Social Work Coordinator

Islington Council; Greater London; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Part time

Job summary

A local government authority in the Greater London area is seeking a part-time social work coordinator for a one-year contract. The role requires involvement in multi-professional meetings, providing essential administrative support to social workers, and ensuring effective communication. Ideal candidates will possess strong organizational skills, be flexible, and have excellent communication capabilities. The position offers professional development opportunities and a supportive working environment.

Benefits

Core training package

Professional development opportunities

Good pension scheme

Generous holidays

Qualifications

• Proven ability to work pro-actively to identify and meet the needs of the team.
• Experience in minute-taking and diary management.
• Strong communication skills with children, young people, and families.

Responsibilities

• Minute taking for multi-professional meetings.
• Arrange diary management and create excel spreadsheet trackers.
• Update the database and answer the duty phone.

Skills

Excellent organization and time management skills

Flexibility

Excellent ICT skills

Good communication: verbal and written

Ability to work under pressure

Job description

About The Role

We require a part-time social work coordinator for a 1 year fixed term contract, to meet the needs of the service. We require the following hours to be met: Wednesday 1.30pm – 5pm and Thursday and Friday 9am - 5pm. We do however take flexible working into consideration, in line with service demands, however this is an office‑based role.

Benefits:

Specially designed core training package, professional development opportunities, good pension scheme and generous holidays, an experienced management team, and a great working location with good transport links.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has opened within Independent Futures where we have created a specialist Leaving Care Service for children and young people aged 16-25 years old. Islington is looking to recruit a part‑time social work coordinator (SWC) who is motivated and passionate. You will be trained in Motivational Interviewing and Trauma Inform Practice to ensure sustainability of practice across the service.

A Social Work Coordinator (SWC) is a para‑professional whose primary function is to provide enhanced administrative support in meeting the demands of frontline practice. This is a very active role and the practical support is critical in ensuring the child and family social workers’ and other practitioners’ time is used to best effect in helping families to keep children safe. This requires a high level of understanding of a child and family social worker’s job in helping families to safeguard children.

Main duties

Our vision for the service is that children and young people are safe, can overcome difficulties and can form secure relationships through their childhood and into their adulthood.

SWCs are the first point of contact for the team by service users, other staff, and professionals. As an experienced administrator, you would be expected to anticipate the planning and preparation necessary ahead of the range of meetings that take place with families and professionals and be instrumental in ensuring these meetings are coordinated. This includes multi‑professional panels and tasks include (but not limited to) diary invites and minute taking. You would also be expected to help and support practitioners to stay organised in managing their workload.

Child and family work is dynamic and responsive to both the local and national landscape, and SWCs must be flexible and adapt to changes within the organisation and to the presenting needs of the individual team. The SWC role, as with all other roles in the Service, should engage in continuous quality improvement by always looking for ways to improve the way we work to identify gaps in systems and make improvements that will increase added value to frontline practice.

You will have excellent communication skills with children, young people and families as well as with carers and professionals taking into consideration equality and diversity. You will also have excellent skills when it comes to writing and minute‑taking.

Some of the main duties include:

• Minute taking
• Arranging multi‑professional meetings
• Diary management
• Creating and updating excel spreadsheet trackers
• Answering the duty phone to young people, families, and other professionals
• Updating the data base

The successful candidates will have the following:

• Excellent organisation and time management skills
• Ability to work pro‑actively to identify and meet the needs of the team
• Flexibility
• Excellent ICT skills
• Good communication: verbal and written
• Ability to work under pressure

Working for your organisation

In December 2024, we underwent a full OFSTED inspect. Although we are still awaiting formal feedback, we are pleased and proud to share we have maintained our outstanding rating.

In October 2023, Independent Futures received a focused visit from OFSTED looking at the Local Authority’s arrangements for care experienced children and young people (care leavers). We proudly share some highlights from the report:

• Young people are effusive about Independent Futures, Islington’s leaving care service.
• Care experienced children and young people in Islington benefit from teams of highly committed, ambitious and determined professionals who work extremely well together, helping the children and young people to remain safe and to achieve in life.
• Exceptional and aspirational corporate and operational leaders work together to listen to care experienced young people, to understand their world and to act on their views.
• Islington’s motivational practice model ensures that all staff and many partner agencies provide trauma‑informed assessments.
• The genuine warmth of staff and their affection and pride in children’s progress and achievements are evident in their direct work and frequent contact and visits.
• Staff report that they feel valued by their managers. This improves and supports practitioners’ emotional health and well‑being.
• Skilled social workers and YPAs are appropriately proud of their work.
• Good opportunities for development, training and promotion are increasing the number of staff transferring from agency to permanent contracts.
• A localised approach to commissioning housing support means that young people can maintain local links and have access to important local services, such as colleges, employment and training opportunities that will support them to achieve independence.

The Independent Futures Service is well resourced and enjoys a stable and supportive workforce. You will be joining a multi‑professional team made up of experienced managers, Senior Social Workers, Social Workers, Young Person Advisors, Mental Health Social Worker, CAMHS professionals, a UASC specialist and Social Work Coordinators. We have opportunities to consult with clinicians and you will receive supervision and manage support from a Senior Social Worker.

Our children, young people and their families are at the heart of everything we do and the development of our practice model allows us to them towards their version of meaningful and sustained changed. Islington’s Motivational Practice Model provides an integrated care, safeguarding and change model, which includes Motivational Interviewing skills helping to build meaningful relationships and promote safety, collaboration and purposeful change.

What is Motivational Practice?

Motivational Practice is Islington’s Practice Model. There are core elements that underpin the practice framework that provide a set of skills around how to communicate in a helpful way with workers that you supervise, the professional network as a whole and families we work with, supporting a process of change.

Our practice model is further complemented by Trauma‑informed practice (including Dyadic Development Practice), as we believe that by better understanding the lived experiences of those we are here to serve, we are better positioned to engage, support and assist children and young people to reach their full potential. Relationships are also central to achieving the very best outcome for our children, young people, their families, and their carers. We work closely with our fostering team and placements service to support our carers in offering a trauma informed approach to care, and to offer stable placements where our children and young people can achieve their potential.

Application overview

Please ensure you address the person specification fully, referencing how you meet each specification in turn as fully as possible.

Application closes: Thursday 11th December 2025 at 23:59

Prospective interview date: 17th - 23rd December 2025

For further information or for an informal conversation about the post, please contact Independent Futures Team Manager:

Lila Wisbeach

[e-mail]

020 7527 8585 / 8561

Working for the team, service and our organisation

Islington is a place rich with diversity and culture. As a council our sense of purpose couldn’t be clearer: we serve. It’s in the logo. We are committed to challenging inequality in the borough and as one of the largest employers we know that to look after the place and the planet, we have to look after our people. Together we can change the future.

We are determined to create a more equal Islington, where everyone who lives here has an equal chance to thrive.

To do this, everyone who works at Islington Council lives by a set of values which guide us in everything that we do: collaborative, ambitious, resourceful, and empowering. They spell out ‘CARE’, which is what we think public service is all about.

Our offer to you

We are committed to challenging inequality in the borough and as one of the largest employers we know that to look after the place and the planet, we have to look after our people. Our staff benefits include:

• Up to 31 days leave per year, increasing to 36 days after five years of local government service
• A range of flexible working arrangements to maintain a healthy work‑life balance, as well as a 35‑hour working week
• Learning and development opportunities to maximise your potential
• Competitive pay and a commitment to paying all staff the London Living Wage at minimum
• Excellent local government pension scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme and discounted gym memberships
• Local discounts from restaurants, shops, health and beauty therapists, and more!

Please note: Priority will be given to those at risk of redundancy within Islington Council. Current employees who are part of the redeployment pool must meet the essential criteria for shortlisting to be prioritised.

Workforce Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to creating an inclusive and equitable workforce, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our workforce strategy places equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of everything we do, reaffirming our commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion. We strive to create an environment where all colleagues feel they belong and can safely express their thoughts, ideas, and challenges, without fear of judgement or discrimination.

We maintain a zero‑tolerance approach to any unlawful discrimination, harassment, or victimisation on the grounds of any protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act, including but not limited to race, disability, sexual orientation, sex, religion and belief, age, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, and maternity. Any incidents of discrimination will be promptly investigated and addressed in line with our HR policies to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all colleagues.

We use data to identify and address disparities, ensuring that our policies and practices are transparent and impactful in promoting a diverse representation of backgrounds and perspectives at all levels of the organisation. We look at inequality through an intersectional lens, recognising that different aspects of someone’s identity can combine to create unique experiences of discrimination and disadvantage.

We know that advancing diversity and inclusion is a continuous journey, and we must listen to our colleagues and learn where we can further improve. We work closely with our Colleague Forums and Trade Unions, supported by active allies from our Corporate Management Team, to monitor and evaluate our practices, identify barriers, and empower colleagues to promote equality and inclusion in the workplace.

Every one of us has a role to play in making Islington Council a truly inclusive workplace. By living out our CARE (collaborative, ambitious, resourceful, and empowering) values every day and embedding the principles of equality, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work, we can all actively contribute to empowering people and creating a more equal Islington.

Pre‑Employment Checks

Any offer of employment will be subject to the successful completion of required pre‑employment checks. These may include:

• Proof of address
• Evidence of any name changes (if applicable)
• Right to work in the UK
• Overseas criminal record check (if applicable)
• Satisfactory references
• Occupational Health clearance
• Evidence of professional qualifications or registrations
• DBS check at the appropriate level (if applicable)

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expects all staff, and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts are subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

The post is subject to an enhanced DBS check with children barred list, qualifications check and 3/5 years referencing.

Disability Confident Scheme

Islington Council operates a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria and we are committed to providing support to applicants who request reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process and throughout their career with us.