Supervising Social Worker - Connected People's Team

Cheshire West and Chester; Ellesmere Port; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 49,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in England seeks a committed Supervising Social Worker for the Connected People’s Fostering Team. This role involves assessing potential foster carers and providing support to foster families, ensuring high-quality service focused on children's welfare. Applicants should possess a Social Work qualification and have at least 3 years of statutory experience. The salary ranges from £38,220 to £48,072 depending on qualifications and experience. Flexible working arrangements are available.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Competitive working rewards

High quality supervision

Qualifications

• At least 3 years post qualifying experience in a statutory setting.
• Registered with Social Work England.
• Extensive knowledge of legislation underpinning delivery of social care.

Responsibilities

• Assess potential foster carers and supervise/support foster carers.
• Deliver high-quality service while safeguarding children's welfare.
• Collaborate with multi-agency partners to achieve positive outcomes.

Skills

Commitment

Resilience

Experience working directly with children and families

Education

Social Work qualification

Job description

We are looking to recruit a committed, resilient and experienced Supervising Social Worker, within the Connected People’s Fostering Team.

This is an exciting opportunity to be involved in assessing potential foster carers, and supervising and supporting foster carers, plus a chance to be innovative and creative in working alongside other professionals within the service.

The Team undertake robust, analytical assessments which focus on the trauma children have experienced and how the connected carer/applicant can provide the most appropriate care.

As a Supervising Social Worker, you will safeguard and promote the welfare of Cheshire West and Chester's children by delivering a high-quality service, keeping children's wellbeing and safety at the heart of your approach.

The vacancy is for a Supervising Social Worker on the Connected People Team –

Grade 9 (Progressed - completion of ASYE and/or further progression) SCP 27-31: £38,220 - £41,771

Grade 10 (PQ Award/experienced) SCP 31-35: £41,771 - £48,072

The post requires a Social Work qualification, extensive knowledge of legislation underpinning delivery of social care, and at least 3 years post qualifying experience in a statutory setting.

Interviews are planned for Tuesday 13 January 2026.

The post holder will:

• require registration with Social Work England as a registered Social Worker.
• be able to work across the Cheshire West and Chester Borough and beyond.
• must demonstrate experience and a good understanding of working directly with children and families including working with connected carers/recruited foster carers.

Our Children's Social Care workforce is passionate and committed to improving outcomes for children in our Authority by providing a consistent, high quality service to children and families, together with the support from a stable leadership and management team. We are committed to a culture of shared learning and development in which everyone has a part to play to ensure that our services to children and families focusses on positive outcomes.

We have developed and continue to embed ‘Our Way of Working’ with our multi‑agency partners to ensure improved collaboration and one common approach to our work with families using Motivational Interviewing and Trauma Informed Practice. Social workers are encouraged to work creatively in planning and decision‑making with children and their families and our partner agencies to achieve positive outcomes and with a focus on prevention at every level.

We are proud that Ofsted have rated us as one of the top performing Children’s Services in the country, receiving overall “good” in our 2015 inspection and retaining “good” in our inspection in 2019. OFSTED has acknowledged that our children benefit from a stable and resilient workforce. We are approved as a ‘Partner in Practice’ with the Department of Education and won ‘Overall council of the Year’ and ‘Best Innovation’ awards in 2018.

Cheshire West and Chester will be committed to supporting your development. In March 2019, OFSTED said that our ‘Social workers have access to a comprehensive learning and development package and are supported to develop their skills, experience and qualifications through a well‑embedded ‘grow your own’ framework. Staff report opportunities to progress into more senior positions in the organisation and develop their skills through moving around different service areas. Social Workers receive regular and reflective supervision and they are supported to learn and develop their skills through a comprehensive learning and development programme.

Our social workers will tell you:

• I’ve always felt supported and part of a team.
• The training opportunities are excellent across all grades.
• Managers at Cheshire West and Chester strive to make Social Workers feel valued and recognised, they are approachable and compassionate.
• Cheshire West is a great Local Authority to work for! Everyone genuinely has the needs of children at the heart of everything we do.
• Social Workers are both encouraged and supported to be creative and strive for excellence.
• Cheshire West is a cheerful, friendly, and caring place to work.
• I feel valued; it is great to work somewhere that makes you feel like your contribution to the work we do actually counts.
• Social Workers are encouraged to work with partner agencies to make plans that work with families and encourage and promote change.
• There are ample training opportunities to develop your Social Work practice and a clear progression pathway to underpin this.
• I feel well supported by my team, manager, and the senior managers in the authority.

Our commitment and investment in professional development means that most of our Senior Practice Leads, Team Managers and some Senior Managers have progressed within our own organisation.

As a local authority, we have developed an inspirational social work offer to support and develop our valued workforce, including:

• high quality progression and developmental opportunities
• work‑life balance, flexible and remote working arrangements available, including up‑to‑date IT equipment, and a smart mobile phone for all employees
• competitive working rewards
• high quality supervision
• strong reflective practice framework
• free parking at all our office locations

As employers, we recognise that Cheshire West and Chester Council has a major role to play in improving the quality of life of its employees. We are committed to agile, flexible and mobile working and helping employees to maintain an effective balance between their work and home life.

We have a strong political and senior leadership team with a wealth of experience and knowledge about children’s outcomes across the borough of Cheshire West and Chester. Children’s social care and the wider partnership use this understanding well to target areas for continued improvement.

If you have any queries about this vacancy, please don't hesitate to contact:

[e-mail]