Social Worker - Children We Care For

WMJobs; Oldbury; Hybrid; GBP 41,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Up to 31 days annual leave + 5 long‑服务

Retention bonus £2,000 in year 1, £3,0

Relocation allowance up to £6,500

Birthday off + bank holidays

Job summary

Sandwell Children's Trust is seeking a Social Worker in the Children We Care For service. The role focuses on safeguarding, care planning and advocacy for looked after children.

You will work in a supportive team, with opportunities for career development. The post is a permanent contract, 37 hours per week, based in Oldbury with hybrid working options.

Qualifications

• Must be social work qualified, registered with Social Work England and complete ASYE in a children and families setting.
• Excellent analytical skills to make informed decisions from gathered information.
• Skilled listener ensuring a child’s voice is heard and understood.
• Self-motivated, organized with effective written and verbal communication.
• Clear decision maker and good team worker with collaborative approach.
• Experience working with children in care and knowledge of relevant legislation.
• Ability to assess risk and apply procedures to manage and reduce risk.

Responsibilities

• Assess the vulnerability of Sandwell's children and provide services to improve their quality of life.
• Inform Care Planning using developing knowledge to promote positive outcomes for young people.
• Advocate for and support young people to achieve their goals and futures.
• Support pathway planning as young people approach adulthood, ensuring they understand and shape their plans.
• Develop knowledge of issues affecting older looked after children, including safeguarding considerations.
• Listen to children and young people to ensure they are heard and their plans are actioned.

Skills

Social work

Communication

Analytical skills

Risk assessment

Decision making

Team player

Advocacy

Education

Social Work Degree

Job description

What we can offer you:

• Generous annual leave of up to 31 days, plus 5 additional days for long service recognition.
• Retention bonus of £2,000 in year 1, £3,000 in year 2 and £5,000 in year 3.
• Your birthday off paid in addition to annual leave entitlement and 8 Bank Holidays, plus a concessionary day at Christmas.
• We recognise individual loyalty with service awards from 2, 5, 10 and every 5 years onwards.
• Flexible working patterns that suit you and all of our roles have well-defined career progression.

To find out more please visit The Sandwell Deal via this hyperlink

https://sandwelldeal.co.uk

Job title: Social Worker - Children We Care For

Grade/Salary: Grade F/G £41,010 - £52,317 per annum (includes market supplement of £2,500)*

Retention bonus of £2,000 in year 1, £3,000 in year 2 and £5,000 in year 3

Relocation Allowance: Up to £6,500*

Contract Type: Permanent

Working pattern: 37 hours per week

Location: Oldbury/Hybrid

Closing date: midnight on Monday 16 November 2026

Are you passionate about making a lasting difference in the lives of children and young people? We are looking for a dedicated Social Worker to join one of our Children We Care For Teams. Following the granting of a Care Order, our priority is to support children in achieving stable, loving, and permanent homes through Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs), long-term fostering, or reunification with their families whenever it is safe and appropriate to do so.

We welcome applications from Social Workers with relevant experience working with children we care for. We will also consider applicants interested in gaining new experience. The teams work closely together, and we offer a supportive working environment with many opportunities to develop skills, knowledge and career pathways.

As a Social Worker working in the Children We Care For service you will:

• Assess the vulnerability of Sandwell's children, providing a service that will significantly improve their quality of life.
• Utilise your developing skills and knowledge to inform Care Planning in order to promote change and positive outcomes for our young people.
• You will be passionate about supporting and advocating for young people to ensure they reach their goals and have the best possible futures.
• For young people approaching adulthood, you will focus on Pathway Planning and help young people to prepare for independence. This will involve ensuring young people are at the centre of their plans and fully understand and are involved in their planning.
• Develop and apply your knowledge of specific issues impacting on our older young people including Child Exploitation, missing, substance misuse, mental health, placement breakdown, return to family, accessing Adult Social Care and working with unaccompanied Asylum Seeking children.
• Most importantly you will need to be passionate about listening to our children and young people to ensure that they are heard, using your social work skills to advocate, plan and take action to enhance the opportunities, achievements and their quality of life.

About you:

• You must be social work qualified, registered with Social Work England and have completed your ASYE programme in a children and families setting.
• Have excellent analytical skills and be able to make informed decisions with information you have gathered, that has a positive impact on the child’s journey.
• A skilled listener, you will demonstrate how you have understood and ensured a child's voice is heard.
• You will need to be self-motivated, organised with effective communication skills both written and verbally.
• Be a clear decision maker and good team worker
• Have an ability to assess risk and the knowledge of the relevant procedures to manage and reduce risk.
• You will need to demonstrate that you have experience of working with children in care, which could have been gained through working in other teams.
• Have knowledge of the relevant legislation and procedures that relate to looked after children and young people.

So, if you think your future could lie with a 'Good' Team, then we’d love to hear from you.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment. Reasonable adjustments are available at every stage of the recruitment process and throughout employment, helping everyone to thrive, perform to the best of their ability, and achieve success in their role.

Sandwell Children's Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable groups including children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people.

• Pay rate is inclusive of market supplement
• Terms & Conditions apply for relocation allowance