About Us

Job Title  Social Worker/Senior Social Worker-Kinship Service

Salary Range  £36,432- £51,127

Permanent, Full Time

Location  Wandsworth, London, UK

Ofsted Rating: ‘Good'

Objective of role 

Are you passionate about making a difference to children’s lives and working with families and friends in order to keep families together?

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!

Our Kinship Team is looking to recruit one Social Worker (or senior social worker) to join our service to work with children, young people and their networks to create positive change and stability in their lives.

We are looking for a social worker who has experience in completing Kinship Assessments and/or court directed parenting assessments. As a social worker within the Kinship Team you will be responsible for assessing Connected carers and Special Guardians during care proceedings and offering ongoing support to approved Kinship carers and Special Guardians, including post permanence support. You will be working collaboratively with your colleagues across the department and with partners to deliver high-quality and responsive social work to Kinship carers and Special Guardians. 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/

About the role 

We are looking for a Social Worker that is passionate about transforming the lives of vulnerable children and their families, who can both work alongside families to understand what a good life looks like for them and how we can work together creatively to achieve it. 

You will be skilled in building trusting relationships, talking to families about what matters most to them, making sure children’s wishes and feelings are central to decision making, increasing people’s hope, self-esteem and potential and connecting families to networks of support. You will draw on theoretical ideas and evidence-based approaches to inform your work and have very strong assessment skills. Time management will be important in this busy team.

This role will be varied and you will have creative conversations with families and improve practice that has been identified through quality assurance mechanisms.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Passion for Transformation: Dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable children and families.
• Relationship Building: Skilled in fostering trust, understanding family needs, and prioritizing children’s wishes in decision-making
• Empowerment: Focused on enhancing hope, self-esteem, and connecting families to support networks
• Evidence-Based Practice: Utilizes theoretical and evidence-based approaches in work.
• Creative Problem-Solving: Engages in innovative conversations and improves practices identified through quality assurance
• Positive Attitude: Champions creativity and advocates for achieving the best outcomes for children and families.
• Qualifications: Holds a relevant social work qualification, Social Work England membership, and completed ASYE Year.
• Key Skills: Compassionate communicator, effective collaborator, and knowledgeable about relevant legislation and guidance

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'll 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:  Friday 16th May  

Shortlisting Date:  W/C 19th May   

Interview Date:  W/C 2nd June 

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.

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.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils