Team Manager

We have a great opportunity to join us as a Team Manager, supporting our Adolescent Safeguarding Service based at Woodhatch Place in East Surrey.

We are looking for candidates who are passionate about working with adolescents and committed to improving outcomes for young people and their families.

The salary range for Team Managers within the Adolescent Safeguarding Service is 61,439 - 65,898 per annum , inclusive of a 5,000 market supplement. We also offer a financial package of up to 6,000 which is payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post.

Our Offer to You

• A competitive relocation package of up to 8,000
• We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years' service (plus bank holidays)
• Access to our car lease scheme
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• Refer a friend payment of 1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social Worker

A New Way of Working

The adolescent service has been instrumental in shaping the future life outcomes of the children of our future, bringing together a range services for young people including those who have challenges with their mental health, have additional needs, go missing, may be involved in serious youth violence and are vulnerable to exploitation including criminal and sexual exploitation.

Our Adolescent Service brings together a range of targeted and specialist support for young people, families and practitioners. Team Managers will be supported by colleagues across the wider adolescent offer, including Youth Justice, Missing, Edge of Care, Intervention Support, Risk and Intelligence and Youth Offer. This joined-up approach supports flexible decision-making, helps ensure young people receive the right service at the right time, and uses data and intelligence to inform both operational delivery and strategic planning.

As the safeguarding adolescents model continues to develop, partnership colleagues from Education, Health, Police and other agencies will work more closely alongside the service as part of the shared commitment to adolescent services in Surrey. Our re-modelled service represents a 21st century opportunity to deliver innovative ways of working to address adolescent risk outside of the home, building relationships with families and partners so the voices of our young people are heard.

Our Progress

We are proud of our recent Good Ofsted judgement, which marks a significant milestone for Surrey. In relation to our Adolescent Service the report highlights that: "The intensive and highly effective support provided to children and families by adolescent team social workers, intensive family support workers and edge of care workers enables children to remain living with their families when it is safe to do so and in their best interests".

Why Join Adolescent Services?

This is an exciting time to join our Adolescent Service. We are on a transformational journey, continuing to develop innovative and relationship-based practice that improves outcomes for young people facing some of the most complex challenges.

As a service, we are ambitious for our young people and committed to creating opportunities for staff to grow, develop and specialise. Adolescence is a dynamic and rewarding area of practice, offering the chance to work creatively alongside young people, families and partner agencies to make a real difference at a pivotal stage in a young person's life.

We are proud to be part of a forward-thinking local authority that invests in its workforce, values innovation and provides strong support for learning and development. Whether your interests lie in contextual safeguarding, exploitation, youth justice, family intervention, missing and risk outside the home, there are a variety of exciting roles and career pathways available.

Joining us means becoming part of a service that is passionate about improving practice, embracing new ways of working and shaping the future of adolescent social work. If you are looking for a rewarding career where you can develop your expertise, contribute to meaningful service development and make a lasting impact on young people's lives, we would love to hear from you.

About the Role

This is a great opportunity to shape practice, strengthen the service following our recent review, and contribute to the ongoing development of our adolescent model.

As a Team Manager within our Adolescent Service, you will:

• Provide professional leadership and support to ensure the safe practice of your social workers and social care practitioners
• Provide effective workload management in line with service key performance indicators
• Ensure your team are forward-thinking, responsive, and meet the diverse needs of the young people we safeguard, working with them in a strengths-based way.
• Manage, motivate, and develop your team
• Deputise for your service manager when required to ensure operational effectiveness and consistency in line with service strategies, policies, and procedures
• Help to develop a respectful culture recognising diverse experiences, promoting partnership working, and encouraging family-driven solutions

Surrey Children's Service provides training to ensure competence and professional development. We will ensure that you receive a full induction and monthly supervision.

Your Application, Our Inclusive Approach

We are seeking an experienced and confident Team Manager, or Social Worker who is ready lead within a dynamic Adolescent management team.

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:

• Qualified Social Work degree, SWE Registration and UK based social work experience
• Minimum of four years post-qualified experience
• ASYE completed, within two years of qualifying
• Experience supporting adolescents who have significant challenges around their mental health, additional needs, are at risk of exploitation, serious youth violence or other contextual safeguarding risks
• Strong safeguarding expertise within adolescence
• Proven experience managing crisis, risk and complexity
• Evidence of supervising other qualified staff, with the ability to support and develop practitioners in high-pressure environments

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

To apply you will need to upload your CV and answer the following questions (no more than 200 words per question):

• Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?
• Please tell us about the key skills and experience you will be able to bring to this role.
• What in your view, are challenges that young people face today? Please tell us how you see the role supporting with them.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 1st September 2026 with interviews planned to follow.

Next Steps

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short virtual call to explore your answers to the application questions (lasting approx. 15- 20 mins) If successful following this, you will be invited for an in-person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment. That's why, if you're invited to a face-to-face interview, we'll share the themes of the questions with you in advance. This way, you can prepare and feel comfortable, allowing you to confidently discuss your skills and experiences.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

Our Commitment

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum shortlisting criteria as displayed on the advert, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.