Qualified Children\'s Social Worker

What You’ll Be Doing

• Complete high‑quality assessments, engaging directly with children to understand their experiences, wishes and feelings — and ensure these are clearly and powerfully represented to the family court.
• Apply your expertise in risk assessment, analysis and mediation, advocating for solutions that place the child’s safety, wellbeing and long‑term interests at the centre of decision‑making.
• Work with adults, local authorities, and a wide range of professionals to help resolve complex issues and influence better outcomes for children.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for practitioners who are confident, curious, compassionate and committed to excellent social work practice.

To Join Us, You’ll Need

• A Social Work qualification is essential.
• Have the Right to Work in the UK (we don’t sponsor people to work in the UK).
• Registered with Social Work England (or likely to be able to register quickly if practising outside England).
• Recent, relevant experience of working directly with children and families.
• It’s desirable you’ll have experience in family court proceedings, or knowledge of Private and/or Public Law.
• For applicants with limited post‑qualifying experience, relevant pre‑qualifying experience supporting children and families may be beneficial.
• Strong organisational skills, professional resilience and the ability to work independently while effectively managing a varied caseload.

Where you’ll work

Our Social Workers work flexibly across multiple settings — including the office in Manchester, home, courts, schools and other appropriate, safe locations, and we ensure you have the technology to do this.

Shared learning is very important to us, and we bring our teams together regularly, both remotely and in‑person, for team meetings and group supervision, which creates space to connect with peers and managers, reflect on practice, and feel supported.

You’ll also have regular 1:1 time with your manager, especially during your induction, and again there will be a balance between doing this remotely and in‑person, so you have opportunities to form in‑person connections.

How We Support You

As the largest employer of Children’s Social Workers in England, we’re uniquely placed to support your professional growth and wellbeing.

At Cafcass, You’ll Benefit From

• High‑quality equipment and technology to help you work efficiently and engage with families effectively.
• Access to specialist resources, guidance and training to strengthen your practice.
• A strong commitment to wellbeing, reflective supervision and healthy work‑life balance.
• An inclusive environment that values diversity, encourages learning and constantly strives to improve outcomes for children, families and colleagues alike.

Next steps

Below we have set out an indicative timetable we are hoping to work towards, although dates are subject to change.

Closing Date

13th April 2026

Telephone interviews

TBC

Final Interview

TBC

Contact

If you have any questions about the role or recruitment process, please contact Narinder.Kaur2@cafcass.gov.uk.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to read about our offer and pre‑employment checks. Any questions or concerns can be confidentially raised through your application. Successful applicants will complete several pre‑engagement checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. If any criminal offences are disclosed, we will conduct an individual assessment in line with the DBS code of practice and the Cafcass DBS policy.

We look forward to receiving your application!