**INTERNAL APPLICATIONS ONLY** Social Care Assistant (Children) in Walthamstow

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: Scale 6 £35,520-£37,134

Contract Type: Full-time/Permanent

Number of openings: 2

Working hours per week: 36 hours

Application Deadline: 19/06/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): 22/06/2026

Reference: 2137

About Us: Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role: We're seeking dedicated Social Care Assistants who are passionate and looking to move into a role that truly matters, supporting children, creating memories, and being a part of something special to join our Children with Disabilities Specialist team. The Children with Disabilities Specialist Team is a place where you can realise your potential. If you are a dedicated and creative person looking to make your mark in working with children with disabilities, develop your career and improve the lives of children and their families, our forward-thinking Children’s Directorate should be your next career destination. We are a supportive, focused, and inspirational service. Our shared purpose is to nurture independence and freedom of choice in our children, young people, and families, helping them to achieve the best possible outcomes. All our staff work together to build and maintain a centre of excellence and best practice. In return for your hard work, we will give you the time and active support you need to make a difference.

Promoting creativity is at the heart of our agenda to develop social work; you will be encouraged to share ideas, bring about positive change, and strive to continuously improve outcomes for our vulnerable children and young people.

Key Responsibilities:

• Monitors and evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of children’s plans in consultation with other key professionals reporting back to the Advanced Practitioner / Team Manager about the outcomes achieved in accordance with Directorate requirements.
• Resolve non-routine customer/service queries.
• Customers are satisfied with the response, or aware that the issue has been escalated.
• Assess and prioritise telephone and personal callers and respond appropriately.
• Relevant, accurate, understandable, and timely information is provided.
• A positive image of the Council is promoted.
• To maximise the life chances of disabled children through education, health care and leisure opportunities.
• Engages directly with the children and families and provides supportive, targeted intervention to achieve identified outcomes.
• Completes timely children in need reviews to promote good outcomes in accordance with Directorate Policy and National Legislation.
• Manages and keeps a record of schedules of visits and contacts for appropriate children, to support in the smooth running of procedures within agreed guidelines to monitor the progress of the children concerned.
• Support to children with disabilities and their families is provided to the required standards and timescales.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Prior experience in Health and Social Care; experience working with children and families setting/minimum of one year.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of issues relating to children in need and safeguarding children, including relevant legislation, guidance and procedures.
• Experience of service delivery which is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of a multi-cultural community.
• Able to prioritise and effectively work under pressure.
• Managing a quality service by ensuring key performance indicators relating to service areas are met.
• Ability to work well within a team and maintain clear and regular reporting lines to line manager and senior team members.
• Display agile behaviours and understand change at any given moment and respond to it effectively.
• Ability to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing, and to follow through on required actions.
• Commitment to the participation of children, young people and their families both at an individual and service level.
• In rare emergency situations, the ability to work flexible or unsocial hours at short notice.

Desirable:

• Have an understanding of the Children Acts 1989 and 2004 and other relevant legislation, procedures and guidance relating to children and families.
• Awareness of current issues in childcare policy and practice.
• Commitment to the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy and acceptance of responsibility for its practical application.
• To understand and comply with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Terms and conditions:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks.
• Satisfactory declaration of interest.
• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/or vulnerable adults.
• Satisfactory DBS check.
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives:

• Promoting equality of opportunity.
• Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage.
• Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels.
• Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent services to all.

Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit this link.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Roberta OnyeKwelu, our Head of Service – Corporate Parenting at Roberta.OnyeKwelu@walthamforest.gov.uk. If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Fraud Awareness Notice: The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic). We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process. If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information. If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to: fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk.