Team Manager

Job Description

• Suffolk County Council
• Address: Lowestoft NR33 0EQ, Ipswich IP1 5PB or Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU - Hybrid
• Salary: £55,563 per annum (pro rata for part time)
• Hours: 37 hours per week, flexible working options available
• Contract: Permanent

At Suffolk County Council, we're reimagining what local government can achieve. As a Team Manager in our new Building Futures (Neglect) Team, you'll have the opportunity to shape a specialist countywide service that supports children and families affected by neglect through targeted, evidence-informed intervention.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a newly established multidisciplinary team, helping to develop practice, build strong partnerships, and improve outcomes for children across Suffolk.

Reimagine the possibilities.

Your role and responsibilities

As Team Manager, you will lead and oversee a specialist team of Social Workers, Family Help Practitioners and Senior Family Help Practitioners, focused on tackling neglect and improving children’s lived experiences.

We are looking for an experienced and motivated leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and families.

You will:

• Lead and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary team delivering targeted interventions to children and families where neglect is a primary concern.
• Drive a strengths-based, child-centred approach that promotes sustainable change and improves outcomes.
• Provide reflective supervision, practice guidance, and professional challenge to support high-quality interventions.
• Ensure effective assessment, planning, case progression, and risk management across the service.
• Build strong relationships with Family Help, Social Care, Education, Health, Police and other partners to deliver coordinated support.
• Lead on performance, quality assurance, service improvement, and the development of best practice in responding to neglect.
• Support the implementation of evidence-informed approaches and contribute to wider service development across Children's Services.
• Manage resources, staffing, recruitment, and workforce development within the team.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and high professional standards.

This is a countywide role requiring regular travel between Lowestoft, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, with a visible presence in each area office on a weekly basis. Due to the travel requirements of the role, you will need a driving licence and access to personal transport. If you can meet these requirements through other suitable means, please contact the Hiring Manager to discuss.

You will bring:

• A recognised Social Work qualification and current Social Work England registration.
• Significant experience working within Children's Services, including Social Care Fieldwork, Family Help, safeguarding, assessment, child protection, or other frontline children's services teams.
• Experience of leading, supervising, coaching, and developing practitioners.
• Strong knowledge of children's legislation, safeguarding responsibilities, and assessment frameworks.
• Experience of managing risk and making informed decisions in complex situations.
• A proven ability to develop effective partnerships and work collaboratively across agencies.
• Strong communication, organisational and leadership skills.
• A commitment to strengths-based practice and achieving the best outcomes for children and families.
• Knowledge of Signs of Safety, solution-focused practice, and evidence-informed intervention models would be advantageous.

You can view the full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile (JPP), which can be found in the 'How to Apply' section.

The team

The Building Futures (Neglect) Team is a new specialist service within Family Help, created to strengthen how we support children and families experiencing neglect. The team works with families at the earliest appropriate opportunity, delivering focused interventions that reduce risk, strengthen parenting capacity, and create lasting change for children. The practitioners in the team will hold case responsibility for the children they work with.

As Team Manager, you will play a key role in shaping the identity, culture, and practice of this developing service. Working alongside a dedicated multidisciplinary team, you will help establish effective ways of working, embed high-quality practice, and ensure the child's lived experience remains at the centre of everything we do.

This is a rare opportunity to help build a specialist service from the ground up whilst being supported by an organisation committed to continuous improvement and professional development.

Take a look at what makes our Ideal Worker, shaped by the voices of young people: find out more.

Empowering Everyone

We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

For more information

Please contact Nathalie Rich for a casual conversation. You can reach them by calling 01473 263515 or emailing Nathalie.Rich@suffolk.gov.uk

How to apply

Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (Word).

Step 2 - Click ‘Apply Now’ to start your online application.

Step 3 - Upload a supporting statement answering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use the Supporting Statement template (Word).

1. Tell us about your experience of working with children and families where neglect was a significant concern. How did you ensure the child's lived
   experience remained central to assessment, planning and intervention?
2. This is a newly established specialist team. Describe a time when you have helped develop a new service, introduce a new way of working, or lead
   service improvement. What challenges did you encounter and how did you overcome them?

3. Provide an example of a complex case or service issue that required effective multi-agency working. What was your role, how did you influence others,
   and what was the outcome?

Please note: Without a supporting statement, your interest will not be progressed. Any supporting documents must be in either PDF or MS Word format.

For guidance on completing your application, please see our How to Apply page.

Planning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Please ensure your application still reflects your own skills, experience and ideas. If used inappropriately, your application may not be processed. Please read our guidance for using AI to understand what’s acceptable.

Do you need any reasonable adjustments to help you to apply? If you are disabled and/or have additional support needs, you can request reasonable adjustments. You can do this by contacting our Recruitment Team at recruitment@suffolk.gov.uk or 03456 014412.You can find examples ofpossible adjustments on our Reasonable Adjustment pages.

Closing date: 11.30pm, 5 October 2026

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. #LI-Hybrid

About us

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We’re driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.

In return, you’ll enjoy:

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk).