Service Manager Black Country Fostering Hub

Service Manager – Black Country Fostering Hub -
Grade: G14;
Salary Range: £70,599 - £77,895

Contract: Two-year fixed term

Location: Walsall-led regional partnership

Hours: Full time

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced fostering leader to shape and lead the Black Country Fostering Hub, a new regional model designed to strengthen foster carer recruitment, assessment, approval and support. Working across the Black Country, you will play a key role in helping more children and young people live in safe, stable and loving local foster homes.

Working with partner local authorities, the Service Manager will lead the mobilisation of the Hub:

• Lead the mobilisation and delivery of the Black Country Fostering Hub.
• Embed consistent regional practice across partner local authorities.
• Improve recruitment and assessment performance, including enquiry conversion, timeliness, approvals and retention.
• Ensure a responsive and supportive experience for applicants, carers, children and young people.
• Provide effective leadership and management to Hub staff, using data and quality assurance to drive improvement.
• Strengthen partnership working and governance, ensuring the Hub operates in line with fostering regulations, safeguarding requirements, and partnership governance

You will be a confident, credible and values-driven leader with substantial experience in children's services and fostering. You will understand placement sufficiency, foster carer recruitment and the importance of high-quality support for carers and children, and you will bring the professional judgement needed to lead a new regional service through mobilisation and early delivery.

You will be skilled in leading change, managing performance, working across partnerships and motivating teams to deliver improved outcomes.

Although this is a fixed-term role, it offers an opportunity to establish a new regional service, influence practice across four local authority areas and leave a lasting legacy in fostering recruitment and support.

In return, you will lead a high-profile, DfE-funded regional programme from mobilisation through to delivery, working with senior leaders and partners across the Black Country to develop a service that has real impact for children, foster carers and local communities.

Closing Date:
Monday 24th August 2026

Job Description and Employee Specification

This post is covered by the Government's Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.

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.

For this role the successful candidates must undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check. BPSS is the minimum standard to ensure the identity and integrity of an employee who has access to official information using secure networks linking central government and local authorities. A BPSS check involves four main elements;
Identity Check, National and Immigration Status, Employment History (last 3 years) and Verification of Criminal Record (unspent convictions only).

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.