Service Manager - Cared for Children
Rochdale Council
Join Rochdale’s Visionary Leadership Team We are delighted to the opportunity to join Rochdale Borough Council as Service Manager for Cared For Children within Children’s Social Care. This pivotal role will shape and lead the strategic development and delivery of services that safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people, and their families. Rochdale is nationally recognised for its innovative and impactful work with children and families with OFSTED recognising our ambitions for children and families in Rochdale as part of a recent focus visit. Our strong partnerships and pioneering Family Safeguarding Model place relationships at the heart of our practice. We are proud of our culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The Opportunity As Service Manager for Cared For Children, you will play a pivotal role in delivering Rochdale's ambition for children in our care to experience stable, loving and nurturing childhoods that enable them to thrive. Working closely with the Strategic Head of Service for Corporate Parenting, you will lead and develop services that place children at the heart of everything we do, ensuring they receive the care, support and opportunities they need to achieve positive lifelong outcomes. You will provide strategic and operational leadership across services supporting children in care, driving improvements in permanence planning, placement stability, care planning and transitions to adulthood. You will ensure that permanence is considered from the earliest opportunity, supporting children to achieve secure and lasting family relationships through reunification, kinship care, long-term fostering, Special Guardianship, or adoption where appropriate. As a senior leader within Corporate Parenting, you will champion the voice and lived experience of children and young people, ensuring their views shape service delivery and future developments. You will work in partnership with elected members, partner agencies, carers, families and care experienced young people to deliver Rochdale's Corporate Parenting responsibilities and aspirations. This is an exciting opportunity to build upon Rochdale's strong practice foundations and contribute to our ongoing journey of improvement and innovation. As a member of the Children's Services Senior Management Team, you will influence strategic direction, lead transformational change, and ensure services continue to deliver outstanding support, excellent safeguarding practice and meaningful outcomes for our children and young people. Key Responsibilities About You You will be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England, with a strong track record in senior leadership and management. You will bring: To apply please demonstrate how you meet the essential requirements of the person specification. Please include reference to your qualifications that are specified on the person specification within your application. Assessment & Interview Candidates will be required to complete a short prepared presentation on the day of the interview and present to the panel. A young person’s panel will also form part of the selection process. Why Rochdale? We are proud of our values: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. Rochdale Borough Council is part of the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment, recognising continuous service across GM local authorities and partner organisations. We reward you with great benefits: Other benefits Appointment to this post is subject to Enhanced Child workforce DBS and background checks. Please note: We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this in your application. Interested? To discuss the roles further, please contact:
Drive strategic alignment with national policy and local priorities, ensuring services reflect the Council’s vision.
Embed evidence-based, trauma-informed, and relational practice across all services, fostering a culture of high performance and innovation.
Provide visible, motivational leadership that inspires teams and promotes continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.
Build a confident, capable, and resilient workforce through ethical leadership, reflective supervision, and professional development.
Contribute to strategic planning and delivery of key service plans, including the Children’s Services Plan
Champion equality, diversity, and inclusion across all services, ensuring timely completion of Equality Impact Assessments and action plans.
Emma Collingwood Strategic Head of Service for Corporate parenting Emma.collingwood@Rochdale.Gov.UKSupporting Documents
↗ Job Description and Person Specification
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Ready to apply?
Location
Smith Street, , Rochdale, OL16 1XU, United Kingdom
Job ID
13006
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