Newly Qualified Social Worker

Leicestershire County Council; East Midlands, Leicester; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking passionate Newly Qualified Social Workers to join their Outstanding Children and Family services. This role offers a supportive environment with a focus on professional development through the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) Program. You will work closely with experienced colleagues, receive dedicated mentorship, and manage a reduced caseload to ensure you thrive in your new position. If you are eager to make a positive impact on children's lives and grow your career in social work, this opportunity is perfect for you.

Benefits

Dedicated Support from ASYE Coordinator

Monthly Reflective Supervision

Intensive Induction Training

Career Progression Opportunities

Flexible Working Arrangements

Wellbeing Service

Continuous Professional Development Days

Support for Practice Excellence

Collaborative Learning Environment

DBS Enhanced Check

Qualifications

• Hold a Social Work degree or equivalent specializing in children's services.
• Possess a valid UK driving license and access to a vehicle.
• Demonstrate strong assessment skills and knowledge of child protection.

Responsibilities

• Support children and families through effective social work practices.
• Manage a reduced caseload during the ASYE year for better support.
• Collaborate with colleagues across teams to provide comprehensive care.

Skills

Social Work Degree

Assessment Skills

Knowledge of Childcare Legislation

Time Management

IT Proficiency

Education

Social Work Degree or Equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Job description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: Various locations across the County

Worker Category: Field Based Worker

Salary: £31,074 until Social Work England registration is approved, increasing to £41,373 per annum (pro-rata for part-time) (plus Market Premium of £3,283) once full Social Work England registration is granted

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 18th May 2025

Interview Date(s): 25th June 2025

Have you been qualified as a Social Worker or are you due to qualify? Do you want to work with Leicestershire's Outstanding Children and Family services? We are welcoming applicationsfrom candidates with the enthusiasm to learn and a passion for working with children and families.

Read more about our Outstanding Ofsted rating here and find out more from our staff here

About the Role

We value and support our Newly Qualified Social Workers. We believe the foundations of the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) are paramount to building confident Social Workers and so we are really proud of our ASYE Program and the support we offer to Newly Qualified Social Workers in helping them develop and advance their careers with us.

As a Newly Qualified Social Worker on our ASYE Program, you will receive:

• Entry-level pay at Grade 9 (£31,074) until full Social Work England registration is achieved, with an increase to the top of Grade 9 (£33,294), plus Market Premium of £3,283) upon registration.
• Protected and reduced caseloads during the ASYE year.
• Dedicated support from the ASYE Co-ordinator, regular network meetings with other ASYEs.
• Monthly reflective supervision with a practice mentor, in addition to supervision with your team manager.
• Intensive induction and tailored ASYE training.
• Working as part of the social work teams to increase knowledge and understanding including co-working with experienced colleagues.

For further information about our ASYE Program, including helpful videos and testimonials, please visit our website here .

We currently have vacancies across various service areas, which will be discussed with you at interview.

About You

To apply for this post, you must respond to and evidence the following 7 essential criteria within your personal statement. This should be no more than 1,000 words.

• Hold a Social Work degree or equivalent (e.g. CQSW, DipSW) specialising in children's services, and be registered with Social Work England or expect registration in 2025; and have been qualified (or expect to qualify this year).
• Possess and hold a valid, UK driving licence and have access to a vehicle.
• Have experience of working with children and families, knowledge of childcare legislation and Local Safeguarding Children Partnership procedures, particularly in relation to child protection and child in need. Be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical underpinning of social work practice and models used.
• Have an awareness of the cultural, racial, linguistic, and religious backgrounds of children, young people, and families applying equal opportunity principles in practice across your work.
• Hold strong assessment skills, capable of analysing information to make sound decisions which offer support and are impactful and be able to demonstrate this via examples.
• Have excellent prioritisation and time management skills to ensure the successful delivery of competing and changing work demands and be able to demonstrate this via examples.
• Be proficient in IT, with sound knowledge of Microsoft Outlook, Word and database applications to ensure clear, accurate and age-appropriate communication with children, families, carers and external agencies/other service providers that support collaborative ways of working both orally and in writing.

We'd also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the interview process.

A DBS enhanced check for a regulated activity is required for this post.

Leicestershire Children and Families Services

In all service areas you are expected to work closely with colleagues across team and agency boundaries to ensure that families get the most appropriate level of support. Staff workloads are manageable and are monitored and managed closely. Managers and staff all have regular monthly supervision, and you will be supported in your practice by an experienced management team.

As an organisation, we are committed to a strong and skilled workforce providing high quality services to the children and families of Leicestershire, following our relationship-based Signs of Safety practice approach.

We are committed to doing our very best for vulnerable children and families; working to make a positive impact on their lives so they can achieve their potential and flourish.

We are proud of our continuous improvement plan - Achieving Excellence through Purposeful Practice ' which sets out our key values, behaviours and ambitions. We have embedded the Signs of Safety approach throughout our services and this approach mirrors our values of Aspiration, Being Curious, and Collaboration. We are focused on working with families and the networks of family, friends, and professionals around children, to work in collaboration to achieve shared goals.

We are committed to our vision of becoming a trauma informed responsive department where we believe we are stronger together . Our culture is one of partnership, where we look for solutions and recognise the potential impact of trauma on the children and families we work with and on our staff. We will strive to create a safe, compassionate, healing environment demonstrated through relationships based on trust, respect, hope, and empathy. We will achieve this through a spirit of curiosity, by nurturing connections through relationships, making a deliberate effort to know and understand people, and by providing hope for growth and recovery.

We support and empower our staff to be the best that they can be. We will give you the support and resources that you need to work in collaboration with children and families.

We want all our staff to be inspired to go the extra mile. We are doing our best to create a culture where practice excellence can flourish. We want to learn from what works, as much, if not more, than from when things go badly. We are ambitious to create a true learning organisation, so

• We run several conferences each year for staff to come together, reflect and learn.
• Every team sets aside time for team learning each month.
• You will receive consistent, regular, and reflective supervision including group supervision support.
• Twice a year our senior leaders take a week out and spend time with Social Workers, observing practice and talking to young people, parents, and carers about their experience of services.
• All Social Work England registered workers have three extra Continuous Professional Development days each year.
• Our highly valued training offer supports career progression and includes Practice Educator Awards and Aspiring Managers Program.
• We have an experienced team dedicated to supporting practice excellence.
• Our Practice Development Group is well established for practitioners to collaborate on practice development.
• We have a Critical Incident Response service for staff which provides independent therapeutic support within 48 hours.
• We have an excellent Wellbeing Service providing specific support to staff when needed, but also offer events throughout the year.

For further information, please visit:

• Social Worker benefits
• Newly Qualified Social Worker job profile

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement .

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.

Every role within the Council has a defined working style which determines where they can work. The worker category applicable to this post is detailed in the above advert. You can find out more about our worker categories in the Our Working Styles page on our career site.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Resourcing Co-ordinator: Jennifer Neville

Email: [e-mail]

Tel: [phone]

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

To apply for this job, please click on the apply button. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above. For more information, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions .