Children\'s Social Worker in Biddulph

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Social Worker to join our team covering the picturesque district of the Staffordshire Moorlands, at our Duty Hub based in Biddulph. Our Social Workers make a huge difference to the lives of people across our county. They take pride in supporting children and families and we are equally proud to help them give their best in whatever ways we can. That is why you can expect everything from agile and flexible working options to exceptional learning and development if you join our team.

You can also expect our commitment to creating the best service we can. Working with us means collaborating across our different teams, and sharing best practice, knowledge, and experience to continually improve the way we do things. We recognise our social workers want to have the time to do what they do best - spending time supporting children and families and so we have built into our structure dedicated PA support to our Social Workers so you can spend more time doing the work that matters most.

We also know you will want to continually develop in your role and potentially progress your career and that is why we have created great training and development opportunities ensuring your individual growth here at Staffordshire. A career progression framework is in place to support you which also includes:

• Practice Educator Programme
• Aspiring Social Work Practice Lead and Aspiring Team Manager programmes

We are ambitious in our learning and development programme with strong links within the West Midlands and our teaching partnership.

Main Responsibilities

As a Social Worker, you will be:

• Engaging with children and their families at the point of referral.
• Completing Initial Visits and Child Social Work Assessments, including a chronology, to inform next steps and planning, importantly ensuring the child's voice is heard.
• Undertaking Child in Need and Child Protection Visits.
• Undertaking Section 47 investigations.
• Undertaking placement of children requiring urgent accommodation through sec 17 or sec 20.
• Completing Initial Child Protection reports and attending the Initial Child Protection Conference in preparation to transfer to Assessment and Staying Together Team.
• Completing Initial Child In Need Plan and attending the initial meeting in preparation to transfer to Assessment and Staying Together Team.
• Liaising with all key agencies and making necessary referrals.
• Supporting Early Help colleagues with escalation (step up) visits.
• Completing urgent applications to court following PPP or EPO being implemented.
• Uploading all visits and assessments in a timely manner in line with the Local Authority's recording policy.

The Ideal Candidate

It goes without saying, you will need a professional social work qualification, with Social Work England registration. You will be:

• Post qualified (completion of ASYE).
• Have experience of undertaking sec 47 investigations.
• Driving is a key part of your role, and you will need a current UK driving licence, vehicle and be a confident driver covering both short and long distances.
• Flexible in your approach to work and able to work well in a fast-paced environment.
• Above all, you will bring the desire to work with children and families to give them the right support, at the right time with the aim of keeping families together where it is safe to do so.

For more information and an informal chat please contact Karen Schulp on 01782 297810 or karen.schulp@staffordshire.gov.uk. Interviews to take place w/c 16th March 2026.

Our Recruitment Process

We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you will bring to the role.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively. Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future. We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our Benefits

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance. In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to our rewards and benefits.

As an Authority, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities.

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post. As you will know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that is why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.