Are you passionate about improving outcomes for teenagers at risk of exploitation, missing episodes and harm outside the home?
Durham Childrens Services is seeking an enthusiastic, skilled and motivated Assistant Team Manager to join our well-established ERASE (Exploitation and Missing) Service. This is an exciting opportunity to help lead a specialist team that works with some of County Durhams most vulnerable young people, supporting innovative and effective responses to child exploitation, missing episodes and extra-familial harm.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a service that is at the forefront of developing innovative responses to adolescent safeguarding, exploitation and Harm Outside the Home. Working alongside a wide range of partners, you will help shape and influence practice that improves safety and outcomes for young people across County Durham.
As an Assistant Team Manager, you will play a key role in developing high-quality practice, supporting staff performance and contributing to Durhams continued commitment to Contextual Safeguarding and Harm Outside the Home approaches. Working alongside managers, practitioners and partner agencies, you will help ensure that young people receive the right support, at the right time, to improve safety and achieve positive outcomes.
WHAT IS INVOLVED?
ERASE is a specialist countywide service within Durham Childrens Services that works with teenagers who are vulnerable to child exploitation, going missing and other forms of harm outside the home.
You will provide day-to-day operational management, supervision and support to practitioners within the Exploitation and Missing Teams, ensuring high standards of practice, effective safeguarding interventions and positive outcomes for young people and their families.
Working closely with the ERASE Team Manager and colleagues across Supporting Solutions, you will:
- Support the leadership and development of the ERASE Service.
- Provide supervision, guidance and support to the missing staff to promote high-quality practice and professional development.
- Monitor performance, workload management and quality assurance activity across the missing team.
- Promote strengths-based, trauma-informed and relationship-based approaches when working with adolescents and families.
- Build and maintain effective multi-agency partnerships with Social Care, Police, Education, Health and voluntary sector organisations.
- Contribute to the development of services responding to missing episodes, exploitation and extra-familial harm.
- Represent the service at operational and multi-agency meetings, ensuring effective partnership responses to safeguarding concerns.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues across Supporting Solutions, including ASET, Rapid Response, Edge of Care and wider adolescent safeguarding services.
The service is countywide and based at The Nest, Nettlesworth. We operate a hybrid working model that supports a balance of office-based, home and community working.
We encourage you to contact Alex Black, ERASE Team Manager, via email at
[email protected] to arrange an informal discussion about the role.
WHAT WILL I NEED?
You will hold a relevant Level 3 qualification and have significant experience of working with vulnerable adolescents, particularly those affected by child exploitation, missing episodes and harm outside the home.
You will be able to demonstrate:
- Experience of supporting, supervising or leading staff within a safeguarding environment.
- Strong knowledge of child exploitation, contextual safeguarding and adolescent risk.
- Experience of effective multi-agency working and partnership development.
- The ability to analyse risk and support high-quality safeguarding interventions.
- Strong communication, organisational and leadership skills.
- A commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for children, young people and families.
Please refer to the attached Person Specification for the full criteria.
If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure.
OUR COMMITMENT TO SAFEGUARDING
Durham County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore if successful in your application, an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be sought inclusive of a check of the Childrens Barred List, due to the position working in regulated activity. Applicants should be aware that the DBS check will disclose both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings, in line with current legislation [include this line if includes barred list check - and will confirm whether an individual is barred from working with children.
INTERVIEWS
Interviews will be held on
Monday 14th September 2026.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.
OUR OFFER TO YOU
We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website
Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled and neurodivergent people and offer support throughout the recruitment process.
HOW TO APPLY
Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the Person Specification section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted.
Please visit our website to understand our position on using AI to support your application and for guidance on completing your application.
If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27, or via email
[email protected]
All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from
[email protected]. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you dont miss any updates.
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