The posting
Contract to start ASAP
Duration: 12 weeks with a possible extension.
Children's Services Team Manager
Hours: Full-time (35 hours per week)
Contract: 12 Week Temporary Contract, ending 14 February 2027
Lead High-Quality Social Care Support for Children and Young People Aged 0 to 25
We're recruiting an experienced Children's Services Team Manager – 0 to 25 Service to join the London Borough of Lambeth, providing strong professional leadership across a specialist social care team supporting children, young people, and young adults.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced qualified Social Worker and manager with a strong background in Children's Social Care, safeguarding, disability services, transition planning, complex needs, statutory casework, and team leadership.
You'll lead a team of Social Workers and practitioners, ensuring high-quality assessments, care planning, safeguarding, supervision, and case management while promoting positive outcomes for children, young people, and their families.
About the Role
As a Children's Services Team Manager – 0 to 25 Service, you'll provide operational and professional leadership to a team responsible for supporting children and young people with a range of complex social care needs.
You'll oversee casework, support professional decision-making, manage performance, provide regular supervision, and ensure statutory responsibilities are met to a consistently high standard.
What you'll be doing:
- Leading and managing a team of Social Workers and social care practitioners
- Providing regular supervision, professional guidance, and management oversight
- Overseeing complex cases involving children, young people, and young adults aged 0 to 25
- Ensuring assessments, care plans, and interventions are timely, proportionate, and outcome-focused
- Providing management oversight of safeguarding and child protection concerns
- Supporting effective transition planning from children's to adult services where appropriate
- Monitoring case progression and identifying drift, delay, or gaps in intervention
- Ensuring the voice of the child or young person is central to planning and decision-making
- Supporting Social Workers with complex professional decisions
- Chairing or contributing to complex case discussions and multi-agency meetings
- Managing risk and ensuring appropriate escalation of safeguarding concerns
- Reviewing and authorising assessments, plans, and statutory documentation
- Monitoring workloads and caseloads to ensure safe and effective practice
- Managing team performance against service standards, KPIs, and statutory timescales
- Supporting quality assurance and case audit activity
- Identifying learning and development needs within the team
- Supporting newly qualified or less experienced practitioners
- Promoting reflective, strengths-based, and child-centred practice
- Working closely with health, education, SEND, housing, adult social care, and other partner agencies
- Supporting children and young people with disabilities or complex needs
- Managing complaints, escalations, and complex family situations
- Contributing to service improvement and transformation activity
- Supporting recruitment, workforce planning, and staff development
- Ensuring compliance with legislation, statutory guidance, Council policies, and Social Work England standards
Requirements
We're looking for a highly experienced and professionally confident Social Work Manager with strong leadership, safeguarding, and complex case-management experience.
You'll ideally have:
- A recognised Social Work qualification
- Current registration with Social Work England
- Significant post-qualifying experience within Children's Social Care
- Previous experience managing or supervising Social Workers
- Strong experience within statutory children's social work
- Experience working with children and young people with disabilities or complex needs
- Knowledge of 0 to 25 services and transition planning
- Strong knowledge of safeguarding and child protection
- Experience providing management oversight of complex cases
- Strong understanding of the Children Act 1989 and 2004
- Knowledge of relevant SEND, disability, and transition legislation would be advantageous
- Experience monitoring performance and statutory timescales
- Experience providing professional supervision
- Strong quality assurance and case-auditing skills
- Ability to challenge practice constructively and support professional development
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a demanding service environment
- Strong multi-agency working and stakeholder-management skills
- Experience managing safeguarding risk and complex family situations
- Local authority Children's Services management experience would be highly advantageous
- Enhanced DBS clearance or willingness to undertake required safeguarding checks
- Eligibility to work in the UK
- Ability to provide three years of references/work history
- Ability to complete a Criminal Convictions Declaration
- Ability to sign a Confidentiality Agreement
Why Apply
- Competitive Umbrella rate of £45.20 per hour
- Opportunity to work with the London Borough of Lambeth
- Senior management role within Children's Services
- Opportunity to lead a specialist 0 to 25 social care service
- Work with children and young people with complex and varied needs
- Opportunity to influence practice quality and service performance
- Work closely with Social Workers, health, education, SEND, and partner agencies
- Gain further local authority management experience
- Full-time 35-hour working week
- 12-week temporary assignment
Benefits
- Weekly Pay
- Company Pension
- Ongoing Agency Support
Additional Information
Client: London Borough of Lambeth
Job Title: Children's Services Team Manager (0 to 25 Service) – Social Care Qualified
Location: 6 Brixton Hill, London, Lambeth, SW2 1RW
Start Date: 23 November 2026
End Date: 14 February 2027
Hours: 35 hours per week
Pay Rate: Umbrella: £45.20 per hour
Employment Type: Temporary
Number of Positions: 1
Job Types: Full-time, Temporary contract
Contract length: 12 weeks
Pay: £45.20 per hour
Benefits:
- Company pension
Application question(s):
- Are you a qualified Social Worker currently registered with Social Work England?
- Do you have significant post-qualifying experience within Children's Social Care?
- Do you have previous experience managing or supervising Social Workers?
- Have you worked with children and young people with disabilities, complex needs, or transition requirements?
- Do you have experience providing management oversight of safeguarding and complex statutory cases?
- Are you confident managing performance, supervision, caseloads, and quality assurance within a Children's Services team?
- Please confirm your current location and whether you can reliably travel to 6 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RW as required.
Experience:
- Children's Social Work: 5 years (preferred)
- Team Management / Social Work Supervision: 2 years (preferred)
- Disability / 0 to 25 Services: 2 years (preferred)
- Safeguarding / Child Protection: 3 years (preferred)
- Local Authority Children's Services: 3 years (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- Social Work England Registration (required)
- Recognised Social Work Qualification (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
Disclaimer: On applying for this vacancy, you agree that your personal details will be passed onto our client for their consideration of your suitability for the role. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to notify iWork Recruitment Limited of any hirer who I do not want my details to be passed onto.
OR118506-10-26
