Team Manager (Justice)

Job Description

We are recruiting a Justice Team Manager to lead one of our Justice locality teams in Kilmarnock. This is a key role within the Justice Management Team, providing operational leadership and professional oversight to ensure high quality statutory justice social work practice.

You will lead a skilled and committed team working with individuals subject to a range of statutory interventions. The role requires strong knowledge of justice social work legislation, risk assessment and risk management processes, and the ability to support staff to deliver defensible, person centred practice that promotes positive outcomes and reduces reoffending.

About the Role

As Justice Team Manager, you will provide leadership and direction to a locality team delivering statutory justice social work services. You will ensure that assessments, reports, supervision and interventions meet legislative requirements, national guidance and local policy expectations.

You will play a central role in supporting staff to undertake complex work with individuals who may present risk of harm, while ensuring that practice remains proportionate, trauma-informed and focused on supporting sustainable change.

The post holder will contribute to service development and continuous improvement, ensuring that practice reflects current evidence, national policy direction and inspection expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a Justice locality team delivering statutory justice social work services, ensuring effective allocation of community sentence and post‑release supervision work.
• Provide professional supervision, guidance and oversight of casework, supporting high‑quality risk assessment and risk management planning.
• Chair statutory meetings, including MAPPA Level 1 and statutory reviews, ensuring defensible decision‑making and high‑quality recording in line with national standards.
• Promote trauma‑informed, person‑centred and strengths‑based practice across the team.
• Monitor performance, quality of practice and service outcomes while supporting staff wellbeing through reflective supervision and supportive leadership.
• Work collaboratively with partner agencies and contribute to operational planning and service development across Justice Services.

About You

You will have experience within statutory justice social work and a sound understanding of relevant legislation, national guidance and risk assessment frameworks. You will be confident supporting staff to manage complex and sometimes challenging situations, ensuring practice remains person-centred and focused on reducing risk of harm and supporting rehabilitation.

You will demonstrate clear and effective communication skills, with the ability to provide constructive challenge and professional guidance. You will be able to balance operational demands with the need to maintain a supportive team environment where staff feel confident, valued and able to develop their practice.

Our Team

Justice Services in East Ayrshire are committed to supporting individuals to make positive changes in their lives while meeting the expectations of the court and managing risk of harm. We work closely with partners to deliver services that promote public protection, rehabilitation and community wellbeing.

As part of the Justice Management Team, you will contribute to shaping practice and supporting a culture of learning, accountability and improvement across the service.

For further information about the post please contact Dianne Burns, Service Manager at dianne.burns@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

 

Requirements

The duties of the post involve Regulated Work with children and/or protected adults, as specified in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. Successful applicants for such posts will be required to become a Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme member in respect of Regulated Work with either or both of these groups as appropriate, or if they are already a Scheme member, be subject to a PVG Scheme Record Update, before any formal offer of employment can be made by East Ayrshire Council.

Please note:- PVG members' records are constantly updated with any new vetting information that arises. Any information that is disclosed on a PVG Scheme Record or Scheme Record Update, if relevant to the post being applied for, will be discussed with the applicant prior to any formal offer of employment being made.

 

Responsibilities

We follow the national guidance in relation to pre-employment checks namely “Safer Recruitment Through Better Recruitment”. With regards to requests for references and in line with this guidance, during your application process you should provide details of a minimum of two appropriate and relevant references, one of which should be from your current or most recent employer. It is also a requirement that the reference from your current or most recent employer is from an appropriate senior manager and it is not a reference from a former peer operating at the same level.

If you apply for this post, please add the following email address to your safe sender list to ensure that any MyJobScotland related e-mails go directly to your inbox - noreply@myjobscotland.gov.uk.

 

The Individual

This is a full-time permanent post based within Justice Services.

Hours of work - Mon-Thu 9am-5pm, Fri 9am-4pm

The salary for the post is £51,506 - £56,329

The workstyle for this post is ‘Flexible’ - 50% -79% of your time in an office location/ multiple work locations.

You will work at your administrative base or another agreed office location between 2.5 to 4 days per week and only occasionally from home.

The admin base for the post is the Johnnie Walker Bond, 15 Strand Street, Kilmarnock.

East Ayrshire Council is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcomes applications from all members of the community. We encourage applicants from underrepresented groups including Black and Minority Ethnic people, disabled people and LGBT people. We are also keen to decrease occupational segregation and so encourage women to apply for managerial posts and/or roles in which they are underrepresented. East Ayrshire Council is a Disability Confident employer and a Recruit with Conviction Ambassador.