An exciting opportunity has arisen for the role of Adoption Service Manager with Northamptonshire Children’s Trust.

As the adoption service manager, you will be responsible for leading the adoption service to develop and deliver high quality adoption services in line with the appropriate regulatory and legal frameworks, building on the progress already made in achieving the Ofsted judgement of GOOD in January 2022.

You will be pivotal in maintaining collaborative working relationships with colleagues within the Children’s Trust, and partner agencies including Family Adoption Links Regional Adoption Alliance (RAA) of whom Northamptonshire are a partner.

You will be joining a stable and experienced management and staff team who are passionate and committed in relation to developing and delivering effective adoption services in line with the modernising adoption agenda.

As a Trust the Adoption Service is registered with Ofsted as a Voluntary Adoption Agency (VAA) and as such is subject to standalone Ofsted inspections for Adoption.

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• 2 Day Induction Programme
• 2 days Signs of Safety training (social care colleagues)
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
• Local government Pension Scheme
• Heavily subsidised town centre car parking scheme
• Employee Discount Scheme
• 28 days’ annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years’ service
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Monthly quality supervision
• SWE Registration paid yearly (social care colleagues)

The Adoption Service Manager is responsible for overseeing the operational delivery of the fostering service which consist of 2 teams and an adoption panel service ;

• Recruitment and Assessment and Family Finding Team
• Post Adoption and SGO Support Team  

You will be responsible for the management and supervision of team managers for the respective service areas to ensure the delivery of services which support the needs of children and young people including the recruitment of adopters to meet the agency’s sufficiency requirements and family finding activity for NCT children with a plan of adoption.

You will maintain an oversight of practice standards and compliance using case auditing and monitoring of service KPI’s and work collaboratively with the service to develop practice in line with the service plan, changes to regulation and legislation and in response to local and national developments including learning from research.

You will manage/monitor the budget for the adoption service in liaison with the Strategic Manager to ensure resources are used effectively and efficiently.

You will write and when required, present reports in relation to the work of the adoption service to other stakeholders and managers including the Corporate Parenting Boards for North and West Northamptonshire.

We are looking for someone who is passionate about developing and delivering high quality services for Children, Young People, and their Families. You will have a creative and flexible approach that will support the service to continue to develop best practice within the context of Adoption in the 21^st Century.

You will have experience of supporting staff and stakeholders through change and have a commitment to maintaining a culture in which staff feel supported and involved in practice development.

We are looking for someone who can lead, as well as manage the service as we move forward and who is able to develop and maintain respectful, collaborative working relationships with key stakeholders.

You will have had previous experience of management within a social care setting including working / managing within an adoption services and as such have a working knowledge of the Adoption Regulations, Care Planning and Placement Regulations , NMS and the legislative framework within which Adoption services operate.

You will have experience of preparing for and working in services during Ofsted inspections.

Previous experience of working within a VAA alongside a Children’s Trust would be beneficial but is not essential.

You will be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust was established in November 2020 to deliver Children’s Services to the newly established North and West Northants County Councils. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils; this provides the organisation with unique opportunities to explore new ways of working and to be more agile and adaptable in its approach to service delivery. We are developing a culture that allows the very highest quality of professional practice to flourish and evolve, delivering at the cutting edge of new innovation.