Social Worker - Adult Early Help Team

Cambridgeshire County Council; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellbeing package

CPD time 6 days per year

Pay progression scheme

Refer a Friend £350

Development opportunities

Job summary

Cambridgeshire County Council is recruiting a qualified social worker to join our Adult Early Help (AEH) Team in a full-time, permanent role. You will work within Prevention and Early Intervention to promote independence, wellbeing and positive outcomes for adults across the county.

You'll triage referrals, support a front door team, develop community action plans, and work with unpaid carers. The post offers training opportunities, a supportive multidisciplinary environment, and a commitment to

Qualifications

• Qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration.
• Good working knowledge of Care Act 2014 and Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• Strong communication, telephone manner, and ability to work on your own initiative.

Responsibilities

• Screen and triage referrals within the Adult Early Help team.
• Support the front door team in timely responses and pathways to support.
• Develop community action plans and work with unpaid carers to plan care.
• Contribute to safeguarding referrals and assess risks to vulnerable adults.

Skills

Communication skills

Telephone manner

Initiative

Planning & organisation

Resilience

Education

Social Work degree

Job description

About the role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a qualified social worker to join our fast-paced and supportive team. The role is full time and permanent, within our Adult Early Help (AEH) Team.

As part of our wider Prevention and Early Intervention Service, you will play a key role in promoting independence, wellbeing, and positive outcomes for people across Cambridgeshire

Our multidisciplinary teams are made up of Social Workers and Adult Support Coordinators with a wealth of experience and diverse backgrounds. We foster a collaborative and supportive environment where colleagues work together to support individuals, families, and carers, whilst sharing knowledge of preventative and community-based services available across the county.

This role is a rewarding opportunity for a social worker who enjoys working in a dynamic environment, values strengths-based practice, and is passionate about helping people access the right support at the right time.

As a council, Cambridgeshire County Council supports staff to identify their professional development needs and offers a wide range of training and apprenticeship opportunities

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we believe benefits our employees, the organisation and our communities

Interviews will be held during the week commencing 16 November 2026.

For more information or to chat about this opportunity please contact Stuart Brown, Team Manager, at [e-mail]

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

What will you be doing?

The Adult Early Help Team is often the first point of contact for adults aged 18 and over who are seeking support from Adult Social Care. The team undertakes assessments, supports unpaid carers through strengths‑based conversations and planning, and helps individuals access the right support at the earliest opportunity.

Working within the team's duty function, you will be responsible for effectively screening and triaging referrals, ensuring timely responses and appropriate pathways to support.

• Triaging referrals that are sent to adult early help
• Supporting your team colleagues in working within a 'front door' team
• Developing community action plans
• Working with unpaid carers to understand their needs and undertake carers' conversations and planning.

• Contributing to safeguarding referrals and identifying risks to vulnerable adults.
• Assessing and applying the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, including consideration of an individual's ability to make decisions.
• Using a strengths-based approach, exploring personal networks, community resources and voluntary sector support before considering formal services.

Working closely with colleagues in:

• Adult Social Care
• Health services
• Prevention and Early Intervention services

• Ensuring people receive timely signposting to appropriate preventative and community services.
• Supporting the Care Act principle of "prevent, reduce and delay" the development of care and support needs.

Overall, this is a prevention-focused social work role, aimed at helping people access the right support at the earliest opportunity and avoiding unnecessary escalation to long-term statutory services where appropriate.

For more information, please see the attached Job Description/Person Specification.

About you

You must be a Qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England Registration

You will need a good working knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and Mental Capacity Act 2005. Experience of multi-disciplinary working to enable best outcomes for individuals is key.

It is imperative that you have strong communication skills, a confident telephone manner and can work on your own initiative.

Good planning and organisation skills will be key, and you should be used to working under pressure to meet deadlines, allowing flexibility and resilience.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we believe benefits our employees, the organisation and our communities

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage...

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• 6 days of protected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
• A pay progression scheme to enable you to accelerate through the pay grade as you gain experience and skills
• A Refer a Friend Scheme where if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, we'll pay you an introduction fee of £350
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth

For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don't meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don't be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers