Team Manager

Full Job Description

Job Title: Team Manager

Location: Working from our East London office in Wanstead at least two days a week and cover Thames Valley and London.

Contract: Permanent 

Hours: Full Time

Salary: up to £54,000 dependent on experience (this includes a car allowance)

Ofsted rated us ‘Outstanding’ at Next Step Fostering which is an independent agency founded in 1996 supporting fostering families across Kent, East London, Surrey, Slough and London boroughs. Next Step have more than 70 fostering families providing quality foster care for more than 115 children and young people. The Team Manager post is required to cover Thames Valley and East London.

About the Group

We are part of the National Fostering Group – the UK’s largest independent fostering family.

Our highly skilled and dedicated fostering community supports Local Authorities by providing short or long-term foster placements for thousands of vulnerable children and teenagers throughout the UK. With 100% of our 32 regional fostering agencies officially recognised by Ofsted, Welsh and Scottish regulators as either ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Good’, it is perhaps not surprising that more people choose to foster with our fostering agencies than any other fostering provider in the UK.

About the Role

This post is pivotal in supporting the Registered Manager in delivering a high quality service for children and young people, and foster carers. The Team Manager is responsible for ensuring that legislative, regulatory, national minimum standards and company requirements are met so that we maintain and achieve outstanding performance. The Team Manager also works closely with other colleagues and fulfils specific responsibilities in relation to foster carer recruitment and assessment, referrals and placements, foster carer learning and development of our fostering panel. The post holder also contributes to the strategic development and successful expansion of the Region through child and carer focused projects.

Who we are looking for

You must hold a current registration with the relevant Social Work regulatory council (e.g Social Work England/Wales, NISCC, SSSC) and have recent experience in fostering and services for children with good working knowledge of the regulatory framework, plus some previous experience in a line management.

Ideally you will have experience in achieving performance targets and developing services to meet organisational objectives.  You will be a strong written and verbal communicator with good IT skills, a flexible and adaptable approach and able to travel to support the growth of the region.

But what else is in it for you? Your health and wellbeing are important to us, so you’ll get an exceptional reward package including:

• Up to 39 days annual leave each year (25 base entitlement + 1 One moment in time + 8 bank holidays + ability to buy up to 5 extra days)
• Life Assurance
• Pension scheme with options to increase your contributions
• “Your Wellbeing Matters” – access to a wide range of first-class mental health support services and physical health checks

And a market-leading benefit offering through our Flexible Benefits Platform, Vista, enables you to choose the package that’s right for you, including:

• A wide range of health, wellbeing, and insurance benefits
• 100’s of discount options valid in the UK and abroad
• Cycle to Work Schemes
• Electric Car Purchase Scheme
• Critical illness cover

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and we expect all employees to share this commitment and undertake appropriate checks.

We are an Equal Opportunities employer.