Job Description

How you'll make a difference:

As an experienced, therapeutically trained and trauma-informed Team Manager, you will lead our specialist WAYPOINT service -- a trauma-informed, therapeutic team supporting children, young people, families, foster carers, and professionals through some of life's most complex times.


What you will be doing:

WAYPOINT stands for

W

orking

A

longside

Y

oung

P

eople &

O

thers

i

n

N

etworks

T

herapeutically. Whether it's preventing family breakdown, supporting fostering families, guiding reunification, or delivering Therapeutic Life Story Work, our team is there to meet people where they are at, to support and empower them to achieve positive outcomes. We hold in mind the central vision that a waypoint is 'a point at which a course can be changed'.


We work with empathy, creativity, and therapeutic insight.


As WAYPOINT Team Manager, you'll:

Lead a non-statutory team who deliver bespoke therapeutic interventions. The team are contributing professionals as opposed to lead/case holding workers. Oversee transitions from residential care to family settings, ensuring stability and voice for young people. Champion trauma-informed approaches like PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy), Systemic Practice, Non-Violent Resistance (NVR), Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and Signs of Safety. Oversee therapeutic life story work that helps children in care understand their past and shape their future. Collaborate across services to protect and empower vulnerable children and families.


This is a role for someone who thrives on complexity, values relationships, and wants to make a lasting difference.


What we need from you:
We require you to hold a professional qualification e.g. MA or BA in social work, DipSW and have a current registration with Social Work England. This must include experience of managing staff and supervision of other professionals. Ideally, you will be able to evidence your ability to lead teams to achieve optimum performance in delivering excellent social care services for children. Given the elements of this role, you must be able to provide evidence of on-going continuous professional development and a thorough knowledge of current legislation and practice relating to children and young people's services. Specifically within the context of a Fostering or Therapeutic service.

What you need to know:
You will be expected to travel throughout the authority and surrounding area so you must have a full, valid driving licence with regular access to a vehicle or have an alternative means of travel. Business Insurance will need to be added to your current car insurance policy. Please note that due to the nature of this role it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained for this post. Due to the nature of this role, it is primarily a designated office based position, but flexible and hybrid working can be considered where service delivery allows.

Interviews will be held on 26th November 2025.

How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different:
As part of our benefits package, you will receive

generous annual leave

(pro rata), employee

wellbeing support

and you will have access to a range of

staff discounts

, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities. We recognise that our

diverse team

of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities. We invest in the careers of our people and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our

training and development

offer, which helps our people make the greatest long-term difference in their work. What's special here is the strength of the

team ethos

. We are a relatively small local authority, so managers know staff well. They can plan their services to ensure teams have

manageable caseloads

and have effective supervision so

feel supported

to make decisions which are right for the children and young people they work with. We are

committed to safeguarding

and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.


Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.

We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of. We're working with the most vulnerable in our community to help them achieve what they want in life We're investing in our schools to ensure every child and young person in South Gloucestershire achieves their full potential.


We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.

We're making a difference, be part of it!

To view the full job description, please click this link: Team Manager (Children's Social Care)