Team Manager – Permanency Assessment and Support Team (PAST)
We’re looking for an experienced and motivated social work leader to join our Permanency Assessment and Support Team (PAST) as a Team Manager. You’ll lead a team delivering high-quality kinship (connected persons) assessments and support, helping children to live safely within their family networks and achieve permanence.
About the Role
This is an opportunity to lead one of two specialist teams focused on kinship care. You will provide management and professional oversight to social workers completing viability assessments and kinship (connected persons) assessments (Form K) and ensure support plans are robust and timely. You’ll quality assure practice so that work is analytical, child-focused and compliant with legislation, regulations, local procedures and national expectations for kinship care.
- Manage and supervise a team undertaking kinship (connected persons) assessments and support work.
- Quality assure assessments and reports, providing oversight for court work and fostering panel requirements.
- Contribute to permanence and care planning, ensuring the child’s lived experience and voice is central.
- Work in partnership with internal services and external agencies to strengthen the kinship support offer and triangulation through checks and references.
- Use audit/Quality Assurance activity to drive improvement and promote consistent, high standards of practice.
You must have:
- Significant practice experience in kinship (connected persons) work, including oversight/completing high-quality assessments suitable for court and fostering panel.
- Strong working knowledge of fostering legislation, statutory guidance and the Fostering Services (England) Regulations/placement regulations (as applicable to the role).
- Proven ability to lead, supervise, support and develop social workers to deliver excellent outcomes for children.
- A collaborative approach and the confidence to build effective relationships with internal teams, partner agencies and families.
- A commitment to restorative, reflective and systemic practice.
- Significant quality assurance experience and a commitment to continuous improvement.
- A passion for identifying and addressing disproportionality, with a commitment to anti-racist practice.
Why Join Us?
Kinship care is increasingly recognised nationally as a vital way to keep children connected to their families. In this role you will lead practice that strengthens permanence planning and improves support for kinship families. You’ll work alongside colleagues across children’s social care and with external partners to develop consistent, high-quality assessment and support pathways.
If you have the expertise, leadership skills, and passion to make a lasting impact on children's lives, we’d love to hear from you!
Apply now and help shape the future of kinship care.
Key Requirements
- Social Work England registration.
- Significant post-qualifying experience in children’s social care, including kinship (connected persons) work.
- Demonstrable leadership/management capability (for example, supervising staff and managing performance, DofE statistics and competing demands).
- Strong understanding of relevant legislation, best practice guidance and kinship/fostering/placement regulations, and confidence with court work.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with children, families, professionals and partner agencies.
- Ability to audit, use quality assurance/audit learning to improve practice, with a commitment to addressing disproportionality.
- Good IT and organisational skills (including case management systems and Microsoft Office).
How to Apply
To apply, please complete the online application form and upload your supporting statement (referencing the key requirements from the JDPS) and CV.
Closing date: 14th June 2026
Interview date: 26th June 2026
If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact: [email protected]
We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date where a sufficient number of high-quality applications is received. To support a fair and manageable selection process, we will ensure a reasonable application window is maintained. We therefore encourage candidates to apply as early as possible.
