Job description

Based at:  Various locations

Salary details: Grade 8 - £32,662 - £36,239, Grade 9 - £38,653 - £42,728

Contract Type: Permanent, Full time

Hours: 37 hours per week

Closing date: 31 March 2025

Enhanced Level DBS Disclosure is required for appointment to this post

The City of Doncaster Council is a confident, ambitious organisation which puts improving the life of its residents at the centre of everything we do. You have a opportunity to be part of this in the role of Social Worker. 

This is what one of our social workers says about Doncaster …

Being a social worker is never going to be an easy job, and particularly in the current climate we are facing more challenges than ever. I've been at Doncaster just over four years and joined as a newly qualified, right before covid hit the world. There has been a lot of change during my time working here, but they say the only constant in life is change, and my experience of being here is a great one. It's not been without its difficulties, but I do love my job, and I love working for Doncaster. I like that Doncaster continues to strive for practice improvement, no matter how frustrating it seems at times when casework is busy.

Without question the best bit of my job is the team I work in; we are like a family and the support from them, and our managers is incredible. Even on the toughest of days, with the shortest deadlines, they rally round, lift spirits and we share laughter and endless cups of tea. I have always had really good, regular, reflective supervision to help me work through the difficult cases, and the endless emails offering training opportunities for a wide variety of specialisms and interests have meant that I am never short of examples to use for writing up my CPD, just the time in which to do it.

I am not the most ambitious individual, but I have been encouraged and guided to pursue progression and build on positive feedback for pieces of work that I've completed. Senior management can be (quite rightly at times) a bit intimidating, yet when our paths cross, I am always impressed that they know my name, and about my cases and the good work we have done on them. I feel valued here, and that's really important to get you through the tough days. I love my job, it's so rewarding, and no two days are the same, I hate the stress and pressure, but I also thrive on it, however I can't imagine doing it anywhere other than Doncaster with the brilliant people I have around me. 

Doncaster Children’s Services are looking for qualified and experienced social workers to join our Assessment, Help and Protection Teams and Children in Care team. Do you want to work for an organisation that is committed to providing stability, manageable workloads and which puts children at the heart of everything it does? Are you committed to the highest practice standards and to achieving better outcomes for children and their families? If so, we want to hear from you.

What can we offer you?

- A competitive salary, with retention payments.

- Brilliant learning and development opportunities, with investment in staffing, resources, high quality training and leadership.

- Realistic caseloads, depending on role and experience, with a system of monitoring these to ensure they stay that way.

- Stable and experienced leaders, who offer high quality, frequent and reflective supervision.

- Fantastic small, friendly teams in lively, welcoming offices, with supportive advanced practitioners.

- Cluster based working over small geographical areas.

- Strong links with our partner agencies, who are involved, active and accountable.

- Generous annual leave and a range of flexible and hybrid working options, along with the tools and tech you need for agile working.

- A great rewards and recognition package, offering discounts and salary sacrifice schemes.

- Excellent transport links to the motorways M18, A1, M1 and M62.

- A relocation package to encourage you to move to Doncaster.

What are we asking from you?

A BA or MA in Social Work, Diploma in Social Work, or equivalent recognised qualification.

- Registered with Social Work England.

- Experience of working with children and families, preferably as a qualified social worker.

- An ability to build strong relationships with children, their families, colleagues, and partner agencies.

- To be able to support families to make positive changes and enable children to meet their potential.

- An ability to analyse information effectively and to write high quality assessments.

- A focus on supporting families to help them resolve their challenges.

- The commitment to provide children in care with the support they need to thrive.

- To focus on your own continuing professional development.

- Motivation and resilience.

In return for your hard work and dedication, we can offer you the chance to be part of a great team dedicated to ensuring that all people in Doncaster thrive. You will also have access to a variety of attractive employee benefits including competitive leave entitlement, a generous local government pension scheme, a wide range of well-being support and development opportunities. You will also have access to a range of staff discount and benefits schemes. More information on the benefits available to you as a City of Doncaster Council employee can be found in the attached benefits book.

If you are interested, simply apply online. If you would like to chat to someone first, please get in touch.

The Social worker Grade 8/9 is progressive Grade so they can start on 8 and move to grade 9 depending on experience etc. 

If you want to work in our:

Assessment service, please contact Emma Smith 01302 735479 emma.smith@doncaster.gov.uk

Help and Protection please contact Jill Greenhalgh 01302 862521 or Lisa Wilson Service Manager 01302 736489 Jill.Greenhalgh@doncaster.gov.uk or Lisa.Wilson@doncaster.gov.uk

Children in care please contact Nicki Woods nicki.wood@doncaster.gov.uk

Should you wish to apply please read the Job role summary and complete the online application form.

If you require support with completing the application or with interview skills in general, please contact the Advance team via email advanceemploymenthub@doncaster.gov.uk or visit their website  www.advancedoncaster.co.uk for further details.

Closing Date: Rolling Advert up to 31st March 2025

Shortlisting: Applications reviewed on a weekly basis

Interview Date: Confirmed following shortlisting. 

This post involves working with children/ adults and therefore if successful you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service check at an enhanced level. Further information about the Disclosure Scheme can be found at www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check

Doncaster Council is committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community where we strive to improve the quality of life for all. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults and expect all staff to share these commitments.

City of Doncaster Council is a disability confident employer committed to a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job, are flexible when assessing people so disabled applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate they can do the job and make reasonable adjustments as required.