SWRK 684 - Operations Manager (Children and Justice) - 403019

Location: Hamilton Family Support Hub x 1 and Lanark Family Support Hub x 1

An opportunity has arisen for 2 Operation Manager positions based at the Lanark and Hamilton Family Support Hubs. 

Social work in South Lanarkshire opened locality-based Family Support Hubs in 2022. The service priorities and improvement measures are aligned to the Children’s Services Planning Partnership’s implementation of the Whole Family Wellbeing Strategy, which is a partnership approach between health, education, social work and third sector.

The overall aim of the strategy is that holistic whole family support will be more readily available to families at the time of need rather than crisis. The ambition is that this will create a transformational early action system change within children’s services that will reduce the need for child protection or looked after procedures and allow a shift in investment towards prevention and early intervention. 

Most families will receive the help and support they require from universal services but for some children and young people there will be a need for social work to respond in accordance with the local authority’s duty under section 22 of the (Children (Scotland) Act 1995), to safeguard and promote their welfare. The Family Support Hubs have taken over responsibility for responding to these requests for assistance to social work with the aim of preventing an escalation to statutory teams by providing responsive whole family support. The Hubs also respond to all new child protection pre-birth referrals. 

The Family Support Hubs are accessible provisions based in Hamilton, East Kilbride, Lanark and Cambuslang localities. Each area has a team of social workers, family support workers, group workers, peer workers, Children 1st staff and therapists who offer families a wide range of different types of support with a shared remit of providing whole family support that prevents crisis, reduces inequalities and improves child development, family functioning and wellbeing. 

The successful candidate will provide support and supervision to staff and be responsible for the day to day operations of the Family Support Hubs. The post holder will also have a number of strategic responsibilities. 

Applicants should have a good knowledge of The Independent Care Review findings, the recommendations in The Promise, the Scottish’s Government’s Whole Family Approach and Child Protection Procedures. An ability to work in partnership and preventatively with other agencies, families and the community is essential.

For further information on the position please email danielle.sarr@southlanarkshire.co.uk. 

Hours: 35 per week

Vacancy: Permanent

Salary: £50,878.21 - £55,659.45

View the Operations Manager (Children and Justice) job profile

When completing the application process please ensure that you cover the following areas:

• Your experience of working with vulnerable children and families using GIRFEC and Child Protection frameworks.
• Your ability to operate within a fast-paced environment with competing demands. 
• Your ability to promote a positive culture within a team. 
• Your experience of working collaboratively with others to improve a service. 

Please Apply online - All correspondence will be via your email address.

Please note we do not accept CVs, any submitted will be disregarded. If you require to submit additional information to support your application, please upload this under supporting documents. 

Legislative Information

This post is excepted in terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 2003.

The successful candidate will be subject to a Basic Disclosure check provided by Disclosure Scotland.

Please refer to http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk for further information about the disclosure process and best practice.

Foreign Police Check

Candidates should be able to detail any gaps in employment and provide a foreign police check where applicable for any periods living or working abroad.

Equal Opportunities and Armed Forces Community Covenant

South Lanarkshire Council is an Equal Opportunities employer and encourages applications from all members of the community. As a user of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum competency/behaviour requirements for the position.

South Lanarkshire Council is committed to providing support to members of the armed forces, veterans and their families which is set out in the Armed Forces Community Covenant. Veterans are guaranteed an interview who meet the minimum requirements for the position.