Family Support Worker

Buckinghamshire Council; Aylesbury; Hybrid; GBP 24,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Pension scheme

Costco membership

Discount gym memberships

Travel discounts

Job summary

Buckinghamshire Council is recruiting a Family Support Worker to help protect and support children and families across the county. You will work in a team, deliver direct work, coordinate referrals, and contribute to safeguarding through a whole-family approach, keeping the child at the heart of every decision.

This mobile role offers diary flexibility with a mix of home-based work and meetings, and requires a full UK driving licence.

Qualifications

• Understanding safeguarding and experience with children and families.
• Ability to remain calm in challenging situations.
• Resilient and tenacious; ensure the child’s voice is heard.
• Good written and verbal communication; record confidential data.
• Full UK driving licence and access to a car.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with children, young people and families as part of a team with other professionals, managing a caseload.
• Take part in duty cover on a rota alongside Social Workers and Managers.
• Make referrals and signpost for children and families under statutory guidelines.
• Jointly work cases with a Social Worker and attend relevant meetings.
• Attend, coordinate and chair team around the child meetings with agency partners.
• Keep accurate records within current timeframes.
• Transport children and families in your own vehicle when required.

Skills

Safeguarding knowledge

Empathy

Active listening

Teamwork

Communication skills

Time management

Job description

Overview

Come and join a fantastic hard-working service, who have recently transitioned to a locality working model combining level 3 and 4 services. This is a very exciting time to come and join the service bringing your skills to help shape brighter futures for our children and families!

We have 5 full time, permanent positions available.

Take a look at our Children's Social Care Candidate Pack to find out more.

About Us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious, rapidly growing county, and our economy is one of the strongest in the country. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty and ranks as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK and yet it is incredibly well connected– only an hour from London on the train. The county has a rich history and heritage and is the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About The Role

As a Family Support Worker at Buckinghamshire Council, you will ensure the highest standards of support is provided to the children and families of Buckinghamshire. You will:

• Work directly with children young people and their families as part of a team alongside other professionals managing a caseload, delivering direct work, creating supportive professional networks and identifying and reducing safeguarding concerns through a ‘whole family’ approach and by putting the child at the heart of everything we do.
• Take part in duty cover on a duty rota alongside Social Workers and Managers
• Make relevant referrals and signposting for children and families under current statutory guidelines.
• Jointly work cases where there is a higher level of need with a Social Worker who will act as the lead practitioner. Support the Social Worker with their assessments and information gathering and attend all relevant meetings as invited by the Social Worker, as well as alongside visits to children and their families.
• Attend, coordinate and chair team around the child meetings with fellow agency partners.
• Keep accurate records in accordance with current time frames.
• Be required from time to time to transport children and families within your own vehicle.

Mobile: A ‘mobile’ role gives you the flexibility to schedule your own diary, so you can meet with colleagues and clients in a variety of locations. You’ll access digital folders and resources on your laptop and be able to use the network wherever you are based. Working from home will be common, as well as meeting your team in the office where necessary.

About You

What You’ll Bring:

• You should have a good understanding of safeguarding and have previous experience of working with children and families.
• You should be able to demonstrate empathy and understanding, be a good listener, and be able to challenge in a supportive manner when need arises.
• You will have the ability to remain calm and professional in challenging situations
• You should be resilient and tenacious and able to make sure the child’s voice is heard above all others.
• You will be a good team player and able to work collaboratively with a number of different agencies.
• You should feel comfortable assessing, identifying and carrying out the work needed to support the child and family for better outcomes
• You should be able to engage children and families, encourage and empower them to be able to make/ maintain positive change by drawing on your own skill set and ability to persuade and build trusting relationships.
• You will have good communication and written skills and will be able to record and interpret confidential data. You should feel comfortable chairing network meetings and collating and writing reports and distributing minutes of meetings in a timely manner
• You will be able to manage timescales and have the ability to prioritise.
• You should be flexible in order to work in a sometimes fast paced environment.
• You will be able to uphold confidentiality and the service standards of Buckinghamshire Council

This role requires a full UK driving licence and access to a car.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact Elizabeth Botsford at [email protected] or Michele Grady at [email protected].

Closing date: 23:59 Sunday 29th November 2026.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation. From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments. We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About The Business Unit

Buckinghamshire is a successful, growing place with fantastic natural assets, a highly productive economy and many resourceful and thriving communities. However, we are far from complacent and our new and ambitious unitary authority is well placed to tackle the challenges associated with growth, an aging population, climate change and inequalities in both opportunities and outcomes – particularly for our children and young people.

Children’s Services is on an improvement journey and as our very recent Ofsted report shows, we have continued to improve despite the pressures of the pandemic and have built solid foundations for future success. Relationships with partners are strong and our collective response to the pandemic has strengthened and deepened our work together.

We have a big, ambitious agenda for Buckinghamshire, and our teams work collaboratively and at pace to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people across the county.

We are looking for talented and driven individuals to help us achieve the best outcomes for our children, young people and families in Buckinghamshire. Our key priorities include continuing to protect vulnerable children and young people from harm, whilst sustaining an environment where social work practice can thrive. Through our vital work with our partners, including The Buckinghamshire Safeguarding Childrens Partnership, we continue to improve our collective response to children and young people who have been exposed to domestic abuse, exploitation, substance misuse and mental health issues.

No matter what role you take on in our Children’s services, you will be part of a team who is dedicated to supporting children and their families to achieve their full potential.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/