Senior Social Worker - NRPF Team

This role is subject to a £5,000 retention bonus.

About the role

At London Borough of Newham, we are committed to Building a Fairer Newham - a borough where every child, family and resident can thrive. Our No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) service supports children and families who would otherwise be at risk of destitution, working in partnership with families to build resilience, promote independence, and achieve sustainable outcomes.

As a Senior Social Worker in the NRPF team, the post-holder will play a key role in delivering high-quality services to children and families with complex needs, including those with NRPF status and those who have been made intentionally homeless. This role involves holding a caseload of complex cases, leading on practice within the team, and supporting the development of others through coaching, mentoring and supervision - all within Newham's restorative, relational practice framework, with a focus on strengths-based interventions and the best outcomes for children and families.

A central part of Newham's approach is the Circle of Support - an award-nominated, strengths-based model that brings together family networks, communities and professionals to create lasting change. The post-holder will contribute to embedding this model across the team, alongside service development and quality assurance activity. Key responsibilities include:

• Managing a complex caseload involving families with NRPF and those who are intentionally homeless, ensuring children's safety and wellbeing
• Undertaking NRPF visits to families mainly based outside of London, in areas such as Slough, Dover, Southend, and Wolverhampton
• Completing high-quality statutory assessments, including Child in Need and Human Rights Assessments, in line with legal frameworks
• Providing mentoring, coaching and supervision to social workers, ASYEs, and project workers, supporting their professional development
• Championing anti-discriminatory practice and ensuring equity is embedded in all aspects of work

About you

We are looking for an experienced and reflective practitioner with a passion for improving outcomes for children and families. The successful candidate will bring significant statutory children's social care experience and a clear commitment to anti-discriminatory practice, alongside the ability to lead and develop others in a high-support, high-challenge environment. The ideal candidate will:

• Hold a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England
• Have significant post-qualifying experience in statutory children's social care, including complex casework
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of NRPF, immigration and housing legislation, and safeguarding frameworkseven
• Have experience of working with families facing destitution and housing instability, including intentionally homeless households
• Be able to lead practice, coach colleagues, and contribute to a high-support, high-challenge culture
• Possess strong analytical and assessment skills, with the ability to make sound decisions in complex situations
• Have experience of, or a commitment to, working within strengths-based models such as Circle of Support

We are committed to creating an inclusive, anti-racist environment for all. When you apply for a job at Newham, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. If you share our vision and values, and you bring the experience and skills we need, that's all that matters to us.

Please note that the London Borough of Newham has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

About Newham

Newham is a vibrant and developing part of inner London and home to over 350,000 people, making us one of the largest boroughs in London.

We are proud to be one of the most diverse local authority areas in the UK, with over 104 languages spoken by our children and their families. Newham has a flourishing youth population, with almost a quarter of our residents under 18; this means children's services are always a priority for our Council.

We've worked hard to make Newham a great place to be a Social Worker and offer:

• A role in an 'Outstanding' local authority across all four areas of Ofsted's Inspection criteria
• A competitive salary package with a market supplement that rivals capped agency pay.
• Stability: 100% of our Senior Managers are permanent.
• Our firmly established practice model,Circle of Support model was nominated for the prestigious MJ Award for Innovation in Children's Services and allows systemic, restorative practice to flourish.
• Career progression is valued in Newham with an active Strategic Centre for Talent and Learning Team who work hard to shape strategies to inform career development.
• Social Care Academy - 50+ social workers have studied for systemic higher education with us since 2020. There are opportunities to train as a Practice Educator and opportunities to train in Systemic Practice to heighten your skill set. Clinical practitioners are attached to every team to support you individually and as a group with reflective supervision groups greatly valued by social workers. Our Academy offer received significant praise from Ofsted.
• A commitment to addressing disproportionality wherever we find it- we are signed up to the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard and the CYPS directorate are actively leading in the Tackling Racism, Inequality and Disproportionately (TRID) Steering Group.
• Oyster card/parking permit for business use.
• Travel season ticket loan, cycle scheme, Local Authority pension.

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