How you'll make a difference:
South Gloucestershire’s children’s social care service is rated Good by Ofsted, and we are committed to maintaining and building on this strong foundation. As a Senior Social Worker in Family Help, you will provide experienced, relationship-based social work practice for children and families whose needs may include Child in Need, Child Protection and the early stages of Children in Care planning.
You will manage the most complex children within the team, using skilled professional judgement to assess risk, strengthen safety and support families to make sustainable change. Alongside your own casework, you will help the Team Manager develop practice, support less experienced colleagues and promote consistent, high-quality decision-making.
What you will be doing:
Working within a multi-disciplinary Family Help and Best Start Community Team, you will combine complex case responsibility with professional leadership. Children’s voices, family networks and relationship-based practice will remain central as you coordinate statutory support and help families build safety, confidence and resilience.
The role also contributes to team development through reflective supervision, mentoring, group learning and leadership in specialist areas of practice. You may directly manage a small number of alternatively qualified practitioners and will support the Team Manager with service quality, professional standards and team performance.
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Holding the most complex Family Help cases across Child in Need, Child Protection and early Children in Care, completing high-quality assessment, planning, intervention and review.
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Making robust and timely decisions where there is risk of significant harm, balancing children’s safety, family rights and statutory responsibilities.
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Facilitating family group decision-making, strengthening family networks and coordinating effective multi-agency support.
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Providing professional oversight, supervision, mentoring and practice guidance to alternatively qualified staff, students and less experienced Social Workers.
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Leading group learning, workshops or a specialist area of practice while contributing to service development, policy, performance and continuous improvement.
What we need from you:
- We require you to hold a recognised Social Work qualification and current registration with Social Work England, together with a relevant post-qualifying award.
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You will have significant post-qualification experience in a Local Authority children’s services setting, including evidence-based work with vulnerable children and families.
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You will bring detailed knowledge of children’s legislation and practice, with strong skills in assessment, risk analysis, safety planning and complex statutory decision-making.
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You will have experience of staff supervision, mentoring or practice development and be able to support others through constructive challenge, reflective learning and professional guidance.
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You will be an effective communicator and relationship builder, confident handling difficult and sensitive issues with children, families, colleagues and partner agencies.
What you need to know:
- We are unable to accommodate applications from newly qualified social workers or candidates who require an Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE). Applicants must already have successfully completed their ASYE.
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This position is based in our West Family Help Hub, in Patchway.
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Although this post is advertised as full time, we welcome applications from experienced Social Workers seeking part-time, job-share or flexible working arrangements.
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You will be expected to travel throughout the authority and surrounding area, so you must have a full, valid driving licence with regular access to a vehicle insured for business use or have an alternative suitable means of travel.
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An enhanced DBS check is required, and you will need to travel throughout the authority and surrounding area, with occasional work outside normal office hours.
Interviews are anticipated to be held on 3rd September 2026, but alternate dates may be available.
How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different:
- As part of our benefits package, you will receive generous annual leave (pro rata), employee wellbeing support and you will have access to a range of staff discounts, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities.
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We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.
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We invest in the careers of our people, and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps our people make the greatest long-term difference in their work.
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What’s special here is the strength of the team ethos. We are a relatively small local authority, so managers know staff well. They can plan their services to ensure teams have manageable caseloads and have effective supervision so feel supported to make decisions which are right for the children and young people they work with.
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We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.
These posts attract a gross lump sum £3,000 ‘recruitment payment’ pro rata offered to enable experienced Social Workers who have already successfully completed their ASYE to join our permanent workforce. This is payable upon successful completion of your probationary period (after approximately 3-6 months) and is subject to eligibility criteria.
These posts are currently eligible for a market factor £3,000 ‘retention payment’ pro rata, payable in November annually to those with two years’ service with the council in Children’s Social Care In an eligible post, inclusive of any ASYE period.
Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.
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We're building and shaping communities which people are proud of.
- We’re providing essential services across our communities to ensure they are safe and well maintained.
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We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.
We’re making a difference, be part of it!
To view the full job description, please refer to the Senior Social Worker role profile.
