Qualified Children\'s Social Worker in Sheffield

At Cafcass, we’re recruiting Children’s Social Workers who share our passion, commitment and ambition to facilitate positive outcomes for children involved in private and public law family court proceedings. Our Social Workers — professionally known as Family Court Advisers (FCAs) — play a vital role. You might work within a Private Law team, where there is disagreement on the best arrangements for the welfare of the child(ren) involved, a Public Law team, where local authorities have raised serious welfare concerns, or a converged team covering both law types. Whatever the team you join, the underlying role is the same – to speak on behalf of children and young people to ensure their thoughts, wishes and feelings are not just understood but heard. As the only organisation that does this kind of work, FCAs can make recommendations leading to lasting change for children and families, which is why this is a responsibility we take seriously. And why we’re committed to creating a safe, healthy and supportive environment for our colleagues to practice.

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

• 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.
• Desirable experience in family court proceedings, or knowledge of Private and/or Public Law.
• 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 Sheffield or Hull, 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: Monday 09 February
• Telephone interviews: w/c 26 January and 02 February
• Final Interview w/c 09 and 16 February

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

Be Their Voice

We are Cafcass – the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service – and we represent children in family court cases in England. Independently advising the family courts about what is safe for children and in their best interests, we speak up for over 140,000 children every year when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures, ensuring their needs, wishes and feelings are heard.

Wellbeing

The wellbeing of our colleagues is something we are truly passionate about, as demonstrated by everyone having four dedicated, additional days per year when they are encouraged to spend time focusing on their health and wellbeing. Colleagues can also have a health and wellbeing cash plan, for which Cafcass pays the basic premium, allowing them to claim back some costs of routine health expenses, including dental check‑ups, eye tests, physiotherapy sessions and more. Overall, we foster a holistic approach to supporting our colleagues, benefitting physical, mental and financial health.

Diversity

We represent children and families from diverse backgrounds and having a diverse workforce helps us to fulfil this responsibility authentically. We are proud to be a disability confident leader, we invite you to join our team, we are committed to actively attract and recruit individuals with disabilities including “non‑visible” disabilities and mental health conditions.

Benefits

We know if you join us you want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, including time away from work to spend time with those important to you, manage your financial present and future, whilst also being trusted to manage your work/life balance. Therefore, in addition to our unique, holistic approach to supporting your health and wellbeing we also provide:

• Generous holidays – 28 days holiday (including three for Christmas) rising to 33 days with five years continuous service.
• Excellent pension – 18.1% employer contribution to Local Government Pension scheme.
• Flexible working – Most colleagues work in a hybrid way, accommodating flexible working requests.
• Exclusive discounts – Generous discounts with a wide range of companies.
• Professional fees – Social work colleagues have their annual Social Work England membership fees reimbursed.
• Car leasing schemes – We offer a personal car leasing scheme which provides vehicles at competitive rates.

This list is just a selection of main benefits and we look forward to providing you with further information about these in due course.