Service Manager - Children, Families & Justice Services

Job Summary

Interview Date: 25/08/2026 (face to face)

We may conduct our interviews in person or using Microsoft Teams for video calling. All you need is a device with a camera and access to the internet. We will provide guidance and instructions on how to use this method if your interview is being held virtually.

We are a disability confident leader and we support reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process - for more information click important-information-for-applicants (north-ayrshire.gov.uk)

This is an exciting opportunity to join the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership Senior Management Team within the Children, Families and Justice Service. We are seeking an experienced, aspirational leader who shares North Ayrshire Council’s core values of Focus, Passion and Inspiration. The successful candidate will be responsible for the operational management of defined service areas and social work teams across Children and Families services, ensuring high-quality, responsive child and family support services. Working alongside a fellow Service Manager, you will support the Senior Manager in driving forward service improvement and strengthening delivery standards for babies, infants, children and young people across North Ayrshire. You will join us at a time of ambitious transformation, with real opportunities to shape service redesign, improve access to support and contribute to the delivery of sustainable, high-quality services. In North Ayrshire, we pride ourselves on visible, values-led leadership, where senior leaders are accessible, supportive and committed to creating the conditions for staff to thrive and deliver their best work. We are equally committed to supporting our workforce through reflective supervision, continuous professional development and a strong focus on staff wellbeing, recognising that our people are our greatest asset. In line with our commitment to The Promise, we are dedicated to ensuring that all children and young people receive the right support, at the right time, enabling them to grow up feeling safe, secure and loved. We support a risk sensible practice framework having imbedded Signs of Safety and Safe and Together practice models. You would have opportunity to continue to support the imbedding of these models assisting frontline teams to focus on relationship based trauma informed practice. The preferred candidate will bring extensive operational management experience within a Children and Families social work setting, a relevant Social Work qualification, strong leadership capability, with a focus on continuous improvement and partnership working and of course a a commitment to achieving the best outcomes for children, young people and families. You must also be willing to undertake and maintain mandatory PVG Scheme membership. Informal enquiries are welcomed and can be made to: Corry McDonald, Senior Manager – Children and Families Tel: 01294 317712 Shortlisted candidates must be available to attend for a face to face interview on the 25th August 2026 within Cunninghame House, Irvine.

For more details see the attached Role Profile below.

Before you apply, find out a little bit about us and why we are a Great Place to Work.

Staff Values & Behaviours

North Ayrshire Council uses behavioural based approach throughout the recruitment process. Our staff values of Focus, Passion & Inspiration will be explored for this vacancy.

Further information on our Staff Values and how to complete behaviour based application form questions is available on the Staff values and behaviours (north-ayrshire.gov.uk).

Additional Information

References

For your information if this post requires references you will be notified of further details if you are successful in gaining an interview. Not providing relevant references when requested may delay the outcome of the interview process.

PVG (both)

This post is considered Regulated Work with Children and Protected Adults, under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act, 2007. Therefore, it is an offence to apply if you are barred from working with children or protected adults

Preferred candidates will be required to join the PVG Scheme, or undergo a PVG Scheme Update check, prior to confirmation of employment being made by North Ayrshire Council. Please note, successful candidates will be expected to meet the cost of the relevant PVG check (£59 or £18), which will be deducted from your salary following commencement of employment. For further information on the PVG Scheme please visit https://www.mygov.scot/organisations/disclosure-scotland/. For further details on North Ayrshire Council’s policy please visit Pre-employment checks (north-ayrshire.gov.uk).

Please note if you are the successful candidate your name and email address will be entered into the Disclosure Scotland PVG system to generate your PVG form which will be issued to your email with an enclosed link to complete.

Our Workstyles

As an employer of choice, North Ayrshire Council has identified four different Workstyles. Each post in the council has been allocated one of these styles:

Agile – 100% of time spent working agile (flexibly) and interacting with others. Able to work at home, office or multiple locations. May be required to attend office on set days/rota basis as the role requires.

This post has been allocated the workstyle: Agile

More information on our workstyles can be found in our HR Guide - Workstyles (north-ayrshire.gov.uk). If you have any questions on the allocated Workstyle for this post, please ask at interview.

Use of AI in Applications

Applicants may use AI tools to assist with drafting or refining their application. However, AI should only be used to enhance an application and must not replace personal experience or be used to generate content wholly on the applicant’s behalf. Where it is identified that AI has been used to create an application in full or to falsify responses, this will be taken into account within the scoring, and your application may not be progressed.