Overview
Town Hall
160 Whitechapel Road
LONDON
E1 1BJ
Social Worker - Permanency and Adoption Support Team (PAST)
Role: Social Worker (Fixed Term - Until July 2025)
Division: Supporting Families Division
Team: Permanency, Assessment & Support Team
Salary: Grade I-K - £45,852 - £57,495 plus travel allowance of £1,340 per annum
Location: LBTH Town Hall, 106 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BJ
About Us
We believe that the best place for children is to be raised within their own families, immediate or wider, wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so. In Tower Hamlets, we are committed to building relationships and strengthening families by working with people in a compassionate and understanding way. We are ambitious for Tower Hamlets children and families and endeavour for every child and young person to be healthy, safe and successful.
Tower Hamlets is a progressive, ambitious and diverse place to work. We place children and families at the heart of everything that we do and are relentless in our pursuit of positive outcomes for all. Our Better Together Practice Framework is based on restorative, strength-based approaches and draws from Systemic and Trauma Informed Practice. Our C-Change approach: Connect, Curious, Community, Co-Produce, Collaborate, Check sets out “6 Cs” for our work with children, young people, their parents and carers, and each other.
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced, qualified social worker to join our kinship team on a permanent basis. The main duties of the team are to undertake Viability Assessments, Special Guardianship/Kinship Assessments and Support Plans to court. The role will also require ongoing support of special guardians/kinship carers pre and post final order as well as present prospective kinship foster carers and the assessment to a permanency panel. This will include supporting children and families through transitions and providing post special guardianship order support.
This vital work enables children to remain safely in the family network free from significant harm to sustain their family and friends links and relationships. The service is committed to ‘child first’ principles, an approach for which collaboration with children, families and multi-agency partners is at the heart of everything we do. This is an exciting time for Kinship Care on both a local and national level.
About You
* Have working knowledge of the framework within which social care operates, inclusive of legislation and national guidance and procedures specific to this post
* A nationally recognised or other social work England recognised social work qualification
* Have at least 1 year of post-qualifying experience in a statutory Children’s Social Care setting
* Experience undertaking kinship assessments and providing support
You will have a strong vision, be self-motivated with the ability to work individually and as part of a team of assessing social workers. Suitable candidates will also be skilled interpersonally while delivering high quality, analytical assessments. You will have knowledge of Kinship Care Statutory Guidance for Local Authorities October 2024.
What We Offer
* Up to 29 days annual leave rising to 33 days with 5 years continual service and 8 bank holidays
* A manageable and diverse caseload and good quality reflective supervision
* Coaching and support from our Learning Academy, and the opportunity to practice within our Better Together model (restorative, systemic and trauma informed practice principles) with clear development pathways
* Opportunities to develop your practice, with a framework for career development/leadership programme
* Opportunities for agile/flexible working
* Discounted gym/Costco membership, access to free eye test, Cycle to work scheme, Rent deposit scheme and You at Work discounts and many other benefits
How to Apply
Please complete application via our recruitment portal
Shortlisting: 10 October 2025
Interview: Wednesday 22 October (all day) and Thursday 23 October (morning)
Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.
Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.
We are a Disability Confident Employer; applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the post are guaranteed an interview. Care experience has also been adopted by the Council as an additional protected characteristic. We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and those who live in the borough.
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This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).
Tower Hamlets Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
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