Lead Exceptional Practice. Support Amazing Foster Carers. Change Children's Lives.
At North East Lincolnshire Council, we know that great foster carers need great support. We're looking for a passionate Fostering Practice Supervisor to lead our fostering team, embrace our fostering community and help ensure every child in our care has the opportunity to grow up in a safe, stable and loving home.
If you're passionate about fostering, committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for children in our care, and ready to lead a dedicated team with integrity, compassion and purpose, this is your opportunity to make a lasting difference.
What's the role all about?
As a Fostering Practice Supervisor, you will lead, inspire and support a team of fostering social workers who work alongside our valued foster carers every day. Through effective leadership, supervision and professional challenge, you will ensure the highest standards of practice help foster carers provide safe, stable and loving homes where children can flourish.
You will play a pivotal role in shaping and sustaining a strong fostering community across North East Lincolnshire. Working closely with foster carers, partner agencies and colleagues across Children's Services, you will help ensure that our foster carers feel valued, supported and connected to a service that shares their commitment to improving children's lives.
Alongside overseeing practice within the team, you will contribute to the recruitment, assessment and retention of foster carers, helping us grow a diverse and caring fostering community that can meet the needs of our children and young people locally in NEL.
What will your day look like?
Every day as a Fostering Practice Supervisor brings opportunities to make a meaningful impact.
You will provide reflective supervision, practice guidance and leadership to a team of fostering social workers, ensuring high-quality support is available to foster carers and the children they care for. You will oversee assessments, approvals and reviews of foster carers, support quality assurance activity, and contribute to service development and improvement.
You will work collaboratively with internal teams and external partners to promote positive outcomes for children and young people in our fostering homes, ensuring practice is child-centred, strengths-based and relationship-focused.
You will also play an active role in foster carer recruitment and retention activity, helping to attract new carers, develop existing fostering networks and create opportunities for carers to feel connected, celebrated and supported. Central to the role is creating a sense of community and belonging among our foster carers, ensuring they remain at the heart of everything we do.
Who are we looking for?
We're looking for an experienced and passionate social work professional who believes in the life-changing impact of fostering.
You will bring substantial experience of children's social care practice, ideally within fostering services, together with experience of supervising, mentoring or leading practitioners. You will have a strong understanding of fostering legislation, regulations and national standards, along with the ability to make sound decisions, manage risk and drive positive outcomes for children.
You will be an effective communicator and relationship-builder who can inspire confidence in staff, foster carers and partner agencies alike. Most importantly, you will share our commitment to ensuring children in our care experience the stability, security and love they need to thrive & deserve.
You will be registered with Social Work England and hold a recognised social work qualification.
Why join us?
Because this isn't just a leadership role, it's an opportunity to continue to help shape the extensive progress of fostering in North East Lincolnshire.
You'll join a supportive and ambitious service that values innovation, relationships and the voices of children and foster carers. Your expertise will be recognised, your development supported, and your leadership will have a direct impact on the lives of children and young people.
Together, we'll continue to provide a fostering community where foster carers feel supported and valued, children feel safe and loved, and every young person has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Join us and help create brighter futures for children in North East Lincolnshire.
Key Dates
We aim to interview candidates w/c 8th September 2026.
For more information, please refer to the attached guidance and role profile. If you would like an informal discussion, please contact Jacqueline Mills - Service Lead : [email protected]
We reserve the right to close our adverts early if we have received a significant volume of suitable applications.
We love AI and think it plays a great role in the world of work. However, for your application, we want to hear from YOU! As such, we will be testing applications to determine the use of AI, and applications that have heavily utilised the function will be scrutinised for suitability.
Do you need support?
Looking for career support? Wendy Trask from the Career Café can provide advice and guidance on job searching, completing application forms, building confidence, and accessing digital support. To speak with Wendy, call or text 07702 338542.
