This joint approach ensures a timely and skilled response to the management of risk.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Reporting to the Team Manager, you will be responsible for the quality assurance of initial safeguarding triage, carefully considering the assessment to establish whether the concern meets the threshold under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014, and apply the necessary scrutiny on the next course of action to address the risk. In your role, you will have oversight of the formulation of protection plans to ensure that the needs and voices of our residents are prioritised, whilst integrating input from families and various professionals, to ensure the best outcome. As an Assistant Team Manager, you will need to be skilled in responding to challenging scenarios and crisis situations, such as self neglect and domestic abuse.

You will be responsible for team operations, including recruitment, retention, and workload allocation. You will provide ongoing supervision to maintain exceptional standards of casework and offer guidance whilst using your expertise to support staff with managing complex cases. Additionally, you will contribute to ensuring that services are cost-effective and, where appropriate, participate in the co-production of service improvements with residents.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to influence how we deliver our services and to apply your knowledge and expertise in supporting our Social Workers, helping them to continue making a positive impact.

For more information about the roles and/or an informal conversation, view the Role Profile or contact Robyn Akerman-Kenny Team Manager, Safeguarding on robyn.akerman-kenny@sutton.gov.uk

This role is an excellent opportunity for experienced managers who have demonstrated strong leadership capabilities within a local authority setting. As a subject matter expert in social care, you will be expected to possess an in-depth knowledge of current legislation, regulations, and guidance pertinent to social work practice.

You will play a pivotal role in supporting staff to adopt creative and innovative approaches, while effectively managing your own time to meet tight deadlines and demonstrate measurable outcomes. Furthermore, you will be responsible for ensuring the quality of work delivered by your team meets established standards.

Key qualifications and competencies for the roles include:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Social Work and registration with Social Work England.
• Extensive post-qualification practice experience, with a thorough understanding of relevant legislation, regulations, and best practice within the field of social care.
• Strong leadership and managerial skills to effectively manage and motivate a multidisciplinary team of social care professionals.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders and community partners, to achieve shared objectives

If you are a dedicated and experienced Social Worker or an established Assistant Team Manager looking to take on a challenging yet rewarding leadership role, we encourage you to apply. Join our service and make a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• General Council Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Public Health Service Localised Flexi-time Scheme - accrual of up to 5 days per year
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Additional Information

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.