Supervising Social Worker
North East England
£45,000–£50,000 per annum + 5% employer pension contribution
About My Foster Carer
My Foster Carer (MFC) is a growing independent fostering agency established in 2024, built by an experienced team with decades of expertise across fostering, children’s social care and service leadership.
We’re here to do things differently.
Our ambition is to raise the bar for how foster carers are recruited, trained and supported, while creating a modern, child-centred fostering service that genuinely backs carers to succeed.
We’re now looking for an experienced and ambitious Supervising Social Worker to join us as we continue to grow.
This is an opportunity to join a developing agency where your voice will matter. You’ll have the chance to influence practice, help shape the service and work closely with an experienced and supportive leadership team — while keeping children and young people firmly at the centre of everything we do.
If you’re proactive, values-led and passionate about excellent fostering practice, we’d love to hear from you.
The Role
As a Supervising Social Worker, you will provide safe, effective and child-centred social work practice, supporting our foster carers and helping children and young people experience stable, well-matched and nurturing placements.
You will work in accordance with theFostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, Fostering Services National Minimum Standards and MFC policies and procedures.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide regular supervision, support and professional challenge to an allocated group of foster carers, includingmonthly face-to-face supervisionin line with MFC expectations.
- Build strong, professional relationships with foster carers and support their ongoing learning, resilience and development.
- Ensure thewishes, feelings and voice of children and young peopleare sought, heard and reflected in recording, planning and decision-making.
- See and engage with children in placement regularly, in line with MFC policy, individual need, placement circumstances and risk.
- Support safe and effective matching, placement planning and placement stability.
- Attend children’s reviews, placement planning meetings and other relevant multi‑agency meetings.
- Respond promptly to safeguarding concerns, allegations, complaints and significant events, escalating appropriately to the Registered Manager/Designated Safeguarding Lead and following MFC procedures.
- Undertake or contribute to fostering assessments, includingForm F assessments, producing clear, evidence-based and analytical reports.
- Present assessments and other matters to fostering panel where required.
- Contribute to foster carer annual reviews and ensure key documentation remains current, including safer caring plans, risk assessments, agreements and development plans.
- Undertake announced and unannounced visits in accordance with MFC policy.
- Support foster carers to meet their learning and development requirements, including theTraining, Support and Development (TSD) Standards.
- Maintain timely, accurate and analytical records onCHARMS, clearly recording facts, analysis, decisions, actions, outcomes and the child’s voice.
- Work collaboratively with local authorities, social workers, education, health and other partner agencies.
- Represent MFC professionally and contribute to quality assurance, service development and Ofsted inspection readiness.
- Participate in duty and out-of-hours arrangements as required.
About You
- A recognised social work qualification.
- Current registration withSocial Work England.
- Post-qualifying experience within children’s social care.
- Experience of fostering practice within a local authority or independent fostering agency setting.
- Strong safeguarding knowledge and sound professional judgement.
- Ability to complete high-quality analytical assessments and reports.
- Experience contributing to foster carer assessments, reviews and/or panel processes.
- Excellent communication and relationship‐building skills.
- Strong organisation and caseload management skills, with the ability to prioritise and meet deadlines.
- Confidence using Microsoft 365 and the ability and willingness to learn and use CHARMS and other relevant systems.
- Ability to travel throughout the region and undertake regular home visits. A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle are normally required, subject to reasonable adjustments.
Safeguarding and Professional Standards
Safeguarding children and young people is central to everything we do.
The successful applicant will be expected to maintain high professional standards and clear professional boundaries, and to practise in a way that ischild-centred, trauma-informed, reflective and anti-discriminatory.
Appointment will be subject to MFC’s safer recruitment processes, including:
- Enhanced DBS and Children’s Barred List checks, as applicable
- Two satisfactory references, including the most recent employer
- Identity and right-to-work checks
- Verification of qualifications and Social Work England registration
- Satisfactory employment history checks
Why Join MFC?
We’re small enough for you to have genuine influence, but ambitious enough for you to help build something significant.
You won’t simply be joining an established system - you’ll have the opportunity to help shape how our fostering service develops, influence practice and contribute directly to the quality of support provided to foster carers and children.
Children at the centre. Carers properly supported. Social work that makes a difference.
My Foster Carer is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and to equality of opportunity. We welcome applications from suitably qualified candidates and will consider reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
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