Service Manager - Harm Outside the Home

Job Introduction

Service Manager:– Harm Outside The Home

Grade:- 14

Directorate:- Children and Young People Services
Service Area:- Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing
Reports to:- Principal Service Lead
Responsible for:- Team Managers and Service Leads
Location:- Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley, DY5 1LW

Job Purpose

To provide strategic and operational leadership across Dudley’s Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing Services, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe and effective services that improve outcomes for children, young people and families.

The Service Manager will have management accountability for a portfolio of services responding to complex adolescent need, including exploitation, missing episodes, serious youth violence, harm outside the home, family breakdown, risk of entry to care and emotional wellbeing.

The postholder will lead and support Team Managers and Service Leads and will be accountable for service performance, quality of practice, safeguarding oversight, workforce management, effective use of resources and continuous service improvement.

Working with senior leaders and key partners, the Service Manager will promote an integrated approach to adolescent safeguarding, family support and emotional wellbeing, ensuring children and families receive coordinated and timely support.

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership and Management

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing Services.
• Provide effective line management, supervision and leadership to Team Managers and Service Leads.
• Set clear expectations for service delivery, professional practice, performance and outcomes.
• Ensure effective workforce planning, recruitment, retention, development and deployment of staff.
• Promote a positive culture of accountability, professional curiosity, reflective practice and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the wider strategic leadership and development of Children and Young People Services.

2. Safeguarding and Practice

• Maintain senior management oversight of safeguarding, complex risk and high-risk situations across the service portfolio.
• Ensure effective responses to exploitation, missing children, serious youth violence and other forms of harm outside the home.
• Ensure Edge of Care services provide effective interventions to strengthen families, prevent family breakdown and reduce unnecessary entry to care where safe and appropriate.
• Ensure Emotional Wellbeing provision responds effectively to the needs of children and young people and connects appropriately with wider Health, Education and safeguarding services.
• Champion child-centred, trauma-informed, strengths-based and contextual safeguarding approaches.
• Provide professional challenge and ensure concerns are appropriately escalated where safeguarding responses require improvement.

3. Performance and Quality Assurance

• Be accountable for service performance, quality and outcomes across all areas of responsibility.
• Establish effective arrangements for management oversight, supervision, audit and quality assurance.
• Monitor demand, capacity, performance and outcomes and ensure timely action is taken where improvement is required.
• Use performance information, intelligence, audit findings and feedback from children and families to drive service improvement.
• Ensure learning from safeguarding reviews, complaints, audits and significant incidents is embedded in practice.
• Provide clear assurance regarding service quality, safeguarding and performance to the Head of Service and wider governance arrangements.

4. Partnership and Strategic Working

• Develop effective strategic and operational relationships with Children’s Social Care, Family Help, Police, Health, Education, Youth Justice, Community Safety, Housing and voluntary and community sector partners.
• Represent Children and Young People Services at relevant multi-agency and partnership forums.
• Promote effective information sharing, joint planning and coordinated responses to children and young people with complex needs.
• Influence and challenge partners appropriately to strengthen safeguarding arrangements and improve outcomes.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of relevant local strategies, policies and service plans.

5. Service Development and Resources

• Lead service improvement, transformation and development across the portfolio.
• Develop an integrated approach across Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing, ensuring clear pathways and effective coordination between services.
• Identify opportunities for prevention and earlier intervention to reduce escalation of need and unnecessary entry to statutory services or care.
• Ensure resources are deployed effectively in response to service demand, risk and priorities.
• Manage delegated budgets and resources in accordance with Council requirements and contribute to financial and workforce planning.
• Use research, evidence, intelligence and performance information to inform service development and commissioning.
• Ensure services demonstrate value for money and measurable impact for children, young people and families.

6. Children, Young People and Families

• Ensure the voices and lived experiences of children, young people and families inform service delivery and development.
• Promote meaningful participation and engagement in the design and evaluation of services.
• Ensure services are accessible, inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of Dudley’s communities.
• Promote practice that builds on the strengths of children, young people, families and their wider networks.

General Responsibilities

The postholder will:

• Work in accordance with Dudley Council policies, procedures, values and professional standards.
• Ensure compliance with statutory safeguarding responsibilities, information governance and data protection requirements.
• Promote equality, diversity, inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice.
• Provide reports, briefings and assurance to senior leaders and partnership arrangements as required.
• Maintain responsibility for identified service risks and ensure appropriate escalation and mitigation.
• Participate in supervision, appraisal and continuing professional development.
• Work flexibly in response to service requirements.
• Undertake other duties commensurate with the level and grade of the post.

Service Context

Dudley’s Specialist Service brings together a Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing provision to provide a coordinated response to children and young people experiencing complex and interconnected needs.

The Service Manager will provide leadership across these services to ensure Dudley delivers an integrated approach that:

• protects children and young people from exploitation and harm outside the home;
• strengthens families and prevents unnecessary entry to care;
• supports children and young people’s emotional wellbeing;
• intervenes earlier where needs and risks are emerging; and
• delivers high-quality, evidence-informed services focused on improving outcomes.
• The postholder will play a key leadership role in ensuring services work effectively together and with the wider partnership to improve the safety, stability, wellbeing and life chances of children and young people across Dudley.

This advert closes at midnight on Sunday 11th October 2026

Shortlisting for this post will take place on Wednesday 14th October 2026

Interviews for this post will be held on Friday 6th November 2026

Workplace Attendance: Working in the office 3+ days a week (pro-rata) or Onsite full time

So that we can demonstrate Dudley’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and to improve bias in the recruitment process that could create barriers for candidates. Your personal data will be anonymised when you apply, to ensure that you comply with our anonymisation process, please ensure you have removed your name and date of birth from any attachments prior to uploading them to your application.

Online application forms will only be accepted for this vacancy, online facilities for jobs are available at public libraries within the Dudley Borough.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation to prove their right to work in the UK.

Please note: Dudley MBC does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

If you require support completing an online or paper application form and or interview techniques, please contact Dudley Adult and Community Learning on 01384 818 143 or acl@dudley.gov.uk who can support with Digital Skills and Job Applications.

If you have a disability and require assistance in making an application please contact the HR Resourcing Team via HR.Resourcing@dudley.gov.uk

If you are experiencing a problem whilst applying for a position, please follow the link below to the WM Jobs Help Page in the first instance https://help.wmjobs.co.uk/

If the WM Jobs Help Page does not resolve your issue then please contact the HR Resourcing Team via HR.Resourcing@dudley.gov.uk

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The Council’s full Privacy and Disclaimer Statement can be accessed on the website at https://www.dudley.gov.uk/privacy-disclaimer-statement/

N.B. We reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the advertised date should we receive a large number of applications

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