Service Manager

Peterborough City Council is seeking an experienced and dynamic Service Manager to lead their Children in Care service. This is a key leadership role, driving high‑quality practice, improving outcomes, and ensuring robust safeguarding for children and young people.

Daily Pay Rate: £450

• Provide operational leadership across Children in Care and Leaving Care pathways, ensuring high‑quality and consistent practice.
• Line manage Team Managers, Social Workers and Personal Advisers, providing professional direction, supervision, and performance oversight.
• Ensure all care plans meet statutory requirements, including permanence, reunification and placement planning.
• Monitor service performance, audit cases, and uphold practice standards.
• Maintain strong oversight to ensure safe, compliant and effective service delivery.
• Contribute to wider service development and improvement initiatives, embedding best practice.
• Work collaboratively with fostering, adoption, health, education and other partner agencies to provide holistic support.
• Promote multi‑agency planning and coordinated interventions for children in care and care‑experienced young people.
• Prepare reports for senior leaders and represent the service at strategic and multi‑agency meetings.
• Ensure full compliance with statutory frameworks, safeguarding requirements and corporate parenting duties.
• Lead, develop and empower staff, supporting professional development and positive outcomes for children.

• Qualified Social Worker with Social Work England registration.
• Proven leadership and management experience within Children’s Social Care.
• Strong understanding of Children in Care, Leaving Care and permanency planning.
• Experience managing multi‑disciplinary teams and providing reflective supervision.
• Ability to analyse data, monitor performance, and drive service improvement.
• Confident in managing high‑risk, complex cases and making defensible decisions.
• Exceptional communication, influencing, and report‑writing abilities.
• Skilled in quality assurance, auditing, and maintaining high practice standards.

If you thrive to make a difference and have experience, then we would love to hear from you.