Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!
We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.
Introduction
We are seeking an experienced Senior Social Worker (SSW) to join the innovative Integrated Adolescent Service. The SSW will bring strong, in‑depth knowledge and experience of the Southwark Judgment, with a particular focus on –‑year‑old homeless adolescents at risk of exploitation, harm, or family breakdown.
You will have significant experience working with adolescents presenting with complex safeguarding needs, including family breakdown, exploitation, missing episodes, and contextual risks. You will be skilled in undertaking timely, high-quality assessments within a fast-paced environment, ensuring young people are safeguarded and supported towards stabilisation and longer-term planning.
About the Role
The successful candidate will have a clear understanding of local authority duties under the Children Act, including the assessment of homeless –‑year‑olds as Children in Need and, where appropriate, Looked After Children.
As a senior practitioner, you will provide professional leadership and case oversight, supporting social care practitioners to navigate complex Southwark Judgment cases, and reduce drift. You will work closely with Housing, Family First Contact Point (FFCP), previously MASH, and partner agencies to ensure timely and coordinated responses for homeless young people.
This role offers the opportunity to shape strong, legally sound practice for adolescents at the point of crisis, ensuring their rights, safety, and long-term outcomes remain central to all decision-making.
What We’re Looking For
1. Qualified Social Workers with a minimum of years post-qualification experience
2. Strong understanding of adolescent development and contextual safeguarding
3. Confident practitioners with excellent communication, analysis, and risk assessment skills
4. A commitment to anti-oppressive practice and young person-centred approaches
Our Vision - What Good Children’s Social Work Looks Like in Lewisham
In Lewisham Children’s Social Care, we know what good social work looks like and
we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.
5. Families are respected and supported to stay together, whenever there is safety.
6. Families will tell us they understand why we are involved
7. Children will tell us their social worker has made a difference to their lives.
8. Children who are in our care know we care, and we won’t give up on them.
9. Young people who have been in our care feel confident about their future.
We have taken a whole system approach to improving our services to children and young people in our borough using Signs of Safety as our practice model. Ofsted recognised the progress we have made noting that:
10. Staff talk positively about their manageable caseloads, regular supervision, team meetings and access to a range of training, including the social work model of practice.
11. Senior leaders demonstrate a clear focus on hearing the voices of children to develop and improve services.
12. Leaders know the service well. They have a clear understanding of areas for development that are being appropriately addressed.
In January, Ofsted's report lauds significant improvements in our children's services. Praised areas include strong leadership, high-quality support for families and children, and positive outcomes across all criteria.
13. The Executive Director for Children and Young People and his team are credited for driving these improvements, with particular focus on enhancing workforce stability, early help services, and partnerships with stakeholders.
14. Noteworthy practices include creative life-story work and culturally sensitive social work approaches, crucial in a diverse borough like Lewisham.
15. The Council's anti-racist practice network and safe space platform also garnered praise for supporting staff from black and global majority backgrounds.
16. Overall, the report highlights a commendable commitment to improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people in Lewisham.
Why choose Lewisham?
“Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way” (Social Worker).
Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between - children. Our Signs of Safety family-led practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. A positive learning culture which promotes opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice is important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as case mapping, thinking spaces and group supervision.
Our permanent and stable senior management team are visible and approachable. Our dedicated workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;
17. be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscription to ‘Research in Practice’.
18. receive regular supervision and appraisal.
19. have - practice development coaching as a case holder, and professional development coaching as a manager.
20. have access to regular Signs of Safety training
21. have access to external leadership development opportunities such as the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).
22. have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.
23. opportunities to become a practice educator and work with students and newly qualified social workers.
Location
The job is primarily based in Lewisham Old Town Hall, Catford, London, SE RU. There are local train stations - minutes’ walk from the office, and the train journey from London Bridge is approximately minutes. There are also numerous bus routes that stop right by the office.
We operate a hybrid approach where you will be required to work both in the office and from home on a regular basis.
Special conditions
24. The post holder must have a social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England
25. The job is subject to a DBS check (Enhanced)
26. Must be years post qualified for this role
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