Social Worker / Senior Social Worker - Kinship Service
Up to £52,767 per annum
Fixed Term (12 months)
Full Time (36 hours)
Wandsworth, London
Ofsted Rating: ‘Good'
Are you passionate about making a difference to children’s lives and working with families and friends in order to keep families together?
We are recruiting a Social Worker (or Senior Social Worker) to support children, young people, and their networks in achieving stability and positive change.
We’re looking for someone with experience in Kinship and / or court-directed parenting assessments. You will lead post-order support for Kinship carers, including advice on permanence and accessing the adoption and special guardianship fund. You will also coordinate family time arrangements for children in Kinship and Adoption placements, working closely with colleagues and partners to deliver high-quality, responsive support.
We value each staff member in the service and want each one to be a leader and champion of exemplary practice. Find out more about our goals, vision and Outstanding Practice Framework: https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/childrens-social-care-jobs/
If this is the practice system you want to work in, Wandsworth’s Kinship Team is where you need to be and we have the perfect role for you!
About the role
We are seeking a passionate Social Worker committed to transforming the lives of vulnerable children and families. You will work creatively with families to define and achieve their vision of a good life.
Strong relationship-building, listening to children’s voices and connecting families to support networks are key. You will use evidence-based approaches and theoretical frameworks to guide your work, with excellent assessment and time management skills.
The role is varied, involving creative conversations and practice improvement through quality assurance.
We are proud of the difference we are making to support children and families in Wandsworth and have invested in all our staff, our leaders as well as partners to enable us to make our engagement with families and communities in Wandsworth a success. We passionately believe that if we invest in new ways of thinking and working, you will have everything you need to do the job you trained for. We have incredibly sound, solid and strong leadership, who have an exciting vision that is transforming our approaches to the most vulnerable in society.
Closing Date: 14th September 2025
Shortlisting Date: w/c 15th September 2025
Interview Date: w/c 15th September 2025
We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications have been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
All internal applicants for this secondment must seek permission from their current line manager before applying. Failure to do so may result in the secondment not being authorised.
Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.
We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.
Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience
Our social workers are at the heart of our success, and we’re looking for Social Workers who share and are excited by our vision. Come and be part of our success.
All children and families deserve an outstanding level of practice, let’s work together to provide them with the very best.
Our shared vision and values to improve outcomes for children and families will drive practice. Our outstanding practice framework will support us collectively to do that. We want to apply solutions to complex problems in the simplest way. Having a robust practice framework will enable a shared language, understanding and value base from which we can all work creatively with children and families to achieve the best outcomes for them.
We know that to recruit passionate, dedicated social workers - where there’s simply more demand than the available resource - we must show our appreciation in more tangible ways. That's why we have put together an attractive package for all our social workers.
In return for your skills, knowledge and experience, you will receive an appropriate starting salary and a friendly, kind, positive and supportive working culture.
We also offer:
Performance related salary progression scheme
32 days annual leave to all employees plus bank holidays
Relocation package for experienced social workers moving to London
Manageable caseloads
Agile and flexible working arrangements
Professional development and CPD opportunities
Regular reflective supervision and peer group supervision
Refer a friend scheme
Welcome payments and retention bonuses for harder to recruit to areas of our services
Social Work Career Pathway Framework
Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.
We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
If you have any questions about applying for this role, please get in touch with Simi Sabo on simi.sabo@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk