Terms and Conditions: Full Time, Fixed Term - Maternity Cover
Department: Children’s Services
Closing Date: Friday 26 June 2026
Interview Date:Friday 3 July 2026
Are you an experienced leader in children’s services with a passion for early intervention and family‑centred practice? Do you want to play a key role in strengthening families, reducing risk, and ensuring children are supported safely within their communities?
We are seeking a motivated and skilled Family Help Team Leader who can lead and manage a team delivering high‑quality help and targeted support to children, young people, and families.
As a Family Help Team Leader, you will provide strong, compassionate leadership to a team of practitioners working with families at varying levels of need. You will ensure practice is outcome‑focused, strengths‑based, trauma‑informed, and aligned to the Family Help Model, delivering the right help at the right time.
You will play a vital role in:
- Safeguarding children, preventing escalation to statutory services, and embedding effective multi‑agency working across the system.
- Provide day‑to‑day leadership, supervision, and support to Family Help practitioners.
- Promote reflective practice, professional curiosity, and continuous development within the team
- Quality assure casework to ensure high standards of assessment, planning, and review
- Maintain a strong focus on safeguarding and escalate concerns appropriately.
- Embed systemic, strengths‑based, trauma‑informed, and family‑centred approaches
- Ensure families receive coordinated support that delivers measurable outcomes
- Work collaboratively with partner agencies and represent the service in meetings, panels, and reviews
- Manage performance, attendance, and wellbeing in line with organisational policies
- Contribute to service development, improvement, and transformation
You will be an experienced and confident leader who can balance support and challenge while working with families experiencing complex and enduring needs.
You will have:
- Strong knowledge of children’s legislation, safeguarding frameworks, and Early Help thresholds
- A good understanding of the Family Help Model and restorative, family‑led approaches
- Proven experience of supervising and managing staff within children’s services
- Excellent assessment, analytical, and decision‑making skills
- Confidence in managing risk and exercising sound professional judgement
- Strong communication skills, including report writing and chairing meetings
- Experience of using case management systems and performance data to monitor quality and outcomes
- A clear commitment to equality, diversity, and anti‑discriminatory practice
Essential Qualification:
- Relevant NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent) in an associated field, such as Child Care, Youth Work, or Working with Children and Young People
Why Join Us?
You will be joining a service that is:
- Committed to early intervention and family‑led decision making
- Investing in reflective, supportive leadership
- Actively aligned to national Family Help and safeguarding reforms
- Focused on improving outcomes for children while supporting staff wellbeing
If you are passionate about making a difference at the earliest point of intervention and leading practice that keeps children safely within their families wherever possible, we would love to hear from you.
Apply now and be part of a service that truly puts families at the centre of what we do.
There's no better way to get a feel for a team than hearing from the people who lead it. Watch our Team Managers share their experience of working in Family Help at Blackburn with Darwen below!
For further information please contact Hayley Donnelly, Family Help Team Manager, at [email protected]
Should the maternity cover role become permanent, it may not be readvertised.
Previous applicants need not apply!
