Fostering Social Worker

JR United Kingdom; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 44,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fostering charity in the UK seeks a Fostering Social Worker to manage recruitment efforts across East, North and West London, Essex and Hertfordshire. The role involves leading a small team, enhancing visibility in the community, and ensuring the assessment process is completed to high standards. Candidates should have a social working degree, experience in recruitment, and a passion for helping children and young people. A supportive work environment and attractive benefits are offered.

Benefits

Homeworking Allowance

Salary progression after 18 months

Pension scheme

Learning and development opportunities

Supportive working environment

Qualifications

• Required social working experience within fostering.
• Experience in social care recruitment preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead local foster carer recruitment efforts.
• Supervise a small team including Recruitment Officers.
• Ensure assessments meet high standards and regulations.
• Promote fostering in local communities.

Skills

Experience in recruitment

Leadership

Relationship building

Data usage for recruitment improvement

Education

Social working degree

Job description

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Salary: £44,756 per year (rising to £49,729 after 18 months)

• £750 per year Homeworking Allowance
• £4,184 per year London Weighting (if eligible)

Hours: 35 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Location: Home-based, with travel in East, North and West London, Essex and Hertfordshire

***Required social working experience within fostering!!***

• A social working degree is a must

About Us

We are the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity. For over 30 years, we’ve provided safe, loving homes for children and young people who need them most.

As a charity, we don’t make a profit – everything we do is focused on supporting our foster carers and the children in their care. Our values guide our work every day, helping us make a real difference in young lives.

The Role

We’re looking for a motivated and caring Fostering Social Worker to lead our work in finding new foster carers across East, North and West London, Essex and Hertfordshire.

You’ll manage a small team and work closely with colleagues to make sure people interested in fostering have a great experience from first contact through to assessment. You’ll also help promote fostering in the community and support our goal of giving more children a safe, stable home.

What We Offer

• A supportive, flexible working environment
• Salary progression after 18 months
• £750 per year for homeworking costs
• London Weighting if eligible
• Pension and employee benefits
• The chance to make a real difference in children’s lives
• Homeworking ‘bundle’ including annual allowance, IT equipment and a loan for home office set up.
• Menopause Policy and free Menopause Clinician Appointments. • Stakeholder Pension Scheme (salary sacrifice). • Fantastic learning and development opportunities for all roles.

What You’ll Do

• Manage local foster carer recruitment in line with our local strategy.
• Make decisions about whether people who enquire are suitable to move forward with an application.
• Respond to all enquiries quickly and efficiently, making sure no one is left waiting too long.
• Increase our visibility in local communities by leading and attending recruitment events.
• Work closely with local foster carers to help organise and run events and activities.
• Oversee and manage all new enquiries, including carrying out initial home visits with potential foster carers.
• Lead Skills to Foster training sessions and support applicants with their pre-approval learning and development.
• Supervise and support a small team, including a Recruitment Officer and/or Assessing Social Workers.
• Review and quality-check assessments, helping to make clear and confident decisions in more complex cases.
• Make sure all assessments are completed on time and to the high standards we expect.
• Ensure all recruitment meets regulations and our high standards

About You

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Passionate about helping children and young people
• Experienced in recruitment (ideally in fostering or social care)
• A confident leader who can support and motivate others
• Good at building relationships with different people and groups
• Able to use data to improve how we recruit
• Organised and able to work from home and travel locally

It’s a bonus if you have a background in social work or have worked in a charity before.

Our Values

We are:

• Child-focused – we put children at the heart of everything
• Caring – we act with kindness and compassion
• Fair and inclusive – we treat everyone with respect
• Transparent – we are open and honest
• Ambitious – we aim high for the children and carers we support

If this is something you would be interested in, please apply via email melissa@everpool recruitment.com or call Melissa Powell on 07561 705 697.