This job has expired

Directorate: Help & Protection
Division: Front Door Division
Service: Children's Advice & Support Services
Location: 45 Fordhouse Lane, Stirchley, Birmingham, West Midlands, B30 3BN
Working Pattern: Hybrid 3 days remote and 2 days in the office

Office Attendance:

• 1 day at The Avenue day of your choice

• 1 day at Lifford House Friday

We are seeking an experienced and qualified Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) to join Birmingham Children's Advice & Support Services.

The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people receive high-quality care and support, with their voice, wishes and feelings at the centre of planning and decision-making.

You will provide independent oversight of children's care plans, ensuring that plans remain appropriate, outcomes-focused and in the best interests of the child.

• Undertake Independent Reviewing Officer responsibilities in accordance with statutory requirements.

• Chair and lead Looked After Children reviews, ensuring they are timely, effective and child-focused.

• Independently scrutinise care planning and decision-making.

• Ensure the child's wishes, feelings and lived experience are central to reviews and planning.

• Monitor the progress and effectiveness of care plans and challenge where appropriate.

• Identify and escalate drift, delay or gaps in service provision.

• Ensure children are receiving appropriate support and that their needs are being effectively addressed.

• Work collaboratively with social workers, carers, families and partner agencies.

• Provide professional challenge and promote effective safeguarding practice.

• Ensure actions agreed at reviews are clearly identified, progressed and followed up.

• Maintain accurate records and ensure all statutory requirements and timescales are met.

• Contribute to improving outcomes and promoting stability and permanence for children and young people.

The successful candidate will have:

• A recognised Social Work qualification and current professional registration.

• Significant experience within Children's Social Care.

• Strong experience of working with Looked After Children and care planning.

• Experience undertaking reviews and providing professional challenge and independent oversight.

• Strong knowledge of safeguarding, care planning and relevant statutory frameworks.

• Excellent assessment, analytical and decision-making skills.

• The confidence to challenge practice and decision-making appropriately.

• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.

• A child-centred and outcome-focused approach.

• The ability to work effectively with children, families, carers and multi-agency professionals.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Social Care professional to take on a key role in promoting high-quality care planning, safeguarding children and ensuring their voices are heard.

The role offers a flexible hybrid working arrangement, with 3 days remote working and 2 days office-based.

Our client Worcestershire County Council is looking for an Independent Reviewing Officer to join their Safeguarding, Quality assurance service.

Main Purpose of Job:

• To perform the role and responsibilities of an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), fulfilling the statutory duties as laid out in the Care Planning Regulations and IRO Handbook 2010, and an Independent Chair of Child Protection Conferences, fulfilling the responsibilities as laid out in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2013.
• To undertake the statutory role of Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in relation to allegations against people who work with children.
• To be responsible for the co-ordination and independent chairing of Child Protection Conferences Looked After Children (LAC) Reviews and Position of Trust (POT) and Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Strategy Meetings.
• To ensure that the views of children and young people are listened to and taken into account in decision-making
• To ensure effective SMART planning for children and young people.
• To quality assure, and monitor the implementation of, individual children's plans (Care Plans and Child Protection Plans), identifying drift and delay, and identify patterns of concern in respect of the Local Authority's fulfilment of its statutory responsibilities.
• To perform a quality assurance role and offer support and challenge to operational staff in Children's Social Care, including managers
• To escalate concerns about plans for children, or the implementation of plans, through the statutory Dispute Resolution Process, when necessary seeking independent legal advice.

Responsibilities, Duties and Tasks:

• To effectively chair a range of meetings in accordance with WCF procedures, ensuring that these are child-focussed and that the resulting plans are SMART.
• To ensure the meaningful participation of children, young people and their families in the looked after reviewing/child protection conference processes.
• Ensure that the child's VOICE is heard in all meetings of which they are the subject and that their views are taken into account in the decisions made.
• To ensure the individual needs of looked after children and children in need of protection are identified and addressed with particular regard to race, religion, culture, ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation.
• To ensure children are aware of their rights to legal representation and advocacy and how to access this.
• To encourage service users, carers and significant others, to contribute to every aspect of the decision making processes, to ensure that wherever possible, individuals are enabled to make decisions about their own lives.
• To ensure information is provided to children and their parents/carers about the looked after Reviewing and Child Protection processes.

Benefits of working with Remedy

• A personal one-one service from your highly experienced dedicated consultant.
• Top tier supplier across London giving us first access to jobs
• Referral bonus - up to 250 per person placed.
• Double payrolls each week.

Terms & Conditions apply

You will be required to fully register with Remedy for all locum positions.

Remedy Social Care is a APSCo Standard agency and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the vulnerable. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the DBS. Our objective is to be an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from everyone with suitable skills and ability regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief. All applications will be accepted and reviewed solely on merit.

Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) Medway Council Children s Services
Salary: £52,921 £57,554 per annum
Market Supplement: £7,000 per annum
Retention Payment: £3,000 payable after 12 months service
Contract: Permanent
Working Pattern: Hybrid
Service: Safeguarding and Quality Assurance
Reporting to: IRO Operational Manager
Relocation Package: £8000

About the role Medway Council is looking for an experienced, committed and ambitious Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) to join our Safeguarding and Quality Assurance service on a permanent basis.

This is an important role in ensuring that children and young people who are looked after by Medway Council receive the right support, at the right time, and that their needs, wishes and feelings remain at the heart of planning and decision-making.

As an IRO, you will provide independent oversight of children s care planning and review arrangements, ensuring that plans remain focused on achieving the best possible outcomes for children and young people. You will constructively challenge practice where necessary and ensure that professionals and partner agencies remain accountable for delivering agreed actions.

You will chair complex review meetings effectively, bringing together children, young people, parents, carers and professionals and ensuring that children s voices are heard, understood and acted upon.

The role will also provide an opportunity to contribute to wider quality assurance, performance management and practice improvement across Children s Services.

What you will do As an Independent Reviewing Officer, you will:

• Undertake independent reviews of looked after children in accordance with statutory requirements and guidance.
• Ensure that children and young people are appropriately involved in their care planning and review processes.
• Champion the rights, wishes and feelings of children and young people and ensure their views are given proper consideration.
• Chair Looked After Children reviews and complex case meetings effectively and confidently.
• Ensure that care plans are purposeful, outcome-focused and progressing in a timely way.
• Monitor the implementation of agreed plans and challenge drift, delay or ineffective interventions.
• Provide constructive and independent challenge to social workers, managers, partner agencies and other professionals where practice is not achieving the required outcomes.
• Promote effective multi-agency working across children's social care, education, health and other relevant services.
• Analyse complex information and professional assessments to make sound, evidence-based judgements.
• Identify and escalate concerns relating to safeguarding, care planning, placement stability, permanence and the wellbeing of children and young people.
• Contribute to quality assurance and performance management activity to support consistently high standards of practice.
• Maintain accurate, high-quality records and produce reports suitable for a range of professional and legal settings.
• Work effectively with children and families, ensuring they are appropriately involved in decisions affecting their lives.
• Maintain a high level of professional independence, initiative and accountability.
• Contribute to service development, learning and continuous improvement.

• Listen to them.
• Are non-judgemental.
• Are consistent and stable.
• Are contactable and reliable.
• Take the time to understand them.
• Are honest and focused.
• Are realistic while remaining ambitious for their future.
• Are resourceful and solution-focused.
• Do what they say they will do.

• A recognised professional Social Work qualification.
• Current registration with Social Work England.
• Significant post-qualifying experience, including the statutory minimum of five years.
• Significant experience within Child Protection and/or Looked After Children services.
• Experience of working with complex children and families.
• Strong knowledge and experience of the care planning and review process for looked after children.
• Significant experience of Family Court proceedings and the pre-proceedings/PLO process.
• Experience of working within the relevant legislative and statutory framework, including the Children Act 1989, Adoption and Children Act 2002 and Children Act 2004.
• Knowledge of national policy and developments within children's social care.
• Demonstrable experience of engaging children and young people in the looked after children process.
• A strong understanding of safeguarding practice, risk and permanence planning.
• Excellent analytical, assessment and decision-making skills.
• The ability to confidently challenge professionals and agencies where necessary.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to analyse and interpret highly complex information and develop effective strategies and solutions.
• The ability to work autonomously while contributing effectively to a wider service.
• Good IT skills, including Microsoft Office and electronic children's social care recording systems such as Mosaic or similar.
• A commitment to reflective supervision and continuous professional development.
• A strong understanding of Social Work England's professional standards and a commitment to upholding them.

• Build positive and productive relationships with children, families, colleagues and partner agencies.
• Communicate complex and sensitive information clearly and appropriately to different audiences.
• Make high-quality decisions in situations involving complexity, risk, uncertainty and challenge.
• Explain and justify professional decisions confidently.
• Work effectively in court and other professional settings.
• Manage competing demands, deadlines and a complex workload.
• Maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries.
• Work collaboratively to achieve service objectives.
• Promote equality, diversity and inclusion and treat everyone fairly and with respect.
• Work independently and demonstrate a high level of professional initiative.

• Work in a role with a clear focus on improving outcomes for looked after children.
• Use your professional experience to provide effective challenge and independent oversight.
• Work alongside experienced social care professionals and partner agencies.
• Contribute to practice improvement and quality assurance.
• Develop your professional expertise through continuous learning and reflective practice.
• Benefit from a hybrid working arrangement, providing flexibility alongside face-to-face work with children and attendance at supervision and team meetings.

• The post requires an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
. click apply for full job details

Social Work Team Manager ECIRS (MASH) London

Location: London Borough of Ealing
Pay/Salary: Up to £45.20 per hour (Umbrella)
Office Working: Hybrid
Contract: Locum

We are currently working with the London Borough of Ealing to find an experienced Social Work Team Manager for their ECIRS (MASH) Team. This is an excellent opportunity to lead practice at the front door of Children s Services, managing a team of Social Workers and Senior Practitioners within a fast-paced multi-agency safeguarding environment.

You'll provide strong operational leadership across the service, overseeing referrals and enquiries, making robust threshold decisions and ensuring children and families receive timely and appropriate interventions. You'll also have responsibility for quality assurance, performance and workflow management while supporting the development of confident, high-performing practitioners.

Duties

• Leading, managing and supervising a team of Social Workers and Senior Practitioners within ECIRS/MASH.
• Providing management oversight of incoming contacts, referrals and safeguarding enquiries.
• Making robust threshold decisions and ensuring risk is identified and responded to appropriately.
• Chairing multi-agency discussions and working closely with safeguarding partners to inform decision-making.
• Providing oversight and quality assurance across assessments and statutory interventions.
• Managing performance, workload, workflow and service demand across the team.
• Analysing performance data and ensuring contacts, referrals and assessments progress within agreed timescales.
• Supporting practitioners with complex safeguarding and Child Protection decision-making.
• Promoting continuous improvement and consistently high standards of social work practice.
• Developing effective relationships with statutory, voluntary and multi-agency safeguarding partners.

What you need

• Social Work Qualification.
• Social Work England registration.
• Enhanced DBS (provided by us).
• Previous Team Manager experience within a MASH, Front Door, ECIRS or similar Children s Services team.
• Strong safeguarding and threshold decision-making experience.
• Excellent knowledge of Child Protection legislation and statutory practice.
• Experience managing and supervising Social Workers and Senior Practitioners.
• Strong performance management, quality assurance and analytical skills.
• Ability to confidently manage service demand within a fast-paced front door environment.

Why use us?

At Sheldon Phillips, you are not just a number on a board, you are someone we get to know, creating a personal job search that is as individual as you are. Our expert team are trained to ensure that your needs are met, our compliance procedures are quick and efficient, while making sure you find the job you really want.

If you are interested in this Social Work Team Manager role in an ECIRS (MASH) Team within Ealing, give Rhys Rafferty a call on (phone number removed) or email (url removed).

Referral Bonus: Know someone who would be a great fit? Refer them to Sheldon Phillips and, if we successfully place them into a locum role, you'll receive a £300 referral bonus as a thank you. Terms and conditions apply.

JOB db742659

Job Title: Senior Social Work Practitioner - Families First Team
Specialism: Families First Team
Location: Crook, County Durham
Salary: £32.73 per hour
Type: Locum, Full Time, 3 Months

Perks and benefits:

• Flexible working: Enjoy the freedom of locum work, giving you greater control over your schedule and work-life balance click apply for full job details

JOB db742659

Position Available: Senior Social Work Practitioner - Fostering Team, Gateshead (UK)

Earn an impressive £31.74 per hour! This exciting opportunity as a Senior Social Work Practitioner in the Fostering Team is based in the vibrant town of Gateshead, UK. With a full-time commitment over an initial 3-month period, you will immerse yourself in making a difference to the community click apply for full job details

• Location: Oxford
• Team: Family Support & Safeguarding (Central)
• Pay Rate: 38.12 PAYE or 47.50 Umbrella
• Hours: 37 hours per week
• Budget Responsibility: Yes
• Reporting To: Service Manager

• Lead and supervise a team delivering statutory safeguarding services to children and families
• Ensure children and young people receive timely assessment, support and intervention to reduce risk and improve outcomes
• Oversee Child in Need, Child Protection and Court Work activity
• Ensure children's plans are progressed within statutory timescales
• Deliver high-quality supervision and management oversight
• Undertake quality assurance activity, including audits and performance monitoring
• Promote relationship-based and restorative practice
• Develop effective partnership working with families and multi-agency professionals
• Support service development and continuous improvement
• Manage team performance, workload allocation and resource planning
• Ensure compliance with statutory guidance, legislation and local policies

• Social Work England registration
• A recognised Social Work qualification (BA Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent)
• Significant experience within Children's Social Care
• Previous supervisory, management or leadership experience
• Strong safeguarding and child protection knowledge
• Experience managing complex legal and court proceedings
• Knowledge of the Public Law Outline (PLO)
• Understanding of relationship-based and family safeguarding practice
• Excellent communication, leadership and decision-making skills
• Ability to support, challenge and develop practitioners through effective supervision
• Strong understanding of performance management and quality assurance

• Direct experience supervising social workers undertaking safeguarding work with children and families
• Extensive knowledge of relevant legislation, policy and research relating to safeguarding and child welfare
• Proven ability to make complex decisions regarding children and families in need of help and protection
• Experience managing risk and driving positive outcomes for children
• Strong report writing, assessment and case management skills

Caritas Recruitment is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.

Our client Rotherham metropolitan borough Council is looking for a Social Work Team Manager to join their Children in Care team.

We are seeking a team manager for a Children in Care team. The current postholder is being seconded to another position for a period of 6 months, and we would like cover for that period.

The specific team which is being covered is yet to be agreed (there may be some movement internally) but will be one of three busy social work teams. We work with children from 0-18 years old who are accommodated under S20, care orders or Placed with Parents/kinship arrangements. The social workers in the team could range from 6-8 staff to supervise and caseloads at the moment are around 22.

We rarely work with children who have plans of adoption, unless there has been a long search or there are particularly complex circumstances. We work with a small number of separated children seeking asylum. A focus for us at the moment is rehabilitating children home to the care of parents or relatives where it is safe enough to do so following assessment.

Hybrid working is in place, so the postholder would be expected to work three days in the office and could work from home two days per week. This would be subject to change or more days in the office for short periods if other team managers are on leave or sick, but leave is usually planned and coordinated well in advance. There is a duty system in place where one team manager is duty manager each day - duty managers must be office based on those days. Core hours are 9am-5pm but flexible working is available subject to office cover being agreed with the other team managers.

Benefits of working with Remedy

• A personal one-one service from your highly experienced dedicated consultant.
• Top tier supplier across London giving us first access to jobs
• Referral bonus - up to 250 per person placed.
• Double payrolls each week.

Terms & Conditions apply

You will be required to fully register with Remedy for all locum positions.

Remedy Social Care is a APSCo Standard agency and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the vulnerable. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the DBS. Our objective is to be an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from everyone with suitable skills and ability regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief. All applications will be accepted and reviewed solely on merit.

Locum Social Work Team Manager - Children's Services

• Location: Farnley Park Hall, Leeds

• Authority: Leeds City Council

• Pay Rate: 40.00 per hour (Umbrella)

• Working Pattern: Mainly Office-Based (Flexible home-working options available)

• Contract: Full-Time (Ongoing locum contract)

• Sector: Children & Families / Area Social Work Team

Are you an experienced, motivated Social Work Manager looking to lead a dedicated statutory team within an ambitious Children's Services department?

Leeds City Council is currently seeking a skilled Team Manager to lead a Children's Area Social Work Team based at Farnley Park Hall. Offering a competitive pay rate of 40.00 per hour, this role provides strong operational leadership across a full spectrum of statutory services while maintaining a clear, child-centred approach.

• Operational Leadership: Lead, motivate, and direct a team of professional social work staff to ensure high-quality, child-focused service delivery that meets all Local Authority statutory duties.

• Staff Supervision: Provide high-quality formal supervision, performance oversight, and support for Social Workers, an Advanced Practitioner, and a Social Work Assistant.

• Service Delivery Oversight: Direct end-to-end statutory practice across Duty & Assessment, Child Protection (CP), Child in Need (CIN) planning, and Court Proceedings.

• Safeguarding & Quality Assurance: Drive adherence to safeguarding standards, the paramountcy principle, safer recruitment procedures, and statutory compliance.

• Professional Qualifications: Formal Social Work qualification (DipSW, Bachelor's, or Master's degree) with active Social Work England (SWE) registration.

• Legislative Knowledge: In-depth working knowledge of the Children Act 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children, court frameworks, and current issues in Children's Social Care.

• Practice Skills: Strong understanding of child development (from early years through adolescence to adulthood), robust risk management, confidentiality, and multi-agency leadership.

• Competitive Pay Rate: 40.00 per hour.

• Base Location: Established base at Farnley Park Hall with negotiable hybrid working flexibility.

• Comprehensive Scope: Lead a complete multidisciplinary setup including an Advanced Practitioner and Social Work Assistants.

Randstad Care acts as an employment business when supplying temporary staff and as an employment agency when introducing candidates for permanent employment with a client. Randstad Care is an equal opportunities employer and decisions are made on merits alone.

Did you know that Randstad Care have been awarded a place on the National Clinical Staffing Framework for the NHS? This means we will be able to bring you more opportunities within nursing & midwifery and clinical staffing.

JOB db742659

Locum Social Work Advanced Practitioner for Children with Disabilities in Gateshead UK, earning 35.64 GBP hourly. Full time/Part time available. This is an ongoing opportunity for an engaging professional eager to make a significant impact in the lives of children with disabilities click apply for full job details