Service Lead - Special Guardianship, Kinship and Fostering Assessment Team

In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ. 

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

Children's Social Care have embarked on a transformation journey to address the rising demand for our services, which introduces a new role aimed at enhancing our Special Guardianship, Kinship, and Fostering recruitment and assessment service. At Sutton, our objective is to ensure the safety, well-being, and development of children and young people who are in need of support or protection.  

We have an exciting opportunity to join us as a Service Lead for the Special Guardianship, Kinship and Fostering Assessment Team within Children Social Care. Reporting to the Head of Service, you will oversee the operations and management of the team responsible for assessing individuals or families who are seeking to become special guardians, kinship carers, or foster carers. Additional responsibilities will include:

• Developing and delivering on the Foster Carer Recruitment Strategy whilst overseeing and monitoring the assessment process, from initial enquiry to presentation at Fostering Panel. 
• Manage and lead a team of social workers and assessors in conducting assessments of prospective special guardians, kinship carers, and foster carers.

As the Service Lead, your knowledge of kinship and special guardianship assessments will help to deliver a robust assessment process, ensuring it adheres to relevant guidelines and regulations, and providing support and guidance to team members. You'll play a crucial role in ensuring the safety, well-being, and development of vulnerable children and young people, where your work will directly contribute to creating brighter futures for those in need of support and protection. 

The team works in collaboration with external partners, such as local authorities, child welfare organisations, healthcare professionals, and educational institutions, to coordinate support services and ensure comprehensive care for children and families.  If you are a driven individual with substantial supervision experience to manage and lead a team of social care professionals, we would like to hear from you.

This role presents an excellent opportunity for seasoned professionals such as experienced Team Managers or Deputy Service Leads seeking more responsibility based on significant experience in their current role. It's also ideal for experienced Service Managers looking to embark on a new journey and share their wealth of knowledge and expertise with our service, while effectively delivering against our statutory objectives.

Whether you’re already experienced or aiming for promotion,  you will receive robust support through coaching, mentoring, and leadership from the Head of Service and our friendly and knowledgeable team of social care professionals. We're committed to ensuring that you're well-equipped to succeed in your new role and make a meaningful impact on the lives of those we serve.

We would expect candidates to fulfil the competencies including (but not limited to): 

• A recognised Social Work qualification and registered with Social Work England.
• Experience of managing Kinship and Special Guardianship assessments and meeting court directed deadlines.
• Experience in managing and tracking Reg 24 placements.
• Experience with managing the recruitment process for new foster carers.
• Play a lead role in managing permanency in the borough.
• Experience of project management in the fostering field including developing recruitment strategies. 

For more information about the role and/or an informal conversation, view the role profile or contact  Michael Taylor, Head of Service for Corporate Parenting on michael.taylor@sutton.gov.uk

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

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