Social Worker

Salary Newly Qualified Social Worker, Grade J £42,123 to £46,579 a year. Qualified Social Worker, Grade K £47,665 to £50,908 a year
Location: Derby
Hours: 37 hours a week
Closing Date: 11/10/2026
Contract Type: Permanent

Derby City Council is committed to achieving positive outcomes for children, young people and their families. We are proud of our Ofsted judgement of Outstanding. In Derby we aren’t complacent about this and recognise that our workforce is key to delivering a good service. We operate a Strength Based Practice Model. We are committed to listening to the voice of our children, our approach to this is My Life My Journey. This means that we listen to and consider children’s views from the point of contact, through permanency and beyond.

In Derby we respect culture and heritage, we have embedded our Heritage Pledge, the aim of which is to value children and their families as individual’s and respect their culture, religion, and identity. Our workforce understands the needs of children and are skilful in identifying risk and considering the impact on the individual child. We want like minded Social Workers to join our workforce and become part of Derby’s journey. If Derby sounds like a place you’d like to work, please apply.

You will be part of a supportive team, have access to regular supervision, peer support and continuing professional development. If you are newly qualified, you will have development opportunities during your ASYE and further opportunities to develop as an experienced Social Worker.

Who We Are
Here at Derby City Council, we’re dedicated to delivering nearly 250 first-class services to citizens and businesses in the heart of the Midlands. People are at the centre of all that we do, and we have an outstanding track record of recruiting and developing talented individuals by providing them with varied and fulfilling career opportunities. Find out more about what it’s like to work for us.

What We Offer
You too could be part of something brilliant by becoming a colleague at Derby City Council; in addition to making a difference to the lives of people across the city, you’ll also receive:

• Flexible work/life balance scheme
• Continued professional development opportunities & career conversations
• 27 days annual leave (rising to 32 days after 5 years' service), plus bank holidays
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Team Derby Rewards – retail and leisure discounts
• Tusker Car Benefit Scheme
• Cycle2Work Scheme & free cycle training
• Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Calendar and Support
• Access to our Equality Employee Networks – LGBTQ+, Disabled Employee Network & Carers and our Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Employee Support Network and Neurodiversity Network
• Support for colleagues who are carers

We have an upcoming vacancy for a qualified social worker to join the Specialist Migration Team based within The Children and Young Adults Supportive Care Service. This is a full-time position dedicated to working with and care planning for all Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) from the point of referral until they leave care at 18.

This role offers:

Specialist training opportunities through the East Midlands Migration Partnership.

The chance to develop and shape practice in an area undergoing significant national changes.

Opportunities to enhance skills in age assessment, report writing, and service development, in addition to casework.

We would like social workers to apply who are committed to advocating on behalf of and will help our children and young people achieve good outcomes. Our social workers will be expected to contribute to effective care planning, including pathway planning with our children and young people, across a variety of placements.

The Specialist Migration Team work with all UASC children and young people within the city of Derby from the point of contact to turning 18.

We work closely with a range of professionals, including health, education, leaving care, youth offending and adult social care colleagues. Social workers will meet statutory requirements which are in place to safeguard our children and young people, along with ensuring they have the best possible support to enable them to achieve their best outcomes.

The Specialist Migration Team is committed to ensuring our Corporate Parenting obligations are met along with our Pledge to Children in Care and Care Leavers. Derby has a vibrant Children in Care Council. We expect that the voice of our children and young people is embedded into their care plans and taken into account when decisions are made which will affect them.

If you’re interested and would want an informal conversation, please call Vicky Herbert Team Manager on 01332 642 545 or Peter Macauley Team Manager 01332 640 298

Next Steps

If you would like to apply for this vacancy via an application form, please submit an application via the Derby City Council website.

The closing date for this vacancy is at midnight on 11/10/2026. Any applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.

Interviews to be held on 22/10/2026 and 23/10/2026.

If you would prefer to apply for this job using your CV, then please download the attached Declaration Form and send it to Peter.Macauley@derby.gov.uk . Without a completed declaration form, your application will not be accepted. We also encourage you to download the Equalities Form and return this to recruitment.team@derby.gov.uk , however this is optional and will not affect your application.

Important Information
Links to the full Job Description and Person Specification are below.

As part of our safer recruitment checks the successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

All employees will normally be appointed to the minimum of the grade for the job.

Before you complete your application form please read our guidance on filling in your application form.

Remember to align your personal statement to the essential criteria in the Person Specification.

Please be aware that where there are colleagues within the organisation who are 'at risk' of redundancy, requirements to redeploy to another suitable role will apply and take priority.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
We are a fair and inclusive employer and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We recruit for diversity and value difference. As many of our roles can now be home-based, we are able to offer more opportunities for people who need this facility.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. If you are a disabled person, you have the choice to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme so long as you demonstrate that you meet the essential requirements for the job.

We feel it is essential that we recruit a talented workforce that is as diverse as the community we work for.

Please let us know of any individual requirements or reasonable adjustments you may have during the application, interview, or onboarding process and we’ll do all we can to help. We strongly believe in social understanding of disability and for us it’s all about removing barriers to equality.

If you have any questions regarding this vacancy or are having difficulty applying, please contact our Recruitment Team on 01332 640844 (Relay UK - 18001 01332 640 844) or at recruitmentteam@derby.gov.uk. https://www.derby.gov.uk/signing-service/

Please see Job Description here

Please see Person Specification here

Please see Declaration Form for CV Applications here
Please see Equalities Form for CV Applications here
Please see DBS Code of Conduct here