jobfacts

Social services manager

Social services managers and directors — SOC 2020 1172

Social services managers and directors plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the resources and commission the services necessary to protect the welfare of certain groups within local authorities including children and young people, families under stress, people with disabilities, elderly people and people needing help as a result of illness.

Also calledService managerService development managerManagerChildren's centre managerCommissioning managerCommunity engagement managerand 16 more titles
Typical full-time pay£48,5002025 Provisional
People in the job36,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month367↓ 11%on last year · 292nd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time social services managers earn, 2025
£48,500 typical£35,100lowest 20%£38,70025%n/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less than£35,100
25%£38,700
Median£48,500
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £48,500
Wales!£51,700
South East!£50,300
East Midlands!£47,900
London!£47,300
Yorkshire and The Humber!£33,900
North EastNot published by ONS–
North WestNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £48,500
Wales£51,700 (small sample)
South East£50,300 (small sample)
East Midlands£47,900 (small sample)
London£47,300 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£33,900 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
North WestNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £40,900
  • 2024 £43,000
  • 2025 Provisional£48,500
↑ 19% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 367 jobs for social services managers are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026399
Jul 2026358
Jun 2026386
May 2026415
Apr 2026396
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026351
Jan 2026345
Dec 2025190
Nov 2025409
Oct 2025385
Sept 2025407
Aug 2025382
Jul 2025470
Jun 2025456
May 2025483
Apr 2025395
Mar 2025452
Feb 2025509
Jan 2025386
Dec 2024272
Nov 2024381
Oct 2024392
Sept 2024416
Aug 2024390
Jul 2024469
Jun 2024443
May 2024544
Apr 2024445
Mar 2024446
Feb 2024367
Jan 2024475
Dec 2023360
Nov 2023417
Oct 2023398
Sept 2023390
Aug 2023428
Jul 2023472
Jun 2023602
May 2023577
Apr 2023511
Mar 2023584
Feb 2023607
Jan 2023712
Dec 2022571
Nov 2022641
Oct 2022775
Sept 2022651
Aug 2022747
Jul 2022978
Jun 2022733
May 2022852
Apr 2022664
Mar 2022825
Feb 2022774
Jan 2022739
Dec 2021565
Nov 2021728
Oct 2021685
Sept 2021648
Aug 2021595
Jul 2021729
Jun 2021648
May 2021663
Apr 2021530
Mar 2021691
Feb 2021429
Jan 2021463
Dec 2020392
Nov 2020425
Oct 2020542
Sept 2020437
Aug 2020371
Jul 2020450
Jun 2020378
May 2020361
Apr 2020310
Mar 2020520
Feb 2020654
Jan 2020519
Dec 2019396
Nov 2019676
Oct 2019557
Sept 2019499
Aug 2019461
Jul 2019614
Jun 2019562
May 2019571
Apr 2019417
Mar 2019402
Feb 2019378
Jan 2019434
Dec 2018266
Nov 2018447
Oct 2018431
Sept 2018466
Aug 2018372
Jul 2018431
Jun 2018522
May 2018478
Apr 2018372
Mar 2018496
Feb 2018412
Jan 2018481
Dec 2017293
Nov 2017363
Oct 2017380
Sept 2017431
Aug 2017426
Jul 2017325
Jun 2017413
May 2017417
Apr 2017413
Mar 2017390
Feb 2017383
Jan 2017410
Is there a shortage of social services managers?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
18%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for corporate managers and directors, which includes social services managers. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London268
Manchester47
Birmingham36
Leeds27
Bristol, City of18
City of Edinburgh18
Glasgow City16
Nottingham14
Liverpool14
Newcastle upon Tyne13
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where social services managers are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of social services managers
15%!
36%!
27%!
20%!
1.9%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
25–3415% (small sample)
35–4436% (small sample)
45–5427% (small sample)
55–6420% (small sample)
65+1.9% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent71%
Higher education below degree!8.2%
A levels or equivalent!14%
GCSEs or equivalent!5%
Other qualifications–
Not published
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent71%
Higher education below degree8.2% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent14% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent5% (small sample)
Other qualificationsNot published
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: other social work activities without accommodation nec (42%), general public administration activities (9%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (6.4%), renting and operating of own or leased real estate (5.4%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
71%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

University

You could do a degree or postgraduate qualification before applying for a management trainee place with a local authority. Most subjects are accepted, though you may have an advantage with a qualification in:

  • social work
  • mental health nursing
  • public health policy
  • health and social care
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course

College

You could learn some of the skills you need for this job through a related college course like health and social care management.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Children, Young People and Families Practitioner Level 5 Higher Apprenticeship, then do further on-the-job training.

You could also do a Social Worker Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship to get a trainee manager's position.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Apply directly

You'll need several years' management experience and a relevant qualification like health and social care management to apply for job vacancies directly.

Employers will expect you to have a clear understanding of legislation, safety standards and social policy for your chosen field.

What you’ll need

  • pass enhanced background checks

A driving licence will be useful.

Registration and professional bodies

Registration
  • you'll need to register with Social Work England
Further information

You'll find more advice about working in social services from Think Care Careers.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for social services manager. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • provides leadership and management to ensure services are delivered in accordance with statutory requirements and in line with the local authority social services department’s policies and procedures
  • determines staffing, financial, material and other short and long-term needs
  • plans work schedules, assigns tasks and delegates responsibilities of social services staff
  • monitors and evaluates departmental performance with a view to improving social service provision
  • studies and advises upon changes in legislation that will impact upon social service provision
  • liaises with representatives of other relevant agencies

Skills

  • accept own accountability
  • address problems critically
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • advocate for others
  • advocate for social service users
  • analyse community needs
  • apply change management
  • apply decision making within social work
  • apply holistic approach within social services
  • apply quality standards in social services
  • apply socially just working principles
  • assess social service users' situation
  • build business relationships
  • build helping relationship with social service users

Knowledge

  • business management principles
  • customer service
  • legal requirements in the social sector

Suits people who like

  • Leading and persuading
  • Helping and caring for people

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for corporate managers and directors, a group of 20 jobs that includes social services managers.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 3%about 78,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.4 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.