Job Description

Are you an experienced leader looking for a dynamic role that makes a positive impact on the lives of children and young people with learning disabilities, autism or both?
Do you believe in transforming health, social care and educational systems for children and young people with learning disabilities, autism or both?
West Yorkshire Keyworker Service is recruiting, and this could be the next role for you.
Barnardo's is recruiting a Team Manager who is:

• passionate and have experience of improving the lives of children, young people, young adults up to the age of 25 who are autistic and/or have a learning disability and their families
• supervise and oversee a team of seven practice leading senior keyworkers
• be responsible for lead practice keyworking service development and strategy
• strong experience in data capture; with the ability to present data in management reports and progress reports to commissioners at Place and across West Yorkshire

You will work alongside a strong management team to provide leadership, strategic oversight and data management to inform keyworking vision, priorities and development in West Yorkshire.
The West Yorkshire Keyworker Service works across the West Yorkshire region and its systems with and for children, young people and young adults and families, capitalising on cross-system knowledge and experience to help them effectively navigate services. The service is mandated to work across sectors to facilitate timely and integrated care and support. We work in partnership with the 4 West Yorkshire Health Trusts, 5 local authorities, the voluntary sector and a range of health, social care, educational organisations.
The overall aims and objectives for the service is families get the support they need to navigate complex systems, supported by someone they have built a trusting relationship with. We want the support needs to be focused on the prevention of hospital admission or family/placement breakdown, supporting mental health and re-engagement in community activities.
We work closely with multiagency professionals in supporting the navigation of the system and securing wraparound support and care for children, young people and young adults with a learning disability and or are autistic. There are times where challenge is needed but working together and collaboratively is important.
As Team Manager you will have the following main functions: * Being a member of the management team to develop and have management oversight for your team and provide strong, effective and reflective supervision to staff. You will have experience and understanding linked to the core lead areas - Inpatient work, food intake, LGBTQ+, Criminal Justice and Youth Justice, Mental Health, Care Experienced children and young people and Transitions for children and young people.

• Provide strategic oversight for projects that the lead keyworkers are involved in; ensuring the work is aligned to local and regional priorities aligned to West Yorkshire's Mental Health Learning Disability and Autism Programme and strategic vision.
• Lead quality assurance - working at pace, dealing with complexity and safeguarding.
• Support the wellbeing of the team through excellent team working which supports team development and growth.
• Ensuring meaningful collaboration with parents, carers and children, young people and young adults. This learning will feed into ongoing service development and will be shared by you in reports, on a local level with service and area leads and at regional and national strategic levels.

Please note the interview date is Friday 14th November 2025 - please ensure you are available on this date.
You must be able to drive and have access to your own car as this is essential for regional wide service delivery.
When completing your application please refer to your skills knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, and Additional Information document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.
To understand the work of Keyworker Services, the remit and the Keyworker role please ensure you visit the websites below and read the relevant information before applying for the role:
If you have the drive, passion and experience for this exciting new role then we are interested in receiving your application.
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's . We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract
About Barnardo's
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Skills Required