Enhanced Senior Social Worker

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic, motivated, and committed Social Worker to join Wakefield’s Mainstream Fostering Team as a Supervising Social Worker on a 12-month secondment to provide maternity leave cover.

We are looking for a qualified Social Worker with a passion for fostering and a commitment to supporting foster families to provide safe, stable, and nurturing homes for children and young people. This rewarding role offers the opportunity to work closely with foster carers, children, families, and partner agencies to promote positive outcomes, stability, permanence, and wellbeing for children in care.

As a Supervising Social Worker, you will provide ongoing supervision, support, and professional guidance to foster carers, enabling them to meet the diverse and often complex needs of children and young people. You will be skilled in building positive and effective relationships, adapting your communication style to engage confidently with children, carers, and professionals alike.

The role also includes participation in a busy and dynamic duty service, which is responsible for identifying and securing appropriate fostering placements for children who require care. This involves responding to both planned placement requests and emergency situations, requiring excellent organisational skills, sound professional judgement, resilience, and the ability to work effectively under pressure.

The successful candidate will be a strong team player with a commitment to relationship-based practice, safeguarding, and achieving the best possible outcomes for children and young people. A sound understanding of care planning processes and safeguarding procedures is essential. While fostering experience would be advantageous, it is not essential, and applications are encouraged from qualified Social Workers across Children’s Services who are looking to develop their skills and experience within this specialist area.

The post is based at Queen’s House, Wakefield, operating within a hybrid working model. Staff are expected to attend the office for a minimum of three days per week, including duty days and Fridays, with flexibility to work remotely on other days in accordance with service needs. The role will also involve some travel and out-of-area visits to support foster carers living outside the Wakefield district.

If you are passionate about supporting foster families and helping children achieve stability, permanence, and positive life outcomes, we would welcome your application.

Applicants should discuss their intention to apply with their current Team Manager. For an informal discussion about the role or to request further information, please contact Lindsy Willis, Team Manager, or Debbie Hague, Operations Manager.

What can I expect?

• A competitive salary
• Generous holiday entitlement with the option to buy up to 10 extra days of annual leave
• Hybrid working (subject to role suitability)
• Access to high-quality training programs to advance your career to the next level.
• We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff. We recognise that resilient teams need good work life balance as well as supportive leadership.
• Discounted and subsidised public transport (Arriva Bus Annual Travel Ticket, Northern Trains Limited (NTL), MetroCard).
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and a Shared Cost Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) scheme providing a tax efficient way to increase our pension.
• Great range of benefits including an Employee Assistant Programme, discounted membership to our excellent leisure facilities with free 12 weeks exercise program, discounts for a range of retail, entertainment, health and leisure providers, a cycle to work scheme, and many more.

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about the role, the recruitment process or working for Wakefield Council, feel free to contact.

Name: Lindsy Willis and Debbie Hague

Tel: 01924 302160

E-mail: lwillis@wakefield.gov.ukdhaugue@wakefield.gov.uk

Join us and make a real impact in the community. Apply today to become a valued member of our team!

Safeguarding

Wakefield Council is wholly committed to ensuring children and vulnerable adults are fully supported and safe. We are dedicated to the safeguarding of all children and vulnerable adults whilst promoting their welfare. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this responsibility.

DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service)

The successful applicant will be required to complete a Disclosure Application Form and to provide criminal conviction information.

Probation

If you are successful in your application and still within your probation period when starting in this role. The remainder of your probation period will apply to this role.

Fluency Duty

To comply with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 (Fluency Duty), public facing roles will be subject to the Fluency Duty.

Diversity

Having a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve helps us to achieve the best outcomes for all. We encourage applications from everyone and actively seek to ensure that everyone feels included in the workplace so that we can make the most of our differences.

Why Wakefield

To find out more about the benefits of working at Wakefield Council, click here.