Participation Team Manager; West

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Job Title: Participation Team Manager (West)
Starting Salary: £55,582 progressing to £61,460 per annum
Hours:37
Base

Location:

Apsley, Hemel Hempstead / hybrid working with the expectation that you will travel around the county and attend service meetings/events.
Contract Type:Permanent
Directorate:Childrens Services

Are you passionate about ensuring children and young people influence the services designed to support them? Do you want the opportunity to shape a brand-new service whilst leading a high-performing and innovative team?

Hertfordshire Children's Services is seeking an ambitious and inspirational Team Manager to lead our Participation Team in the western half of the county. This is a unique opportunity to build upon the fantastic work already being delivered by our established Participation Team in the east of Hertfordshire, whilst helping to develop and embed our newly created Missing Episode Service.

Our Participation Teams ensure the voices of children, young people and families are at the heart of everything we do. Working alongside young people in care, care leavers, children receiving support through Child in Need, Child Protection and Family Help services, we create meaningful opportunities for children and families to influence practice, service development and strategic decision making across the local authority.

Alongside our participation work, we are investing in a dedicated Missing Episode Service, placing young people's experiences, safety and wellbeing at the centre of our approach. This role will be instrumental in shaping how the service develops, creating effective partnerships, influencing strategy and ensuring young people who experience missing episodes receive the highest quality support.

You will lead a skilled and passionate team of Participation Workers, whilst working closely with your counterpart in the eastern team to deliver a consistent countywide offer. This is an exciting time to join us, with genuine opportunities to influence future service design and leave a lasting legacy for Hertfordshire's children and young people

As Team Manager, you will provide leadership, direction and inspiration to a dedicated participation workforce, ensuring children and young people's voices directly influence practice, policy and service development.

Key Responsibilities will see you:

• Lead and develop a motivated team delivering high-quality participation and engagement activities across the county.
• Drive the development and implementation of our new Missing Episode Service, helping to shape its vision, model and impact.
• Ensure effective delivery of return home discussions for young people who go missing, helping identify risks, reduce repeat episodes and improve outcomes.
• Work collaboratively with senior leaders, social care teams, family help services, education, police and partner agencies to influence strategic and operational decision making.
• Use data, feedback and lived experience to identify trends, inform improvement activity and champion the voice of children and families.
• Develop innovative participation opportunities, projects and campaigns that empower children and young people to influence services.
• Represent Hertfordshire locally, regionally and nationally, ensuring young people's views contribute to wider developments in children's services.

This is a role for someone who enjoys both strategic leadership and operational delivery, who can inspire others and who is passionate about creating meaningful change for children and young people.

We're looking for a confident, creative and values-driven leader who can build relationships, inspire teams and maintain a relentless focus on improving outcomes for children and families.

• Significant experience of working within children's social care or related statutory services.
• Experience of successfully managing, supervising or leading teams.
• Strong understanding of the needs of children and young people, including those who experience missing episodes, exploitation or other vulnerabilities.
• Ability to develop effective partnerships across organisations and influence change through collaboration.
• Experience of analysing information, interpreting feedback and using evidence to improve services.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage audiences ranging from young people to senior leaders.
• Ability to manage competing priorities whilst…