Project Manager

Position reference: 50134929 Directorate: Children’s Services | Service: Children & Family Social Care

Salary : £47,181 - £50,269

Working Arrangements : Agile - minimum 3 days in the office

Hours per week : 37

Contract type: Fixed term until 24th Dec 2026

We are happy to talk flexible working arrangements with you, please get in touch .

Suitable for Secondment: Employees wishing to be considered for secondment should agree with their head of service before submitting an application form.

See our range of Employee Rewards: Employee rewards and benefits

Closing date : 23/01/2026 a t 23:59

This post requires a Basic Criminal Record Check

Prospective employees will be required to give a reasonable account of any significant periods (6 months or more in the past 3 years) of time living abroad.

When applying, please ensure you are prepared to start work with all the necessary legal documents, such as a valid visa, relevant to the type of work you will be undertaking.

Please be aware that our organisation does not possess a Home Office license and, as a result, is unable to provide sponsorship for anyone seeking a visa as a skilled or temporary migrant worker.

Pensions Regulations have provisions to reduce pension payments in certain circumstances of those who return to work within local government service. If you are in receipt of a pension upon commencing employment with the authority, this may affect your pension entitlements and you should therefore seek advice from the relevant Pensions Authority.

At Barnsley Council you can start a career that makes a real difference to people’s lives, helping our council and residents to be the best they can be. We’re an award-winning council and one of the biggest employers in the borough, supporting around 243,000 people. We put people at the heart of everything we do, and that includes our employees. As part of the team, we offer lots of benefits and rewards to support you to thrive and grow, like flexible working, employee discounts, support for your health and wellbeing, and opportunities for training and development to grow your career and develop your skills.

There’s so much happening in our thriving borough, and now’s the perfect time to join our excellent Children & Family Social Care team as we work to make Barnsley the place of possibilities. We’re an award-winning team and one of the biggest employers in the borough supporting around 243,000 people. Working at Barnsley Council means being part of a team that makes a real difference to people’s lives, where you can develop the skills you need to make change happen. If you join the team you’ll receive great pay alongside an excellent pension scheme. With flexible working we’ll also support your work/life balance, helping you to adjust your hours and take time off when you need it. We’ll help you to develop your career and grow your skills with opportunities for training and development. There’s so much happening in our thriving borough and your talent and skills will help us make Barnsley the place of possibilities .

Key to our success is working with our residents, partners, businesses and organisations and building these partnerships to bring about change in Barnsley.

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About The Post

Barnsley is a place of possibilities. Our Programme Office manages, drives and supports the delivery of our Children’s Services Improvement Programme. As a Project Manager you will lead and drive both small and large projects across the Children’s Services Improvement Programme, focussing predominantly on Looked After Children Sufficiency. Your project skills will enable you to support and challenge progress effectively, ensuring we deliver good quality, inclusive and collaborative projects on time. In Barnsley, we are committed and passionate about helping, protecting and caring for children and young people. Our vision for Children’s Services is ambitious, we know what needs to be done and we will deliver on our plans. Our environment is fast-paced and sensitive and you will have the exciting opportunity to work on a variety of projects. It is important for you to be flexible and adaptable as the work will be wide-ranging and will require you to work across both Children’s Social Care, Commissioning and with various colleagues from across wider Council services and partners. You will be responsible for managing improvement delivery plans and projects, including the management and coordination of reporting through governance structures. Your role will enable you to drive service improvement and build up your knowledge and experience across many areas of Children’s Services. More importantly the role will be extremely rewarding, as our changes will mean we offer better services to children, young people and families across the Borough.

What You’ll Need

As a project manager you will need a minimum of a level 6 qualification and relevant programme or project management training. Brining with you your project skills and experience, so that you can hit the ground running; In this role, your talent for communication and negotiation will be as important as your skills in organising and problem solving. You will need to prioritise your workload effectively, report to key Workstreams and other meetings, and build effective working relationships with managers, internal colleagues and partners. Here at Barnsley, we live and work by four important values: honesty, teamwork, excellent service, and taking pride in what we do. We want people with a ‘can do attitude’ and a positive outlook, someone that will work independently, be part of our team, with supportive and empowering ethics. Experience in children’s services and a project or programme management qualification will be helpful but not essential.

Why wait, fill out the applications form today, and we’ll see you on the other side

Please email FaithRidgwick@barnsley.gov.uk if you would like an informal discussion.

Interviews will take place between 30th January - 2nd February.

Please use the documents below to help support you with your application form.

Job Profile: Project Manager Job Profile.pdf

Vacancy Exposure Profile: Exposure Profile.pdf

Help with your application form

Why work for us? Please ensure you view the job profile for this role, as you will need to demonstrate in your application form how you meet the required criteria. We welcome the opportunity to have a chat about the role and are happy to address any questions you may have about flexible working arrangements, including as a result of caring responsibilities. We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued and everyone truly feels able to be themselves. If you have any support needs during the recruitment process, please let us know. CV's are not accepted for this role. At Barnsley Council, we believe in second chances and value diversity. Our recruitment process is inclusive, and we welcome applicants with past convictions. We're committed to fairness and do not discriminate. Join us in building a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. #InclusiveHiring #SecondChances