Senior Social Worker - Supervising School Safeguarding Lead
Salary Grade 8 £41,771 - £47,181 per annum, plus an Essential Car User Allowance: £1239 per annum and 2% Recruitment and Retention Allowance paid monthly
Full Time/Permanent
This is your opportunity to join our ‘Outstanding’ Company and make a difference! We are proud that Together for Children Sunderland is rated ‘outstanding’ in a judgement by Ofsted in 2021, and have maintained the outstanding rating in 2025, in recognition of the stability of our very well supported and talented workforce who deliver an ongoing commitment to improving children’s outcomes. Join us and help us in continuing our outstanding journey!
We are seeking to appoint a qualified social worker who has a passion for safeguarding and education. The post will be based within Integrated Contact & Referral Team and will supervise around 40 school Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs).
In this role you will be responsible for offering high quality supervision to Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) in schools with a view to improving knowledge and understanding of Sunderland Safeguarding Children Partnership’s (SSCP) Multi‑Agency Threshold Guidance and ensuring children and their families get the right help at the right time. You will also work closely with Children’s Social Care, the Integrated Contact and Referral Team, Early Help Service and the School Improvement Service, as well as directly with schools to increase support to Designated Safeguarding Leads, ensuring families receive the right support at the right time and improve the quality of referrals into children’s social care. You will support schools in understanding the changes to the Families First agenda. You will report to and be supported by a social work Team Manager.
Why Join Us?
* Supportive Environment: Join a small, supportive social work team with guidance from experienced managers.
* Innovative Practice: We use the Signs of Safety model, embedded across our service. Extensive training and support are available, regardless of your prior experience with this model.
* Professional Development: We invest in our workforce with specialist training programs, including Trauma Informed Practice and Safe & Together training. Our multi‑agency edge‑of‑care team, ‘Wear Together,’ is just one example of our innovative initiatives.
Interested? If you are passionate about working with young people and possess the necessary skills, we want to hear from you. For an informal discussion, please contact Nicola Burn, Head of Service (Nicola.burn@togetherforchildren.org.uk) and/or Paula Steel, Head of Service (Paula.steel@togetherforchildren.org.uk).
Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
Benefits:
* Competitive salary
* Agile working arrangements
* Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme
* Flexi‑time scheme
* Comprehensive health and wellbeing program
Join us at Together for Children and be part of a team that makes a real difference in the lives of children and families in Sunderland.
Visa sponsorship: We welcome applications from all nationalities; however, successful candidates must, by the commencement of employment, have the right to work in the UK.
If you would like to have an informal discussion about this post please contact peoplesupport@togetherforchildren.org.uk.
Together for Children is committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse local communities that we support across Sunderland. We’re striving to build an inclusive workplace culture where all employees feel valued and diversity is celebrated by everyone.
As part of this commitment, we work collaboratively with our established employee networks:
* Menopause Network
* Accessibility Network
* LGBTQ+ Network
* Racial Equality Network
* Armed Forces Network
We welcome and encourage job applications from candidates regardless of their age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, belief or race, and background.
If you have a disability please do reach out to our Accessibility Network Chair to hear how we can support you during the recruitment process and if you are successful, in the workplace. peoplesupport@togetherforchildren.org.uk
For further information on Together for Children, please take a look at our website: https://www.togetherforchildren.org.uk
Nearly 40 per cent of foster carers combine fostering with other work. Those who do say that a supportive employer can make all the difference, enabling them to balance employment with caring for children.
Together for Children have a fostering friendly People policy for all foster carers in their employment (regardless of their fostering service). This includes offering foster carers flexible working and paid time off for training and settling a new child into their home.
As a Fostering Friendly employer, Together for Children also help promote Foster Care Fortnight™, our annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering and encourage people to consider becoming foster carers and offer children the care they need -Foster with North East - Foster with North East.
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