Social Worker - Family Placement (Maternity Cover)

Maternity cover contract or secondment opportunity for internal candidates: until 31st October 2025

About you...

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced and passionate social worker to join our Family Placement Team, covering maternity leave until October 2025.

We are looking for a reliable practitioner with current Social Work England registration and strong experience navigating the legal frameworks relevant to our work. Excellent assessment and analytical skills, with experience in completing Form F, Special Guardianship and Connected Person Assessments are preferred.

You will possess a strong understanding of relevant child care legislation, along with excellent report writing and oral communication skills. Additionally, you will be adept at working within court and Fostering Panel timescales.

The children and young people we support have told us they want social workers who are:

• Friendly, fun, and energetic
• Respectful listeners who take action and meet deadlines
• Committed to keeping promises and being accessible and on time

About the team…

We know that social work, whilst rewarding, is not always easy. To support high quality consistent social work, we have a comprehensive learning and development offer, driven by our passionate Principal Social Worker.  We have resilience groups, well-being days and events, group supervision as well as peer support. Each team has dedicated admin support.

The Family Placement Team is a small but very supportive team. The work we do can be challenging and we understand the importance of peer support and advice.

We work closely together and alongside the children’s social workers to ensure that we are providing the best support to our vulnerable children.

Our social workers have the time to get to know everyone they work with, excellent support from managers and colleagues across the department and expert guidance whenever they need it.

Our workforce tells us:

• There is a supportive and approachable leadership and management team.
• All teams provide excellent peer support; there is a strong focus on shared problem solving.
• You will feel appreciated and your development will be prioritised.
• Supervision is of high quality, reflective and routinely provided.

Key responsibilities…

• To recruit, train and assess new and substitute Foster Carers and Special Guardian applicants, for children and young people.

• To work within the context of relevant legislation and deliver services according to the department’s policies, procedures and guidelines.

• To display a commitment to the protection and safeguarding of children and young people.

Our benefits…

• 28 days* increasing to 33 days* after 3 years’ continuous service.
• The opportunity to buy up to 10 additional days* annual leave per year and sell 5 days.
• Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. 
• An inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks. 
• Local government pension scheme.
• Life insurance cover (linked to the pension scheme)
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits such as annual leave entitlements, occupational maternity/paternity leave, and more. (Terms and Conditions apply – please refer to candidate pack for more information.)
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• A great office location next to travel links and Bracknell Forest’s thriving town centre. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing. 
• Sports and social club. 
• Staff dental and health plans. 
• Discounted leisure centre and gym membership. 
• Supermarket discount. 

*(pro rata for part time)

Our Values...

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us.  Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you. 

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk.  We will work with you to support you throughout the process.  

Interview date

Interviews will be held on 12th March 2025.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment. 

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Any successful internal candidate will be offered the position as a secondment and, in line with Section 8.1 of the Secondment Policy, must consult with their manager before applying. 

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Sam Howard, Team Manager, Family Placement Team: 01344 351658

At Bracknell Forest we champion equality, diversity and inclusion. At Bracknell Forest Council, we are always learning, ambition and inclusive. Please see our candidate pack for more details.

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

Candidates should be able to demonstrate experience of working within the current Social Care System and Framework.

Social Work England registration fees can be claimed back from the Council. 

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please.