Working for us and How we Support You
Through Children’s Services, we will work with children, families, and young people to help ensure that every child, family and young person is supported to achieve his or her potential. The foundations for our children’s future mental wellbeing and health, emotional stability, intelligence and parenting ability are all set in place in the early years, and the home surroundings, family life and parenting are all important factors in determining positive outcomes for children in the future.
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including:
- an excellent local government pension scheme
- generous holiday entitlement of 30 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
- a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
- maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
- volunteering opportunities
- training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
- a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see ourStaff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
- health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans
For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.
The Opportunity
As a Family Group Conference Team Manager you will manage a Family Group
Conference (FGC) team, ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of a Family
Group Conferencing service, and contributing to the ongoing service
development and delivery. Services will be delivered in accordance with
legislation, Corporate and Directorate policies and within allocated budget.
You will have relevant experience of managing staff, demonstrating an ability to
lead strategically and to inspire and motivate others. We are looking for a track
record of delivering impact for families and children through projects, service
development and internal and external partnership work.
You will lead, inspire and develop a team of Family Group Conference Advisors, driving the delivery of a high-quality, family led and child-centred service aligned with legislation, policy and best practice. Provide clear direction through day-to-day leadership, supervision and performance management, proactively allocating workload and resources to meet demand and priorities within budget. Oversee referral and allocation processes to ensure timely, effective responses, while maintaining high standards through audits, performance monitoring, quality assurance and continuous service improvement.
You will also build and strengthen networks and partnerships across education, health, police, housing and other relevant partner agencies to deliver joined-up support and consistent best practice across the county. Recruit, coach and motivate staff to thrive in a dynamic environment, while contributing to policy development, training delivery and service promotion. Champion equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the role, ensuring the voices and needs of children and families shape service delivery, and driving innovation and excellence across the Family Group Conference service.
This Is Where You Come In
To be successful in the role you will need to:
- NVQ Level 4 or equivalent in relevant field such as Social Work, teaching, mediation, youth work etc. (if relying on Social Work qualification you will be required to be registered with HCPC).
- Experience of professional supervision, line management or project management, including staff recruitment and development
- Experience of training delivery
- Experience of working jointly with key partners in statutory, private and voluntary sectors
- Experience of contributing to policy and practice formulation, implementation and review
- Valid and full driving licence and access to a vehicle / ability to travel around the county independently
- Ability to develop effective working relationships with Children’s Services staff, Family Group Conference colleagues, referrers, a range of professionals, and children and families. The ability to work cooperatively
and flexibly with partners to achieve success.
- Capacity to inspire individuals to give their best to achieve results and to maintain effective relationships with individuals and the team as a whole. The ability to demonstrate respect for equality and diversity in
everyday management activities.
- Ability to adapt, to work effectively in different situations and to carry out a variety of tasks.
- Effective verbal and written communication skills. Confident and competent presentation skills.
For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
Further Information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE06417.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Bernie Mullett (Pause Practice Lead) at [email protected]. For issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected].
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to basic DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact [email protected].
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
Job Reference: CAFHE06417
