Senior Social Worker; SSW; Social Care Qualified

Position: Senior Social Worker (SSW) - Social Care Qualified
Child Protection Inquiry Team – Social Worker

The Role

The Child Protection Inquiry Team is a specialist, short-term service responsible for undertaking statutory safeguarding work, including:

Completing Section 47 Child Protection enquiries

Undertaking Section 17 assessments, including 15-day assessments where appropriate

Responding to new safeguarding referrals through a duty rota every four weeks

Completing statutory visits and gathering information from children, families and partner agencies

Assessing risk, identifying safeguarding concerns and determining appropriate next steps

Working closely with schools, health professionals, police and other partner agencies

Producing high-quality assessments and reports within statutory timescales

Ensuring children and young people's voices, wishes and feelings remain central to decision-making

Transferring cases appropriately to longer-term teams once enquiries or assessments are completed

This is not a long-term case-holding service. Cases are transferred to the relevant teams once the short-term safeguarding work has been completed.

Caseload

Despite the fast-paced nature of the service, caseloads are intentionally kept low, with Social Workers typically holding around 3–4 children at any one time.

This allows practitioners to focus on completing thorough, timely and high-quality safeguarding enquiries and assessments.

What We’re Looking For

We are seeking Social Workers who have:

A recognised Social Work qualification

Current Social Work England registration

Recent experience within children's safeguarding, assessment or child protection services

Strong experience completing Section 47 enquiries

Good knowledge of Section 17 assessments

Experience undertaking statutory visits and assessing risk

Strong safeguarding and child protection knowledge

The ability to manage competing priorities and work to statutory timescales

Excellent communication, assessment and report-writing skills

The confidence to work independently while also contributing effectively to a team

Strong professional references

Ideally, access to a car, as the role involves statutory home visits across Birmingham

Working Arrangements

Location:

Aston, Birmingham

Contract:

Initial 3-month agency contract, with potential extension

Office: 2 days per week

Working:
Hybrid and flexible working available

Parking:
Free on-site parking

Start: ASAP

Caseload:
Typically 3–4 children

Duty:
One week in every four

What’s Offered

Structured induction to help you settle into the service

Supportive and experienced management team

Manageable caseloads

Hybrid and flexible working

Free on-site parking

Access to a wide range of free training and CPD opportunities

Support for ongoing Social Work England registration and professional development

Opportunity to gain further specialist child protection and safeguarding experience

Why Apply?

This is a great opportunity for an experienced Social Worker who enjoys frontline safeguarding work, wants to focus on high-quality assessments and enquiries, and values working within a supportive team with manageable caseloads.

If you are an experienced Children's Social Worker with strong Section 47 and safeguarding experience and are available to start ASAP, we'd love to hear from you