Fostering Social Worker

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

Job summary

A leading fostering charity in the UK is seeking a Fostering Social Worker to manage recruitment and lead a small team. You will be responsible for ensuring potential foster carers have a positive experience and promoting fostering within the community. This role offers a supportive environment, competitive salary, and the chance to make a real difference in children's lives through effective recruitment and leadership.

Benefits

Homeworking Allowance

Salary progression after 18 months

Pension and employee benefits

Flexible working environment

Learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Required social working experience within fostering.
• Experience in recruitment ideally in fostering or social care.
• Confident leadership and motivation skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage local foster carer recruitment.
• Make decisions on suitability of applications.
• Respond quickly to enquiries.
• Lead recruitment events in communities.
• Oversee new enquiries and home visits.
• Lead Skills to Foster training sessions.

Skills

Passionate about helping children

Experienced in recruitment

Confident leader

Good relationship building

Data usage for recruitment improvement

Organised

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.