Group Manager

A Group Manager in Walsall is the senior manager responsible for a locality area. In this role you will be responsible for overseeing practice and decision-making across 5 teams covering Duty and Short-term Help, and Family Help and Child Protection, as well a leading a strategic and operational lead on the development of Walsall's innovative 'Young and Thriving' Service that supports our vulnerable families with young children aged 0-5, including our most vulnerable expectant parents.

East locality is Walsall's largest geographic locality. It is an area with strong communities, strong partnerships, and where there is a will to take forwards change together in children's best interests. East locality has been a pilot locality to take forwards the Families First for Children reforms, with an integrated family help offer, and a range of embedded initiatives to support providing children and families with purposeful help at the earliest opportunity, and deliver decisive child protection planning supported by Lead Child Protection Practitioners.

As Group Manager you will have the opportunity to lead an established, passionate and skilled group of social workers and family support workers, covering practice from children and families with targeted needs, through to families in Care Proceedings. You will be encouraged and supported to innovate, drive practice improvement and create a culture of values-led, thoughtful and tough yet compassionate practice.

This practice will be grounded in motivational interviewing and systemic practice techniques, and you will be supported in the development of your practice knowledge and skills.

At Walsall Council, we appreciate that AI can be a useful tool for ideas or guidance. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. Over-reliance on AI can make responses feel less personal, and we really want to understand what makes you unique. Your experiences, skills, and perspective are what set you apart, so please ensure your application as a whole - particularly your "Supporting Information" - reflects your own voice.

Walsall Council's Children's Services are the only Ofsted 'Outstanding' local authority in the Black Country. During a visit in May 2025, Inspectors described Walsall Council as a place where children were at the heart of. The council's journey of continuous improvement started in 2017 and has since transformed into a service with a clear vision, clear priorities and a clear plan, all informed by the views of our staff and children.

Staff are at the core of delivering great outcomes for children and young people in Walsall, which is underpinned by our Walsall Right 4 Children vision. The latest Ofsted inspection demonstrated that staff in children's services are proud to work for Walsall Council and feel supported to do great work.

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Note:

Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas.