Team Leader Brighter Futures

Overview

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, LE3 8RA

Salary: £43,860 - £47,829 per annum (pro-rata for part-time)

Working Hours: 37 Hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 15th February 2026

Interview Date(s): 24th February 2026

Team Leader - Brighter Futures Project (Recurrent Removals)

For the last 12 months, we have been piloting a model of support for parents, designed to break the cycle of recurrent child removals by supporting parents following care proceedings. This project has provided intensive, relationship-based support to parents who have experienced the removal of a child, helping them stabilise their lives, and make sustainable change to prevent future removals.

Recurrent removals create cycles of trauma and instability for families and place significant strain on our social care system. National research shows that one in four women who has had a child removed is likely to return to court within 10 years, with the highest risk in the first two years. In Leicestershire, 27% of mothers experiencing child removal have previously lost a child, with newborns most affected.

This pattern drives high placement and legal costs, increases demand on services, and perpetuates poor outcomes for families.

Since its launch, Brighter Futures has supported 54 parents, with strong engagement and positive feedback. Whilst the pilot remains ongoing until the end of March 2026, early indicators are showing improved parental wellbeing, reduced crisis service use, and increased uptake of contraception, helping parents pause and plan for future pregnancies. The pilot has also led to improved parental engagement with other professionals including health, housing, and substance misuse services, and is contributing to reunification.

Parent voice and professional feedback is positive and confirms the value of this dedicated support.

Brighter Futures is becoming a permanent service from April 2026, expanding the capacity and remit of the team to link in pre-birth support, which is identified as a second critical intervention point. This will strengthen service resilience, reduce wait times, and enable tailored support for high-risk parents, including fathers and care-experienced young people. Costs are expected to be offset by significant cost avoidance associated with care placements.

Brighter Futures supports departmental aims to keep families together, deliver timely interventions, and embed trauma-informed practice. It aligns with national drivers for systemic change and prevention, contributing to improved outcomes for children and families while reducing long-term demand on services.

We are looking for a Team Leader to manage the project team as the work grows and develops as a permanent service offer.

• You will be an energetic and enthusiastic manager with extensive experience working with children and families and with our partner agencies where you are able to share your enthusiasm and passion for practice with those you manage.
• Your leadership will reflect your vision of a service that delivers in a trauma informed way. Your understanding of the experience for this very unique group of parents, who have experienced loss and trauma will shape the service offer, how and where it is provided and enable the voice of parents to shape it.
• You will be able to evidence your skills and knowledge of creative, innovative and relationship-based practice and demonstrate your ability to lead and manage a skilled team of proactive practitioners.
• You will have knowledge and experience of Performance management and the importance of this in the teams you manage.
• You will have a thorough understanding of Anti Discriminatory practice and the impact of discrimination on those you manage and the families we serve.
• Ideally, you will already be confident in the application of the Signs of Safety methodology but certainly in the value of relationship-based family work.
• We want people with energy who have a can-do attitude; we want people who will help us to build a real culture of reflection and learning and who can support our workforce to be the best that they can be. We want team players!
• We want managers who already see themselves as practice leaders and understand the role they have in nurturing good practice and who are going to contribute to the next phase of our collective development.

We hope this sounds like you!

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement
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To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• Level 4 qualification in a relevant subject, e.g. /NVQ4 childcare, youth justice, social work qualification, teaching qualification, child nursing qualification, Or Significant and demonstrable and relevant knowledge and experience evidenced against the headings…