Service Manager: Care Leavers and UASC

Our Children and Families services and our vision here in Staffordshire is rooted in four core principles that underpin everything we do:

• Families first – network and community always
• Right help, right time – proportionate, timely and co-produced with children and families
• Whole-system responsibility for supporting children and families to be happy, healthy and safe
• Permanence as belonging from day one

To achieve our ambition, we have taken a bold decision to transform our service structure and we’re looking for talented, values-driven leaders who can champion these principles, inspire others and help shape the future of Children and Families services in Staffordshire.

We want to create a more resilient, child-centred and future-focused system that enables children, young people and families to receive the right help at the right time.

Through this redesign, we are strengthening leadership, increasing capacity and creating clearer lines of accountability across our services. These changes will support high-quality practice, stronger partnerships and better outcomes for children and families, while ensuring we are well positioned to respond to reforms and future challenges.

As Service Manager for Care Leavers, Belonging and Reunification and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), you will provide inspiring operational leadership to ensure young people receive high-quality, safe and person-centred support as they move towards independence. You will lead services that help care-experienced young people and young people seeking asylum achieve positive outcomes, and support opportunities of permanence and reunification while driving continuous improvement, partnership working and excellent practice across the service.

You will

• Lead and develop Care Leaver and UASC services, ensuring young people receive effective support that promotes safety, stability, independence and positive life outcomes.
• Drive service improvement, quality assurance and performance management, using data, feedback and learning to continually enhance practice and service delivery.
• Work closely with partners including housing, education, health, legal services, the voluntary sector and other agencies to deliver joined-up support for young people.
• Oversee accommodation and transition planning, helping young people access safe, suitable housing and supporting successful moves into adulthood.
• Manage budgets, resources and operational risks effectively, ensuring services remain high quality, sustainable and compliant with statutory responsibilities.
• Champion the voice of young people, embedding participation and co-production in service development while promoting strong corporate parenting principles.

The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• a degree or equivalent level qualification.
• Qualification and registered Social Worker.
• Substantial experience of managing teams within children's social care in a multi-agency environment.
• In-depth knowledge of legislation, statutory guidance and policy relating to care leavers.
• Significant understanding of statutory duties and guidance relating to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, including assessment, transition planning and immigration-related considerations.
• Supervisory and management experience, including knowledge of relevant HR guidance and procedures.
• Experience of developing and monitoring performance frameworks, quality assurance activity and reporting processes.

Interviews will be held in person - date to be confirmed.

Don’t feel you meet all the requirements? We value transferable skills, experiences, and qualifications so consider applying anyway or for an informal chat about the role please contact Kelda Claire - kelda.claire@staffordshire.gov.uk

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role. Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes.