Team Manager - Commissioning and Placements

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to oversee the home-finding function for children in care, ensuring timely access to high-quality, value-for-money placements. You will lead placement commissioning, budget oversight, provider negotiations, and innovative sufficiency solutions while managing a high-performing team. Working collaboratively with Children's Social Care, providers, regional partners, and multi-agency stakeholders, you will drive service improvement, market shaping, and commissioning activity. The role requires strong leadership, financial acumen, and partnership-working skills to deliver positive outcomes for children and families, ensure statutory compliance, and promote innovative, child-centred approaches to care planning and service delivery.

You will need to bring significant experience in home finding and commissioning services, with a proven track record of leading high-performing teams. You will have a relevant professional qualification, management experience within statutory children's services, and a strong understanding of sufficiency, care planning, commissioning, and children's care provision. With excellent leadership, negotiation, and influencing skills, you will build effective partnerships and drive positive outcomes for children and families. You will be confident making complex decisions, managing competing priorities, and contributing to regulatory inspections. A collaborative, innovative approach and a commitment to high-quality, compliant practice are essential for success in this role., To be appointed to this role you must be able to prove your right to work in the UK, and you must maintain a valid (active) right to work. Please note, at present we are not a licenced sponsor. Please visit the link below to check you qualify to apply. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Prove your right to work to an employer

The team are innovative in their approach and delivery, risk aware not risk averse and open to doing things differently. We adopt a collaborative approach with all our stakeholders ensuring we are embedded in all their processes and decision making.

The Progress with Unity plan is a place movement for change for the next decade, bringing a new era for Wigan Borough. It draws on the strengths of our individual organisations, recognising that together we can achieve much more for our communities by delivering on our 2 place missions; create fair opportunities for all children, families, residents and businesses and make our towns and neighbourhoods flourish for those who live and work in them.

Salary: Grade 12, £53,460 - £57,379 per annum.

37 hours per week

We're on a journey to build a workforce reflective of our Borough.

We are committed to fostering diverse teams where everybody can bring their authentic selves to work and feel that they belong. If you want to work for a Council where everybody is encouraged to meet their full potential and make a difference in our neighbourhoods, we would love to hear from you!

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