Social Worker

The Role

Do you see yourself making a lifelong difference in a child’s life through adoption?

Can you use your experience to help support safe, loving, and stable families for children across South London?

Does the idea of joining a forward-thinking and inclusive regional adoption agency inspire you?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

At Adoption London South, a regional adoption agency, we are looking for a passionate and dedicated Social Worker to join us and help make a difference today.

About the Role:

A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen for a full-time social worker to work within Adopt London South Adoption Support Team, supporting adoptive families.

The Adoption Support Team supports families by assessing the child’s needs and providing a plan of support. The team also hosts various groups for adopted children, birth parents, and adoptive parents, alongside other training and support sessions.

A priority for ALS and the LAs is to reduce delay for children, particularly of Black and minoritised ethnic backgrounds, and especially boys who wait the longest for new families. ALS has strong links with the Black Adoption Project and New Families Social. There may be opportunities to work on pan London and other projects.

This will be a fixed term contract to a full-time post until the end January 2028

About You:

We are looking for experienced and committed social workers who are:

• Qualified and have completed their ASYE, with over 3 years experience
• Experienced in planning for permanence and interested in adoption
• Skilled at building positive relationships with diverse families and professionals
• Have embedded relational and trauma-informed practice
• Have good written skills, work well to timescales, and are analytical.

• Committed to anti-racist and inclusive practice, with a focus on reducing race disparity in adoption
• Confident using Mosaic Case Management systems
• Knowledgeable in childcare and adoption legislation and statutory guidance
• Open to personal development and keen to develop group work and training skills

About the Team:

Adopt London South (ALS) is a Regionalised Adoption Agency (RAA) hosted by London Borough of Southwark. We provide adoption services to 10 South London Local Authorities within our partnership agreement. ALS also works closely with 3 other RAA’s under the ‘Adopt London’ banner to develop adoption services across 24 London boroughs.

ALS are a lively, busy service involved with preparing adopters, family finding and adoption support. Our current vacancy is in our Adoption Support Team. This part of the service provides a range of specialist adoption support for everyone affected by adoption at any stage in their life.

For detailed qualifications and requirements, please review the job description and person specification located at the bottom of the advert.

Contact Information:

To find out more, please e-mail the team manager, Sam Quartey at sam.quartey@southwark.gov.uk or the Service Manager, Lake Gledhill at lake.gledhill@southwark.gov.uk

Additional Details:

Applicant must:

• Hold a recognised social work qualification
• Have a current registration with Social Work England
• Hold or undergo a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level.
• This will be a fixed term contract to a full-time post until the end January 2028

Benefits and more information:

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

Recruitment timetable

Advert close date: 11:59pm on 5th November 2025

Shortlisting date/s: 10th November 2025

Interview date/s: 17th November 2025

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Attachments

• Social Worker Job Description