£49,918 - £53,048 per year inclusive of London Weighting and Essential Car User Allowance, plus 4% Annual Retention Payment payable after 1 year's service.
Location: Time Square, Bracknell (Hybrid working)
Contract: Permanent
Working Pattern: Flexible Hours/Full Time
Hours: 37 hours per week.
Closing Date: 31/07/2026 at 23:59
Reference: People/26/338932
Are you ready to make a genuine impact with an outstanding council where children are at the heart of everything we do and social workers are valued, supported and empowered to thrive? We are looking for an experienced and skilled Senior Social Worker to join our Family Safeguarding Team as a Parenting Assessor. This is a non-case holding role, offering a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact on children’s lives through focused, specialist assessment work.
* 28 days annual leave increasing to 33 days after 3 years’ continuous service, with the opportunity to buy up to 10 and sell up to 5 days.
* Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance.
* Local government pension scheme, with life insurance cover.
* Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme (subject to eligibility). (only applicable to roles on BG-G and above – delete if not relevant)
* Reimbursement of one annual professional subscription/registration.
* 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 your health and wellbeing.
* Inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks and a sports and social club.
Salary: This role attracts a 4% Annual Retention Payment after 1 year's service.
As a Parenting Assessor, you are a confident and skilled Senior Social Worker with extensive experience in complex child protection cases, care planning and legal proceedings. You are passionate about relational social work and committed to joining our embedded culture and ethos of bettering vulnerable children’s lives.
This is a specialist, non-case holding role where you will undertake in-depth, high-quality assessments of families. You will focus on identifying need and risk, with particular emphasis on parenting capacity and the ability to achieve and sustain change.
You will bring:
* Proven expertise in completing detailed, analytical assessments and producing high-quality reports.
* The ability to make professional judgments and recommendations based on analytical assessment and review.
* Confidence in preparing comprehensive court reports and giving evidence in court.
You will role model and champion excellent practice and support the development of others. You will contribute to a positive, inclusive and collaborative team culture, while maintaining a strong commitment to your own ongoing professional development.
You must be registered with Social Work England and have at least three years’ post-qualifying experience in Children’s Social Care, including significant experience in child protection, care planning, and legal processes.
This role offers a blend of office, home and community-based working. You will be based at Time Square, Bracknell for a minimum of three days per week, with flexibility to work from home and in the community, depending on service needs.
About the team
Our Children’s Social Care service is proudly Outstanding in all areas (Ofsted, December 2025), with inspectors calling our practitioners “effusive about working in Bracknell” and praising our highly effective Social Work Academy. Learn what OFSTED say about us here.
We are a small, welcoming and friendly local authority where you will have the opportunity to build strong, positive and supportive working relationships with colleagues and peers with an embedded culture and ethos of bettering vulnerable children’s lives. You will experience leaders who are visible, approachable and a service who collectively has unwavering commitment to children.
* To complete in-depth, analytical parenting assessments (including pre-birth), with a clear focus on parental capacity and capacity to change within PLO and care proceedings, and to produce high-quality reports that provide robust analysis and clear recommendations within stipulated timescales.
* Complete additional assessments, such as risk assessments or 'Together and Apart’ assessments, when required.
* Promote listening to children at every opportunity; ensuring their views are heard, recorded and acted upon in an appropriate and timely manner.
* To coordinate multi-agency contributions to assessment, planning and intervention, working within the multidisciplinary Family Safeguarding Model to drive change and provide effective support.
* Attend Permanency Planning meetings and contribute to the care planning for children.
* Participate in regular reflective supervision, providing analytical assessment findings and recommendations in monthly group case supervisions alongside the allocated social worker and partners.
* To support and mentor less experienced colleagues including newly qualified Social Workers, Family Workers and Social Work Students.
Our values
At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you.
Shortlisting will take place on a weekly basis, and candidates who are successfully shortlisted will be offered an interview at least 7 days later.
Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.
Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.
Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.
We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.
Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.
Past applicants need not re-apply. No agencies please.
Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
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