Social Work Consultant

Do you believe every child deserves to grow up feeling loved, safe, and supported, with a lasting sense of family, belonging, and stability? Are you an experienced and passionate social worker looking for the next step in your career? Do you have the skills and ambition to support children in care, champion high-quality social work practice, and help develop and inspire a dedicated team?

If so, we’d love to hear from you. Due to career progression within our service, we are delighted to offer an exciting opportunity for a Social Work Consultant to join our Children in Care Service. This rewarding role combines direct support for children and young people with opportunities to mentor colleagues, promote excellent practice, and work closely with the Team Manager to support the effective leadership and development of the service.

Alongside managing a reduced caseload, you will play a key role in supporting high-quality practice, developing colleagues, and contributing to the effective leadership of the team. Using your knowledge, experience, and passion for achieving the best outcomes for children, you will:

• Provide professional guidance, support and challenge to Social Workers, helping to build confidence, resilience, knowledge and skills, and supporting their ongoing development and progression.
• Co-work and oversee complex cases, offering reflective support and professional expertise to ensure effective decision-making, high-quality recording, and improved outcomes for children and young people.
• Champion good practice across the service by contributing to the Team Development Plan, undertaking case audits and dip sampling, identifying areas of strength and development, and promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
• Work in partnership with the Team Manager to provide effective leadership and oversight, helping to drive performance, maintain high standards of practice, and support a positive team culture.
• Chair and facilitate key meetings, including low-level strategy discussions and stability meetings, with a strong focus on maintaining placement stability, promoting permanence, and ensuring children experience safety, security, and positive relationships.
• Act as a role model for excellent social work practice, providing consistent advice, guidance and support to colleagues while helping to foster a motivated, collaborative and child-centred team environment.

As a Social Work Consultant, you will have a unique opportunity to combine direct work with children and families with practice leadership responsibilities, influencing the quality of service delivery and helping colleagues to thrive. Your expertise will play a vital role in ensuring children in care receive the stability, support and opportunities they need to achieve their full potential. You will be joining us at a fantastic time.

Inspectors have judged our Children’s Services as Outstanding and a recent monitoring review highlighted excellent practice in relation to supporting our children and young people who are sadly in unregulated provisions.

This post is eligible for a recruitment/retention allowance of £2,500 over 12 months (pro-rata for part time workers). Payments are made in equal instalments across a 12-month period alongside your pay. The allowances are subject to tax, National Insurance and pension contributions. We encourage you to contact Natasha Gray via email at  or Donna Burrows via email at  to arrange an informal discussion about the role.

• Be a social worker with significant experience of work with children, young people and families.
• Have experience of using evidence-based practice to devise effective interventions.
• Have knowledge and experience of implementing…