Principal Social Worker

North Northamptonshire Council; Thrapston; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Pension scheme with significant life/​

Opportunities to develop skills

Generous leave entitlement (28–33 days

Hybrid & flexible working arrangements

Job summary

North Northamptonshire Council is seeking a Principal Social Worker to support the Team Manager in delivering day-to-day operational services. The role focuses on maintaining high practice standards, safeguarding oversight, and robust performance management across teams in East Northants.

You will collaborate with health, law enforcement, and voluntary sector partners to ensure person-centred, outcome-focused social care planning and reviews.

Qualifications

• At least three years post-qualifying experience, including successful completion of ASYE.
• Strong social work practice foundations within Adult Social Care.
• Demonstrable experience of supporting operational delivery, safeguarding oversight, and quality assurance.
• A sound understanding of performance management within a statutory social care setting.
• Experience of supporting and managing staff, including providing guidance and constructive challenge.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and manage competing demands.

Responsibilities

• Support the Team Manager in day-to-day operational delivery and maintain oversight of practice.
• Ensure consistent high practice standards, safeguarding, and defensible decision-making.
• Drive strong performance management across teams, including line management of staff.
• Collaborate with primary health care, law enforcement, and voluntary sector partners.
• Support and lead multi-agency, person-centred care planning and review activities.

Skills

Post-qualifying experience

Social work practice

Operational delivery

Safeguarding oversight

Quality assurance

Performance management

Staff management

Organisational skills

Job description

About The Role

Interviews will be held on Thursday 3rd December at Cedar Drive, Thrapston.

You will work closely with the Team Manager to support the effective management and performance of the team, helping to maintain high practice standards and timely service delivery. This is a key operational role that will support the team as new ways of working continue to embed, ensuring consistency, reflective practice, and defensible decision‑making. We are seeking a candidate who can start as soon as possible subject to satisfactory pre‑employment checks and any applicable notice period.

The East Northants Adult Social Care Team provide professional social care support, undertake Care Act assessments, co‑produce care and support plans with people and their circles of support, review, and reassessment activities. The Team work alongside and together with the person, and often in partnership with other involved professionals and providers too, so that the person can continue to live their chosen way of life. The Team undertake a wide range of social care work and activities on behalf of the local authority including; Duty contact work, safeguarding activities, arranging emergency support, undertaking strengths‑based assessments and support planning, Continuing Health Care assessments, Court of Protection and Best Interests work for adults who have identified long term support needs arising from either Physical Disability, Mental health needs, Acquired Brain Injuries or a combination of conditions. The Team undertake all statutory review activities for people living in the East Northamptonshire locality area. East Northants Adult Social Care Team colleagues work with a wide range of other professional agencies and organisations in primary health care, law enforcement and with the voluntary sector. In addition, the Team work closely with colleagues in the various adult social care teams delivering all local authority work with adults; the Continuing Health Care team, the Moving into Adulthood team, Housing and Accommodation, the Community Resources team, the Hospital and Reablement teams, and the Quality Assurance team to ensure quality of support is multi‑agency, collaborative, safe, person‑centred, outcomes focused and effective. The Principal Social Worker role is focused on supporting the Team Manager in managing day‑to‑day operational delivery, maintaining oversight of practice and safeguarding, and ensuring strong performance management across the teams including line management of staff.

About You

• At least three years post‑qualifying experience, including successful completion of ASYE
• Strong social work practice foundations within Adult Social Care.
• Demonstrable experience of supporting operational delivery, safeguarding oversight, and quality assurance
• A sound understanding of performance management within a statutory social care setting
• Experience of supporting and managing staff, including providing guidance and constructive challenge
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and manage competing demands

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people. You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill‑health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work‑life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

Why choose us?

We Offer a Vibrant Working Environment With

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill‑health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work‑life balance.

About Us

Our Values and Behaviours

• Customer-focused
• Respectful
• Efficient
• Supportive
• Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment. For further information please The Employment and Disability Service (EADS) | North Northamptonshire Council

Armed Forces Community

The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

Attached documents

• JD - Principal Social Worker.pdf