Principal Manager - Children's Social Care Court Teams
Please note that only Social Work England Registered Social Workers with Right to Work in the UK will be considered for this role, please do not apply if you are not a SWE Registered Social Worker who has the Right to Work in the UK.
Principal Manager - Children's Social Care (Level 15)
Location: Floor 1, Civic Centre, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 1RN
Organisation: Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Contract: Temporary
Hours: 37 hours per week
About the Role
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is seeking an experienced and inspirational Principal Manager to lead Children's Social Care Court Teams within Children and Family Services. This is a senior leadership role with responsibility for managing, developing and motivating multi-disciplinary teams to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services that achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
You will provide outstanding leadership and management, ensuring robust supervision, performance management, and quality assurance across the service, while directly managing complex cases and supporting high-quality social work practice.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, manage and develop Children's Social Care Court Teams, ensuring safe, effective and child-focused practice.
- Provide strong leadership, supervision and professional accountability for social workers, senior practitioners, assistants, coordinators and students.
- Manage team caseloads, including complex public and private law proceedings, offering expert guidance and decision-making.
- Develop and embed performance management and quality assurance systems to meet statutory duties, performance targets and continuous improvement.
- Ensure services are delivered within legislative frameworks, budgetary controls and corporate priorities.
- Deputise for the Strategic Manager as required and contribute to service planning, improvement activity and partnership working.
- Promote a culture of high support and high challenge, restorative practice and professional curiosity across teams.
What We're Looking For
- A qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England.
- Extensive post‑qualification experience within children and families social care, including court work.
- Proven experience of managing staff, resources, performance and budgets in a complex statutory environment.
- Strong knowledge of child care legislation, safeguarding, public law outline and multi‑agency working.
- Excellent leadership, communication and decision‑making skills, with the ability to manage risk and drive service improvement.
Why Stoke-on-Trent?
Are you passionate about making a real difference to the lives of children and families? Stoke-on-Trent is a city committed to becoming a child‑friendly place where children's voices are heard and their needs come first. The council is investing heavily in learning and development, with a strong focus on:
- Restorative and Relational Practice – high support alongside high challenge.
- Listening to Children – ensuring their experiences shape decisions.
- Developing Social Workers – creating a supportive environment where careers can flourish.
Here, you'll join passionate and ambitious leaders and practitioners, working together to create lasting positive change for children and families across the city.
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