Fostering Social Worker

Date: 3 Jun 2026 Job Location: This is a Gloucestershire County Council job. Job Title: Fostering Social Worker Job Location: Shire Hall, The Link, 2nd Floor Salary: £39,152 - £40,777 per annum Hours per Week: 37.00 Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: 21/06/2026 Job Requisition Number: 14269 This post is open to job share We are currently recruiting for a Fostering Social Worker to join our dedicated Kinship Assessment Team in Gloucester. Reward and Support For all your hard work, you will receive the following: between £39,152 - £40,777 per annum subject to experience (pro rata for part-time staff) £4,000 welcome payment** £2,000 retention payment** up to £8,000 relocation package** flexible and agile working opportunities 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years continuous service (pro rata for part-time staff) option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part-time staff) family friendly policies and benefits to help support you and your family supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone an in-house Occupational Health service employee discount scheme links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) and the Young Employees Network career development and qualification opportunities access to our Social Work Academy Cycle to Work scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply) Green Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply) *Please note that all our welcome and retention payments are subject to terms and conditions as well as tax and national insurance deductions *Please note that our relocation policy is subject to terms and conditions Right child, right support, right time, every time In our recent inspection in June 2025, our Children’s Services have been officially judged as ‘ Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ elements. Ofsted also said ‘Leaders have set out a clear vision for delivering success for children, by modelling values and creating a culture where the workforce, children and families feel valued and heard; risk is managed confidently with bottom lines clearly set out.’ This marks an important step in our journey to improve outcomes for our children and young people, and we remain focused on our mission: to continue building on this success and ensure that every child and young person in our county has the opportunity to thrive. Gloucestershire offers a range of opportunities to develop your career, supported by a phenomenal Social Work Academy offer, a developing systemic practice methodology, an ambitious leadership team and an award-winning workforce. We are a local authority adopting, and training all colleagues in, systemic social work practice. If you would like to be part of an authority that takes a relational approach to working with families and focuses on what needs to change in the system around a child and family to enable children to thrive, then consider a role with GCC. About the team Our Kinship Assessment Team is a dynamic, supportive and fast-paced team working country-wide. We specialise in assessing family members and connected persons who are being considered as carers for children who cannot remain with their birth parents. As a dedicated assessment team, we complete Form K assessments for potential kinship foster carers and Special Guardianship Order (SGO) assessments, ensuring children are able to remain within their family networks wherever it is safe and appropriate. We are a busy and high-performing team, committed to delivering high-quality, evidence and strength based assessments within statutory timescales. Team members are well-supported through regular supervision, peer collaboration and ongoing professional development. About the role We are seeking an experienced and motivated Social Worker to join our country-wide Kinship Assessment Team. We undertake comprehensive Form K assessments of family members and connected persons. Conduct home visits, supervisions, unannounced visits, interviews and assessments to evaluate suitability and safeguarding risks. Support Kinship carers through the assessment process. Analyse complex family dynamics and present clear, evidence-based recommendations for either fostering or SGO. Work in partnership with children’s social work teams, legal services and external agencies. Attend and contribute to fostering panels and court processes where required. Manage a varied caseload within statutory timescales. Ensure the child’s voice and best interests remain central to all assessments. This is a country-wide role, requiring travel and flexibility. About you If you are passionate about keeping children connected to their families and have the skills to deliver high-quality assessments in a busy team, we would love to hear from you. As well as your experience, there are some things we require of you to be successfully appointed to this post: a full driving licence and willingness to drive DBS clearance (Enhanced Adults and Children’s) To have completed your ASYE year (if you qualified after 2012) How to apply For an informal chat about this role, please contact [email protected]. We reserve the right to close an advertisement earlier than the stated closing date if we receive a suitable number of applications. Interviews are due to take place in person 30th June, 2nd, 3rd & 6th July. If you would like to find out more about our Children's Service please take a look here: Children's Social Care Careers | Careers hub We welcome applications from newly qualified and social workers in the early years of their career. Depending on your qualification date and previous experience, you will be invited to either join our accredited ASYE programme or to complete an alternative early‑career development in-house pathway. The appropriate option will be explored and confirmed as part of the interview and offer process. We may be able to offer sponsorship for this role, in line with Home Office guidance and subject to pre-employment checks. Applicants must already hold a valid right to work in the UK that Gloucestershire County Council can transfer. If you are an Internal applicant and consider yourself to have a disability* as per the Equality Act (2010), please declare this in an email to [email protected], as this is NOT currently covered in the application due to a technical error. By providing this information, you can choose to be considered for a guaranteed interview under our Disability Confident pledge if you meet all essential shortlisting criteria. It also enables the recruiting manager to arrange any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process. *a disability is defined as: a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term (more than 12 months) adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Under the terms of our Safer Recruitment Policy, if you are invited to interview, we will take up safeguarding references prior to your interview to understand your suitability to work with vulnerable children. These references will then be discussed in your interview. Please give details of at least two referees, one of whom must be your present and/or last employer and the other from a previous employer(s). These will need to cover the last three years of employment/education. In the case of applicants leaving full time education or not having worked since doing so, the Head of School, College or University should be one of the named referees. We do not accept references from friends or family members or workplace colleagues (who are not more senior). To ensure we process your application in a speedy and efficient way, we will contact your referees by DocuSign. Where appropriate, please inform them of your application. Additional Information To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:- Fostering Social Worker Job Profile This Position is subject to a DBS check. Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential. It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English. Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.