Senior Social Worker - Children in Care in Surrey

We have opportunities for Senior Social Workers to join our Family Safeguarding Teams based across East Surrey covering the Reigate and Weybridge areas and West Surrey covering the Woking and Guildford areas.

We offer a financial package of up to £6,000 payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post, along with a competitive relocation package of up to £8,000.

• 28 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years' service (plus bank holidays)
• Access to our car lease scheme
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• Refer a friend payment of £1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social Worker

Our Surrey Children's Services are actively working towards becoming a high-performing local authority, evidenced by the fact we are now starting to realise the positive impacts of the Family Safeguarding practice model in action with reductions in the number of children subject to child protection plans. We are working hard to sustain and develop our progress, driven by the efforts of every member of our social care workforce from our business support and family support workers to our frontline practitioners through to leadership, all working together to create and sustain the right conditions for a positive culture and well-supported workforce equipped to deliver consistent and good quality social work practice for our children and families.

We are proud of our recent Good Ofsted judgement, which marks a significant milestone for Surrey. The report highlights that our social workers are “skilled at building relationships with children who are subject of children in need or child protection plans. Creative direct work helps them to build a rounded understanding of children’s daily lives.”

About our Family Safeguarding Service: Our Family Safeguarding service includes responsibility for our Family Safeguarding Model, Child In Need, as well as pre and court proceedings. Within Family Safeguarding, we use motivational interviewing and a multi-agency approach under the Family Safeguarding model, where Social Workers, Family Support Workers, Domestic Abuse Practitioners, Recovery Workers, Mental Health Practitioners, and Psychologists collaborate closely to address family issues efficiently, reducing the need for referrals to other agencies.

To help us achieve our ambitions for children and families, we are looking for dedicated and compassionate practitioners who are child-focused and committed to relationship-based social work to join us. If you are considering your next professional opportunity and looking to develop your skills and experience within child protection services, we’d love to enable you to do that safely with us.

We strive to provide a supportive and dynamic work environment for our employees that fosters growth, maintains work-life balance, and rewards efforts. We guarantee 5 days of CPD and have access to excellent research and development tools such as Community Care Inform, Care Knowledge and Research In Practice.

Surrey is a large and ambitious local authority meaning we can draw from a range of available resources to support the delivery of our services to children and their families. It’s our staff that truly make the difference day in day out, and we’d like to share with you some of their insights as to why they choose to be part of Surrey Children’s social care workforce.

• Flexibility and Work-Life Balance - We are committed to agile working and trust you to adapt your schedule to suit your needs, balancing this against the need to visit your children and families. It is our expectation that staff attend the office at least 2 days per week.
• Opportunities and Support for Professional Development - You can benefit from a structured environment that encourages growth and development. You’ll have access to ongoing training opportunities via our Surrey Children’s Service Academy, including our coaching and mentoring scheme, a well-structured progression pathway, learning opportunities and reflective and task-focused supervision.
• A Sense of Belonging and Familiarity - You’ll be part of our welcoming and approachable social work family where you’ll be able to draw on the knowledge of established team members to support your understanding of the local area and available resources, working for a team where your individual expertise is valued and where you can have fun together.
• A Focus on Wellbeing - We recognise that you are a valuable asset and key to unlocking the positive changes we aspire for with our children and families. The job you do is serious; therefore, we take your wellbeing seriously and recognise the need for reflective supervision where wellbeing is front and centre of the conversation.

Requirements:

• Qualified Social Work degree and SWE Registration
• Car driver with a valid UK license
• UK social work experience

Surrey has both urban and rural areas, and Social Workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long-term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short virtual call to explore your answers to the application questions (lasting approx. 15-20 mins). If successful following this, you will be invited for an in-person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

Our friendly teams could talk your socks off when it comes to all things Social Work, so if you'd like to talk to us please just drop a quick message to cflworkforceteam@surreycc.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need; we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.