Team Manager

• Suffolk County Council
• Address: Lowestoft NR33 0EQ, Ipswich IP1 5PB or Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU - Hybrid
• Salary: £55,563 per annum (pro rata for part time)
• Hours: 37 hours per week, flexible working options available
• Contract: Permanent

At Suffolk County Council, we're reimagining what local government can achieve. As a Team Manager in our new Building Futures (Neglect) Team, you'll have the opportunity to shape a specialist countywide service that supports children and families affected by neglect through targeted, evidence-informed intervention.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a newly established multidisciplinary team, helping to develop practice, build strong partnerships, and improve outcomes for children across Suffolk.

Reimagine the possibilities.

Your role and responsibilities

As Team Manager, you will lead and oversee a specialist team of Social Workers, Family Help Practitioners and Senior Family Help Practitioners, focused on tackling neglect and improving children’s lived experiences.

We are looking for an experienced and motivated leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and families.

You will:

• lead and develop a high-performing multidisciplinary team delivering targeted interventions to children and families where neglect is a primary concern
• drive a strengths-based, child-centred approach that promotes sustainable change and improves outcomes
• provide reflective supervision, practice guidance, and professional challenge to support high-quality interventions
• ensure effective assessment, planning, case progression, and risk management across the service
• build strong relationships with Family Help, Social Care, Education, Health, Police and other partners to deliver coordinated support
• lead on performance, quality assurance, service improvement, and the development of best practice in responding to neglect
• support the implementation of evidence-informed approaches and contribute to wider service development across Children's Services
• manage resources, staffing, recruitment, and workforce development within the team
• promote a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and high professional standards.

This is a countywide role requiring regular travel between Lowestoft, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, with a visible presence in each area office on a weekly basis. Due to the travel requirements of the role, you will need a driving licence and access to personal transport. If you can meet these requirements through other suitable means, please contact the Hiring Manager to discuss.

You will bring:

• a recognised Social Work qualification and current Social Work England registration
• significant experience working within Children's Services, including Social Care Fieldwork, Family Help, safeguarding, assessment, child protection, or other frontline children's services teams
• experience of leading, supervising, coaching, and developing practitioners
• strong knowledge of children's legislation, safeguarding responsibilities, and assessment frameworks
• experience of managing risk and making informed decisions in complex situations
• a proven ability to develop effective partnerships and work collaboratively across agencies
• strong communication, organisational and leadership skills
• a commitment to strengths-based practice and achieving the best outcomes for children and families
• knowledge of Signs of Safety, solution-focused practice, and evidence-informed intervention models would be advantageous.

The team

The Building Futures (Neglect) Team is a new specialist service within Family Help, created to strengthen how we support children and families experiencing neglect. The team works with families at the earliest appropriate opportunity, delivering focused interventions that reduce risk, strengthen parenting capacity, and create lasting change for children. The practitioners in the team will hold case responsibility for the children they work with.

As Team Manager, you will play a key role in shaping the identity, culture, and practice of this developing service. Working alongside a dedicated multidisciplinary team, you will help establish effective ways of working, embed high-quality practice, and ensure the child's lived experience remains at the centre of everything we do.

This is a rare opportunity to help build a specialist service from the ground up whilst being supported by an organisation committed to continuous improvement and professional development.

Empowering Everyone

We’rebig believers in potential,possibilityand the power of different ideas. We’realways searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want torepresentthe diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown inour Workforce Equality Report.

Closing date: 11.30pm,5 October 2026

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. #LI-Hybrid

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