Senior Social Work Assistant

Somerset County Council; Taunton; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 28,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous annual leave + bank holidays

LGPS pension scheme

Flexible and hybrid working

Health and wellbeing support

Paid volunteering opportunities

Job summary

Somerset County Council is seeking a Senior Social Work Assistant to support kinship carers and families. The role involves making observations, assessments of need and arranging support to ensure child welfare and safety standards are met.

You will travel around the county to attend meetings and deliver targeted work with parents and carers. The post emphasises safeguarding, professional relationship building, and ability to manage multiple tasks with strong organisational skills.

Qualifications

• No social work qualification required; transferable skills considered.
• Ability to develop professional relationships with kinship carers, children and colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Complete home visits to kinship carers and their families.
• Share information with kinship carers assisting their learning and development.
• Work directly with allocated kinship carers and their families using interventions and activities.
• Review and monitor kinship cases, sharing information with the wider fostering service as required.

Skills

Professional relationships

Safeguarding

Information processing

Organisational prioritisation

Fluent English (Equality Act)

Job description

Senior Social Work Assistant

Salary: £25,989 - £28,142 per annum.

Hours: Part-time, 23.5 hours per week.

Contract: Permanent.

Work Base: The work base will be the office nearest to your home address.

Closing date: 17 September 2026

Role Purpose

You’ll be supporting kinship carers and working directly with parents, kinship carers and families undertaking observations and providing assessments of need and supporting with the identified need.

This will include undertaking targeted work with parents on topics such as child development, substance misuse and building healthy relationships. You will be required to make detailed recordings, arrange support and ensure safety standards are met.

Key responsibilities

• Complete home visits to kinship carers and their families
• S hare information with kinship carers assisting them with their learning and development.
• Work directly with allocated kinship carers and their families using a range of interventions and activities.
• Review and monitor kinship cases, sharing information with the wider fostering service as required.

What you'll bring

• Ability to develop professional relationships with kinship carers, children and colleagues, based on mutual trust and respect.
• A demonstrable commitment to safeguarding children and young people and promoting their welfare, alongside showing empathy for kinship carers.
• Ability to process information quickly and accurately, applying quality standards to all tasks.
• Excellent organisational and assessment skills, with the ability to prioritise work and organise competing demands. Ability to speak fluent English as stated in Part 7 of the Equality Act (2016).

You do not require a social work qualification for this role, but a good knowledge of undertaking direct work with parents and kinship carers, and good transferable skills will be considered.

About the team

As a county wide service the Kinship Post Support Team supports all children living in kinship arrangements, regardless of their legal status. Kinship Carers play a crucial role in helping children who cannot live with their parents to stay within their known networks. As a senior social work assistant it is their role to signpost, share and deliver support, complete assessments and reviews as well as deliver training, make applications for ASGSF funding and financial assessments/reviews to assist in maintaining a child's permanence within their family alongside our team of dedicated social workers.

Why Join Us?

At Somerset Council, we’re a progressive organisation committed to improving lives and shaping better services for our communities. Based in one of England’s most beautiful counties, it’s a great place to build your career and enjoy an excellent quality of life.

• Generous annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase additional leave.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), one of the UK's most generous and secure pension schemes.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements to support work-life balance, where service needs allow.
• Health and wellbeing support, including access to confidential employee assistance services.
• Paid volunteering opportunities, helping you make a difference both inside and outside of work.

Find out more about working at Somerset Council:

https://www.somerset.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/working-at-somerset-council/

Additional information

• 25 days of annual leave (additional to bank holidays)
• This is a part-time position working 23.5 hours per week.
• The nature of the work will require the postholder to travel across the county to attend meetings. You must be able to travel around the area to meet the requirements of the post, including areas that are not currently serviced by public transport.
• This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check.
• Interview dates are planned for 2nd and 6th October 2026.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. We are only able to proceed with candidates who already have the right to work in the UK without the need for VISA sponsorship.

For an informal chat about the role, you can contact Emma Martin - Team Manager Kinship, via email at [e-mail] .

We believe diversity makes us stronger and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences, whose unique perspectives help us better serve the people of Somerset.

You can find a copy of the job description here: AG1051 Senior Social Work Assistant.pdf

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