Experienced Social Worker – Complex Safeguarding

Stockport Council; Stockport; Hybrid; GBP 21,000 - 23,000; Part time

Job summary

Stockport Council is looking for an Experienced Social Worker in the Youth Justice & Complex Safeguarding Service. The role is 18.5 hours a week, part-time, permanent, with hybrid working at Fred Perry House and some homeworking; office presence >50% expected.

You will work with adolescents to prevent and reduce harm, including exploitation, with strong statutory social work background and knowledge of court processes and DOLS.

Qualifications

• Strong grounding in statutory children’s social work and court processes.
• Understanding of DOLS and exploitation risks in adolescence.
• Experience coordinating with multi-agency partners.

Responsibilities

• Co-allocated to work with children, usually over 10, to support those at risk of exploitation.
• Share expert knowledge on adolescent development and trafficking to inform decisions.
• Build trust with young people and contribute to strategy meetings.
• Be flexible with hours in discussion with the line manager and travel as needed.

Skills

Statutory social work

Court processes

DOLS knowledge

Education

2 years post-qualified

Job description

Experienced Social Worker Complex Safeguarding
SO3 (£20,588 - £23,289 pro rata)
18.5 hours, Part-Time
Permanent
Hybrid: Fred Perry House and some homeworking although working in the office for more than 50% of your working week is expected.

Application Deadline: 15th November 2026, 11:59pm
Shortlisting Date: 16th November 2026
Interview Date: 24th November 2026
Interview Type: Face to Face

Join us at Stockport Council Best for Inclusion winner at the Greater Manchester Good Employment Awards 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen within Stockport’s Youth Justice & Complex Safeguarding Service for a part-time (18.5 hours a week) Experienced Social Worker. This is a permanent position.

Stockport’s Youth Justice & Complex Safeguarding Service is made up of an enthusiastic and committed staff group, who have a passion for working with adolescents to prevent and reduce harm by adopting a ‘child-first’ approach.

Our complex safeguarding team is co-located with Police,health andmissing from home officers and is part of an aligned service with Youth Justice, ensuring seamless support to children and young people where exploitation and vulnerability to extra-familial harm is a concern.

Your Role

We are looking for a part-time social worker who have a strong grounding in statutory children’s social work, with experience of court processes, including an understanding of DOLS. You will be co-allocated, alongside locality social workers, to work with children, usually over the age of 10, to support them where there is vulnerability to, or evidence of child exploitation. including sexual and criminal exploitation, and modern slavery.

You will have excellent knowledge of adolescent development, child exploitation and trafficking, and be able to share expert knowledge with other social workers to increase awareness and support their decision-making, including contribution to strategy meetings. You will be skilled at forming relationships with young people who may mistrust professionals, and where you will need to demonstrate creativity, tenacity and patience to form trust.

You will be flexible in your approach, with an ability to respond to young people at critical moments (which may require some flexibility of working hours, in discussion/agreement with your line manager).

About You

You will be an experienced social worker (2 years post-qualified), with a passion for working with adolescents.

You will contribute to awareness raising across the council, including the Week of Action for exploitation twice per year, and input at regular training and development events.

You will need a car for work each day, and business insurance that allows you to transport young people. There may be some travel outside of Stockport to meet the needs of children and young people where they live and spend time.

About Us

At Stockport Council we are one ambitious team on a mission to create opportunities for everyone who lives, works and spends time in the borough. Working at Stockport Council means contributing to one of the most thriving towns in the North. We’re keen to recruit people with the right values and behaviours that can help us ensure our workplace values are at the heart of everything we do.

We are proud to be recognised under the Good Employment Charter as an organisation committed to the wellbeing of our colleagues. As members of the charter, we have been recognised as a great place to work for all colleagues and pledge to pay the real living wage, engage staff in key decisions and endorse fair and flexible working conditions.

If you would like to find out more about the role please contact Louise Watson, [e-mail] or Naomi Petho, [e-mail]

The successful applicant’s appointment will be subject to satisfactory pre-employment clearances including a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Stockport Council holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not currently qualify.

Please note that we have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers and ex-military personnel. As part of the Guaranteed Assessment Scheme you will therefore be guaranteed to be shortlisted for Assessment if you meet both the criteria for the scheme and the essential job role criteria.

Find out if you meet the criteria here: https://www.greater.jobs/our-guaranteed-assessment-scheme

Stockport Council is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workforce culture - a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities to join our workforce.

We want our employees to have a good work life balance and in many job roles we can offer a range of flexible/hybrid working arrangements. We also have inclusive employment policies and staff engagement forums to support our diverse workforce. We will listen to, learn from, and develop our workforce.