We are an ambitious Local Authority who are committed to continued improvement activity in driving strength based, relational and collaborative practice in our work with children, young people, and their family networks.  We want to make sure that we make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people.

Creativity, ambition and a focus on people. That’s what matters at Barnsley Council. Our award-winning council is on an exciting journey of change. It’s all about putting local people at the heart of everything, listening to and doing good for our communities. We’re now more innovative, more efficient and provide better value for money. The changes are clear to see - from new businesses and jobs, to improving school results and to museums being recognised for their community engagement. 

Your role in our journey

It’s an exciting time to join us in Barnsley. We are restructuring our current generic out of hours provision and are establishing a dedicated Children’s Emergency Duty Team. We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, and qualified Social Work Team Manager, who can lead and develop the Team, and provide an outstanding service for children.

You will ideally have experience of working within an Emergency Duty Team and be able to develop and implement guidance and procedures that will ensure your workers have the knowledge, confidence and skills to manage complex and high-risk children’s safeguarding situations. You will demonstrate an ability to work closely with Partner Agency colleagues in defining roles and responsibilities and ensuring resources are prioritised to where they are needed most.

You will have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and be experienced in chairing strategy discussions and overseeing S47 investigations. You will be committed to developing a service which is Strengths based and is proactive in engaging parents, carers and young people, to diffuse crisis situations and develop safety plans utilising family networks. You will be confident in your decision making and risk assessment skills, and be able to provide advice, guidance and challenge to colleagues within Social Care and across agencies.

The team operate outside of normal office hours, covering all urgent Social Work needs for Children and families in Barnsley. The team are operational from 4.30pm to 8.30am Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and from 4.30pm on Friday through to Monday at 8.30am. As Team Manager you will work a combination of daytime and out of hours, and there will be an expectation that this will include some evenings and weekends. You will work closely with Team Manager colleagues within the Integrated Front Door (IFD) and may be required to provide management cover in the IFD on an occasional basis (to cover annual leave or other absence, etc).

As an experienced Social Worker/Manager, you will be able to evidence continued professional development, have a minimum of five years post qualifying experience and demonstrate enhanced theoretical, legislative and research knowledge.

Shape a better future with us

Join our double award-winning council of the year 2023 on our journey to a brighter future. By working together, with each other and with our communities, we can take pride in improving lives. Let’s make a better Barnsley for everyone.

A lot to look forward to

Here at Barnsley, we live and work by four important values: honesty, teamwork, excellent service, and taking pride in what we do. As part of our team, you can be sure we’ll do all we can to support you in being truly excellent. Our dedicated Practice Development Hub will support you to prioritise learning and enabling you to achieve your potential. We’ve created a development process that lets you grow in the way that suits you - whether that’s training to be a leader or learning flexibly online. If you feel that you have the skills, knowledge and experience which will help us to achieve positive outcomes for our children, young people and families in Barnsley then we would like to hear from you.

If you would like to know more, please contact our Practice Development Hub on practicedevelopmentteam@barnsley.gov.uk

If you would like an informal discussion about this vacancy, please contact Clare Saxby (claresaxby1@barnsley.gov.uk)