Senior Social Worker - Parenting Assessor –Retention

£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.

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…