Organisation: Leicestershire County Council
Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, LE3 8RA
Salary: £49,221 - £53,826 per annum (plus market premium of £3,000) (pro-rata for part-time) (pay award pending)
Working Hours: 37 Per week
Contract Type: 12 months - maternity cover
Closing Date: 24th August 2026
Interview Date(s): TBC
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced adoption professional who shares our ambition, creativity and commitment to achieving the very best outcomes for children.
Are you passionate about finding forever families for children and ready to lead a dynamic, ambitious team? We're looking for an experienced and inspirational Adoption Family Finding Team Manager to make a real difference to children's lives whilst the current manager is on maternity leave.
About the Role
Lead Life-Changing Family Finding Work : Drive creative and innovative family finding strategies to secure the very best permanence outcomes for children, including those with complex needs and sibling groups.
Inspire and Develop a High-Performing Team : Lead, motivate and nurture a skilled team of social workers, creating a culture of excellence, innovation and continuous improvement.
Champion Children and Families : Be an advocate for children waiting for adoption, ensuring their voices remain at the heart of decision-making and that every child has the best possible opportunity to achieve permanence.
Work Across Regional and National Partnerships : Collaborate with Regional Adoption Agencies and partner organisations, influencing practice and maximising opportunities for children through strong professional networks.
Drive Performance and Innovation: Use data, quality assurance activity and service insight to improve outcomes, reduce delay and develop innovative approaches to family finding and adopter engagement.
Be Part of an Ambitious and Forward-Thinking Service: Join a service that is committed to excellence, values creativity, embraces challenge and is determined to achieve outstanding outcomes for children through adoption.
Why Join Us?
- Make a lasting difference to children's lives
- Lead service improvement and innovation
- Work alongside experienced and supportive colleagues
- Influence adoption practice at a local, regional and national level
- Help children find their forever families
An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.
For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.
About You
To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:
- Qualified Social Worker with substantial post-qualifying experience of working with children, ideally with extensive experience of adoption practice
- Experience of supervising and managing staff
- Have In depth safeguarding knowledge and best practice in the delivery of quality services
- Have knowledge of the signs of safety methodology & what excellent social work practice looks like
- Ability to analyse information to reach sound decisions, often under pressure, and to take responsibility for their outcome and regular reporting to the Service Manager.
- Have Excellent presentation skills – written and oral.
- Good at prioritisation and managing a heavy workload & Deliver results to tight deadlines.
In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.
Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.
Interested in Flexible Working?
We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.
For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:
Michelle Robinson, Assistant Service Manager
Telephone: 0116 305 0448
Email: [email protected]
How to Apply
At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.
If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support.
By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
About UsAbout Leicestershire County Council
At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.
Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.
For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:
Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us
Skills Required
- Qualified Social Worker with substantial post-qualifying experience, ideally in adoption practice
- Experience of supervising and managing staff
- In-depth safeguarding knowledge and best practice in delivery of quality services
- Knowledge of Signs of Safety methodology and excellent social work practice
- Ability to analyse information, make sound decisions under pressure and report regularly to the Service Manager
- Excellent presentation skills, written and oral
- Ability to prioritise, manage a heavy workload and deliver results to tight deadlines
- Enhanced DBS check with barred list
What We Do
Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Nottingham in the East Midlands region of England. It is focused on becoming a renewed council that delivers for local people and leads the city forward, with a vision to build a flourishing, inclusive, and sustainable city where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
