Join our innovative Children’s Services team and play a key role in helping families stay safely together. As the Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare Team Supervisor, you will provide clinical leadership to a team of therapists delivering intensive, evidence-based support to children aged 0-9 and their families.
What is Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare (FFT-CW)?
Functional Family Therapy Child Welfare (FFT-CW) is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention that will be delivered in Cheshire East for children aged 0-9 and their families who are at risk of care entry due to significant child welfare concerns. FFT-CW works with children, parents, carers and wider family networks to strengthen relationships, improve communication, enhance parenting approaches and reduce the factors placing children at risk.
The model combines structured family-based therapeutic intervention with practical support, helping families build on their strengths and develop the skills, confidence and resilience needed to achieve lasting change. FFT-CW can support families experiencing challenges such as family conflict, emotional wellbeing concerns, trauma, anxiety, substance misuse and difficulties within family relationships.
FFT is an internationally recognised model delivered to thousands of families each year and is supported by ongoing research, training and clinical oversight to ensure high-quality, evidence-based practice.
Previous FFT-CW qualifications are not required.
Successful candidates will receive comprehensive training in the licensed FFT-CW model, together with ongoing coaching, supervision, consultation and fidelity support from a FFT consultant.
This role provides a unique opportunity to develop therapeutic and systemic practice skills within internationally recognised, evidence-based interventions.
About us
At Cheshire East Council we are resident, and partner focused with a vision to enable prosperity and wellbeing for all. People really are at the heart of everything we do and that starts with our incredible workforce. We promote a culture of high performance where people can aspire, thrive and flourish, where we strive to deliver best value in everything we do.
For us, success isn’t just about what we achieve, but how we achieve it together. We promote curiosity, excellence, innovation and continuous improvement.
We are values led and committed to wellbeing and inclusion for all, where our employees co-created our values of drive, integrity, respect and collaboration which inform all that we do.
We are proud to work for Cheshire East Council and believe you would be too!
Join us on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care at Cheshire East Council
We’re on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care and we’d love for you to be part of it. Joining us means becoming part of a supportive, forward-thinking team that’s passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and young people. Everything we do is about putting them first, helping them grow, thrive and reach their full potential so they can build brighter futures.
If this sounds like the kind of impact you want to make, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Come and join us in shaping positive change for our young people.
About the role
You will provide clinical leadership and supervision to a team of therapists, oversee complex family interventions, and work with partners across Children's Services to improve outcomes for children and reduce the need for care entry. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced professional who is passionate about safeguarding, family-centred practice, and developing high-performing teams.
Key responsibilities:
- Provide clinical leadership and supervision to FFT-CW practitioners.
- Oversee complex cases, risk management, and safeguarding practice.
- Support and develop staff through coaching, performance management, and professional guidance.
- Work collaboratively with social care, family help, and multi-agency partners.
- Lead service quality, outcomes monitoring, and continuous improvement activities.
Champion strengths-based, trauma-informed, and family-focused approaches.
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This is just a snapshot of some of the exciting things you’ll be doing in the role, to find out more about the other key responsibilities of the role please view the attached job description.
About you
You are an experienced and values-driven professional with a passion for improving outcomes for children and families. You bring strong safeguarding expertise, leadership skills, and the ability to support practitioners to deliver high-quality, evidence-based interventions. Confident working with complex family situations, you thrive in a collaborative environment and are committed to developing others, driving service excellence, and helping families achieve lasting positive change.
You will have:
- A recognised professional qualification in Social Work, Psychology, Family Therapy, or a related field.
- Significant experience working with children and families where there are safeguarding concerns.
- Experience supervising, coaching, and developing practitioners.
- Strong clinical decision-making, communication, and leadership skills.
- Knowledge of trauma-informed, strengths-based, and systemic approaches to family work.
- A commitment to collaborative, anti-discriminatory, and child-focused practice.
To find out more about the essential and desirable criteria for the role please view the attached job description specification document.
Please note: Shortlisting and interviews will take place throughout the advertising period, therefore early application is encouraged.
What we offer in return:
- A competitive salary - Between £48,072 per annum - £54,994 per annum (CEC NJC – Grade 11) with guaranteed yearly pay increases!
- Enhanced annual leave - Start with an impressive 34 days of annual leave (including bank holidays) from day one, and watch it grow to 39 days after just five years of service
- Purchase of annual leave – Want more time off? You can purchase up to 10 extra days of annual leave each year, giving you the flexibility to balance work and life just the way you want (Pro-rata for part-time staff)
- Flexible working pattern - Enjoy a 37-hour standard full-time work week with the added perks of flexitime and hybrid/remote working arrangements where possible. Your work-life balance just got a whole lot better!
- Salary sacrifice green car scheme - Drive green and save green! Lease a brand-new electric or hybrid car through our salary sacrifice scheme. There’re no credit checks, no deposits, just significant savings and exclusive offers on a three-year lease
- White goods salary sacrifice scheme - Upgrade your home with ease. Purchase home and electronic items through our salary sacrifice scheme, spreading the cost of big-ticket purchases like appliances, computers, and tech gadgets directly from your salary
- Enhanced public pension - Secure your future with our career average pension, where contributions are built at a rate of 1/49th of your yearly pensionable pay
- Cycle to work scheme - Save up to 25-39% on the retail price of bikes and safety equipment through Income Tax and National Insurance savings. Get fit and save money!
- Employee assistance programme - Access a completely free and confidential assistance service to help manage, reduce, and overcome life’s challenges, both at work and in your personal life
- Discounted gym membership - Stay active and healthy with corporate membership prices for Everybody Leisure, including:
- Gym, Swim and Group Fitness at all 16 facilities
- Off-Peak Racket Sports
- Athletics Tracks
- Sauna/Steam/Spa
As an equal opportunities’ employer, we warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We believe that a diverse workforce helps us better reflect and serve our local communities, and together, we can build something truly special.
Once you’ve applied for the position, please keep an eye on your email inbox (including your junk and spam folders), as we’ll send any correspondence there to stay in touch with updates about your application.
If you haven’t heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, it likely means we weren’t able to move forward with your application at this time but please don’t let this discourage you as your interest means a lot to us, and we’d truly love to hear from you again in the future!
We wish you all the best in your application and if you run into any technical issues, our friendly team are here to help at: [email protected].
Cheshire East Council is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults across the Borough. As such, any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings that are ‘not protected’ as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 (as amended in 2013) relating to the non-disclosure of spent convictions do not apply to this job. You must therefore, disclose whether you have any previous convictions where prompted to do so within the application process.
