Community Support Casework Team leader - Refugee Resettlement and Migration Service

Job Description & Person Specification

Community Support Casework Team leader

Refugee Resettlement and Migration Service

Join us - make a difference in our communities

At West Sussex County Council, the Communities Service is committed to supporting refugees to achieve their full potential. You will join an experienced leadership team at a key time when we are making major transformations to deliver the expectations placed upon Local Authorities in respect of the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme. We are focused on service delivery with measurable outcomes for refugees, who include families and children.

The Community Support Casework Service is an integral part of the Communities Directorate, working collaboratively with Social Care and Education and Skills so that all refugees are accessing the right help, coordinated support, and protection from the County Council and our partners. At every level, support is designed to address and reduce any problems or challenges and prevent them getting worse. Key to this is being able to build productive partnerships with internal and external partners and the voluntary and community sector. This is a new team and the work is still evolving; it is anticipated it will continue to develop over time.

About the job

Community Support Casework ensures that refugees receive accessible and coordinated support when they need it. This support ranges from early identification and preventative approaches through to more targeted help where individuals are experiencing more complex or multiple difficulties that may result from sponsorship breakdowns and/or trauma and displacement. The support will address challenges whilst enabling refugees to manage their own lives in a new country.

As a Team Manager, you will be expected to lead, supervise and provide oversight of a locality-based team that provides direct intervention to refugees through targeted support and partnership working with dedicated schools or health teams, for example with the provision of English Language learning that will help with pathways to independence.

You will play a key role in the Communities leadership team in bringing your knowledge and expertise into the development of services. You will be responsible for ensuring policies and practice are adhered to through a number of quality assurance processes. You will work alongside peers across the directorate to work collaboratively to ensure the needs of refugees are met.

What you'll need to succeed

You will have passion for working with migrants, , along with the ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines whilst managing demand. You will be able to focus for lengthy periods over a range of different activities in order to determine how to meet the future needs of refugees, develop procedures, and analyse information / statistics.

You will be committed to raising standards in practice that will directly lead to better outcomes for refugees. You will be inspired by the opportunity to work in an environment focused on continual improvement, working closely and collaboratively with colleagues to secure the best possible outcomes for refugees coming to the UK. You will have experience of being placed under significant emotional demand by the stories of the people you work with.

You will thrive on working on your own initiative, whilst working within broad practice, using your discretion to develop and determine the overall services provided to the customer and assist with creation and implementation of necessary policies and procedures linked to the service.

You will need to be able to travel independently to various meeting venues and other locations across the County, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

Job details

Grade: Grade 12

Directorate Group: Communities Directorate

Location: Various locations around the county

- DBS check is a requirement of this post

Required experience and skills

(These will be used as the shortlisting criteria)

Key Skills:

1. Ability to anticipate problems, plan solutions and make sound pragmatic problem-solving decisions which will have a wider service impact, particularly in relation to providing a varied service, resource issues, partnership building (internally or externally) and the day-to-day management and direction of the team.

2. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate information which may be complex and contentious. Including the ability to negotiate solutions across wide areas of the business, manage conflict and successfully convince others of the need to take a specific course of action with a customer-focussed approach.

3. Effective people and performance management skills and the ability to provide direction and motivate and inspire the team to deliver quality professional practice.

4. Able to manage self, is self-aware and understands impact of work on self and others and responds constructively to situations. Understanding the need for emotional intelligence/resilience. Ability to respond calmly and appropriately to situations where others are in a stressful or anxious situation. Thorough understanding of the range of needs presented by refugees.

5. Ability to organise/prioritise work, co-ordinate a variety of tasks in a clear and logical way and meet agreed deadlines and outcomes without supervision.

6. Analytically minded with the ability to judge, analyse and interpret varied and highly complex situations to produce strategies over the long term e.g. interpret and solve issues by coordinating with multiple agencies across the county, such as schools, health, social care, police, etc.

Qualifications and/or experience:

- Post graduate professional qualification relevant either to management or to a professional service specialism (e.g. social work, health, early education and childcare, community development, family support); or equivalent level of significant experience demonstrating comprehensive application of the above levels of knowledge in a relevant setting.

- Relevant chartered status of a professional body or equivalent high-level experience of involved practices.

- Advanced theoretical knowledge of systems, procedures and policies in specialist areas e.g. child protection, data protection, relevant law, national guidance, risk management, health and safety, safeguarding, evidence-based practice of what works within resettlement support.

- Valid and full driving licence and access to a vehicle/ability to travel around the county independently.

Key responsibilities

Leading a team of staff under the direction of the Refugee Resettlement and Migration Service management team to ensure high quality operational delivery of community support casework services that improve the outcomes for refugees living in West Sussex.

Through the application of a broad and deep knowledge of refugee resettlement, education, family/childcare and management/business concepts, accurately diagnose highly complex problems, research the issues, produce a range of possible solutions by applying the right concepts and tools which are appropriate for the business and consult with the partners in order to agree a robust course of action. Such as: integrated working at all levels promoting positive working relationships and processes with all partners, removing 'barriers' with external providers which could impact the current or future service provided to refugees.

Model and use critical reflection in management, practice and supervision settings to enhance practice. Model and help others to maintain professional / personal boundaries and the skilled use of self in more complex situations, including supporting an environment that promotes learning and practice development within the workplace.

Responsible for managing a locality-based team including the performance management and professional development of those staff. This will include establishing regular individual and group supervision arrangements, mentoring, setting and reviewing targets and objectives, identifying gaps in knowledge and skills and creating learning opportunities for development.

Responsible for persuading clients, partners and colleagues to undertake appropriate courses of action through effective developed communication skills, providing in-depth specialist advice, challenge and information to clients / customers in a range of formats as appropriate.

Develop team plans and objectives to ensure the delivery of the business plan, take responsibility for compliance with agreed working practices and identifying and meeting practice development needs.

Shared accountability for a budget of up to £50K per annum and accountable for the local budget including committed expenditure, ensuring effective spend and contributing to budget setting and monitoring.

Ensure robust casework plans and monitoring trackers are devised so that safety and welfare is promoted, and that aspects of care, development and protection are thoroughly considered as well as the needs of others affected.

Chair multi-agency meetings that include refugees to ensure their voices inform practice and their needs are met. Manage complaints in a professional and timely manner and understand the complex needs that ...