Looked After Children's Advanced Social Worker - Maternity Cover

Surrey County Council; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 47,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in Woking is seeking an Advanced Social Worker for maternity cover to join the Looked After Children's Team. The role involves supporting children's independence, building meaningful relationships, and preparing court reports as necessary. Benefits include comprehensive leave options, bespoke learning programs, and competitive pay. Candidates must have Social Work qualifications and relevant experience. This position promotes an inclusive and supportive environment with opportunities for career development.

Benefits

Access to bespoke learning programmes

28 days annual leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Lifestyle discounts

Volunteering days

Qualifications

• Qualified Social Work degree and SWE Registration required.
• Car driver with a valid UK license is necessary.
• Three years post-qualified experience needed.

Responsibilities

• Support children living with relatives and assess safety for return.
• Build sustainable relationships and plan for children's permanence.
• Prepare reports and attend court when necessary.

Skills

Qualified Social Work degree

SWE Registration

Car driver with a valid UK license

Post-qualified experience

Education

Social Work degree

Job description

Looked After Children's Advanced Social Worker - Maternity Cover

Details

• Reference: SCC/TP/287946/4307
• Positions: 1
• Category: Qualified Social Work - Children's
• Contract type: Secondment
• Working hours: 36
• Posted on: 17 December 2025
• Closing date: 1 January 2026
• Location: Woking, Surrey

We are committed to the development of our workforce. This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council. We thank you for your interest in our roles and would encourage you to review our vacancies which are open to all.

We have a great opportunity for an Advanced Social Worker to join our Children Looked After Team based in Woking, providing maternity cover for 12 months.

When not working with our residents in the community, we are keen to support agile working with a combination ofhome and office working. We are keen to get the balance right of providing flexibility but ensuring you feel connected to your team and the service.

The salary range forAdvanced Social Workers is £47,884 - £51,175per annum. Information is available in the attached Total Reward Statement about other financial benefits.

Our Offer to You

• We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee
• Access to bespoke learning programmes via our dedicated Children's Services Academy to empower and enrich your practice
• 28days annual leave, rising to 31days after 5years' service (plus bank holidays)
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Refer a friend payment of £1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social Worker

Our Progress

We are proud of our recent Good Ofsted judgement, which marks a significant milestone for Surrey. The report highlights that "Children in care have trusting and positive relationships with their Social Workers. Social Workers use creative life-story work to help children understand the reasons why they are in care." And "Staff are well-trained and committed, feel highly valued and are proud to work in Surrey." You can read the full report HERE.

If you are considering your next professional opportunity and looking for an ambitious and highly motivated employer who is continuously striving for better services for children and young people, then our Surrey Children's Services would love to hear from you.

About working with Children Looked After

As a member in the Looked After Children's Team, your aim and role will be to support children living with relatives, friends or foster families and perspective adopters or older children living in children's homes and semi-independent units in addition to assessing whether it is safe for our children to return to live with birth families. You will build sustainable relationships with them and plan for their permanence. You will be responsible for ensuring their safety and support them towards independence.

Through regular visits, assessments and reviewing their Care Plan, you will nurture and develop meaningful relationships with these children; understand and interpret their wishes; and champion and support them to reach their full potential. Occasionally, you will be required to prepare reports and attend court. You will be supported in this challenging role with regular supervision and consultations with our Mental Health Focussed Social Worker. You will also find support by working alongside other social workers, family support workers, our stable management team and partnership organisations such as: Health Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (New Leaf), Independent Reviewing officers and carers. You will also be supported in your career development by your management team and also by the Surrey Academy.

Are you at a point in your career where you want to take on supervisory responsibility whilst utilising your skills as an experienced social worker?

This role enables you to work on complex cases whilst also giving you the opportunity to progress your career through contributing and supporting managers to develop the skills and knowledge within the team, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You will also have the opportunity to join Advanced Social Worker colleagues in county wide learning activities organised by the Surrey Children's Service Academy with a clear professional development pathway.

As an Advanced Social Worker, you will mentor less experienced practitioners in the team and support the Team Manager by leading on some areas of practice, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You will undertake more complex work, some of which you will do jointly with less experienced social workers and enable their learning. You will contribute to team plans and support the Team Manager.

In Surrey, you will have a sense of belonging within your individual team but also the wider service areas and directorate. You will receive high quality supervision, as there is a firm commitment towards dedicating time that focusses on the work you do with children and families, to enable you to work creatively and holistically in providing support and protection to children whilst also paying attention to your wellbeing and career development.

Our Surrey Children's Service Academy currently has over 60 courses available and offers a bespoke learning programme so you can be at the forefront of best practice. Modules such as motivational interviewing and our total respect course allow you to feel empowered in having essential conversations whilst still ensuring a child centred approach to your practice.

Your Application, Our Inclusive Approach

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours :

• Qualified Social Work degree and SWE Registration
• Car driver with a valid UK license
• ASYE completed, within two years of qualifying
• Three years post-qualified experience

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and Social Workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

To apply you will need to upload your CV and answer 3 application questions (no more than 200 words per question):

• Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?
• Please tell us about the key skills and experience you will be able to bring to this role.
• Please tell us about an example that demonstrates how you have built long lasting relationships with children.

Before submitting your application, we recommend you read the job description and Our Life at Surrey handbook to get an insight into working at Surrey.

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short virtual call to explore your answers to the application questions (lasting approx. 15- 20 mins) If successful following this, you will be invited for an in-person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment. That's why, if you're invited to a face-to-face interview, we'll share the themes of the questions with you in advance. This way, you can prepare and feel comfortable, allowing you to confidently discuss your skills and experiences.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on the 01.01.2026.

Contact Us

Our friendly teams could talk your socks off when it comes to all things Social Work. We'd love to hear from you and find out more about what you're looking for so if you'd like to talk to us please just drop a quick message to [e-mail] and we'll get a call arranged.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.