Salary: £46,783 – £48,873 per year inclusive of London Weighting and Essential Car User Allowance, plus a one‑off Welcome Payment of £6,000 (subject to T&C) and a 4% Retention Payment after 2 years.
We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Social Worker to join our Family Safeguarding Team, to make a difference to the lives of children and young people. You will develop your skills and work in a supportive, dynamic environment.
About You
* Qualified and experienced Social Worker with a background in child in need, child protection, and care proceedings.
* Reliable, motivated, and passionate about making a difference to children and young people.
* Skilled at building trusted and respectful relationships with children, families, support networks and partner agencies, always ensuring that children’s voices are heard.
* In‑depth knowledge of safeguarding practices, legal powers, statutory duties and relevant legislation, policies and procedures.
* Confident in managing complex cases, maintaining accurate records and producing high‑quality assessments and reports within tight deadlines.
* Committed professional who approaches every case with empathy, integrity and a passion for creating positive outcomes.
About The Team
The Family Safeguarding Team is a stable, established multi‑agency group of talented professionals who work collaboratively with specialist practitioners in domestic abuse, mental health and substance misuse as part of our embedded family safeguarding approach. Dedicated to making a meaningful difference, we strive to keep families together whenever it is safe to do so. The team focuses on high support and high challenge, enabling you to deliver your best to families who need it most.
We focus on longer‑term interventions, undertaking statutory social work interventions—including child in need, child protection, CLA and court proceedings—after transfer from our front door.
Key Responsibilities
* Develop and implement effective safeguarding plans to protect children from harm.
* Work alongside other professionals as part of a multi‑disciplinary team.
* Manage a caseload of Child in Need, Child Protection, Care Proceedings and Children Looked After.
* Participate in the team duty system, responding to concerns as they arise.
* Make effective use of time, prioritise workload and ensure timeliness in visiting, report writing and other deadlines.
* Participate in regular reflective supervision and set clear goals and intervention strategies.
* Develop and maintain accurate case records and comply with departmental policies, procedures and guidelines including data protection and GDPR.
* Contribute to service development and learning for others.
Benefits
* 28 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 3 years of continuous service, with the opportunity to buy up to 10 and sell up to 5 days.
* Paid employee volunteering scheme.
* Local government pension scheme with life insurance cover.
* Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme (subject to eligibility).
* Reimbursement of Social Work England registration.
* Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits (Terms and Conditions apply).
* Career development through internal and external training opportunities.
* Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave.
* Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing.
* Inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks and a sports and social club.
Our Values
At Bracknell Forest Council, our values define who we are and what is important to us. Inclusive, ambitious and always learning. These values influence how we work with each other, serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day.
Reasonable Adjustments
We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. Find out more about reasonable adjustments.
Interview and Application
Shortlisting is done on a weekly basis. Interviews will be arranged a minimum of 7 days after shortlisting and are conducted in person to give candidates a chance to meet the team and experience our work environment.
Applications will be reviewed regularly and we reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, submit your application early.
Artificial intelligence is prohibited during the interview; any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.
Equal Opportunities
Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
How to Apply
Please apply online via the provided link.
Recruitment contact – Maggie Mandecka – Maggie.Mandecka@bracknell-forest.gov.uk; Sharlie Horsted – Sharlie.Horsted@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.
Location: Time Square, Bracknell. Contract: Permanent. Full time 37 hours per week. DBS Check: Enhanced.
Candidates must be currently residing in the UK. Candidates requiring sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) and we will evaluate requests on a case‑by‑case basis. No agencies please.
All successful candidates will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre‑employment checks process.
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