Principal Social Worker

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Guide and support social workers to deliver excellent care for children and young people in foster placements.

As Principal Social Worker, and a leader of the fostering social work team in the Three Borough Shared Services, you will be responsible for providing supervision and support to social workers who ensure statutory compliance, placement stability, best care planning for children and offering management support to the fostering duty. Joining the Three Borough Shared Services offers a fulfilling career dedicated to high aspirations for children and young people. Rated Outstanding by Ofsted, our commitment to excellence remains steadfast. In this role, you will have a significant impact on the lives of young people, fostering their stability, resilience, and future skills.Working Style:At the Three Borough Shared Services, we take pride in our inclusive, impactful and supportive fostering service. We are seeking a passionate and experienced people manager to assist the senior leadership team in effective service delivery of Fostering Duty, Supervision and Support Team and oversight of dedicated social workers and care assistants who supervise, support, and appraise social workers and foster carers. You will be based in the office at least two days a week, with an expectation to attend meetings in all three boroughs to represent the service and understand the local offers in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Westminster City Council.What you'll be doing:You'll support the Team Manager to ensure high-quality practice across the fostering team, stepping in to lead in their absence and helping manage daily priorities. You'll supervise, support and guide a team of 5-7 supervising social workers, ensuring consistent quality through case audits, workload planning and professional development.Your leadership will cover all areas of the service, including fostering supervision, private fostering, the PACT and Mockingbird models, fostering duty and panel contributions. You'll also lead the fostering duty rota, maintain oversight of sufficiency and EDT (Emergency Duty Team) offers and ensure the team's work aligns with relevant policies and procedures.This is a busy, hands-on role where you'll provide regular supervision, chair key meetings, lead on recruitment and induction of staff and act as a point of authority for decision-making - from case direction and financial spend to legal interventions. You'll also support the Mockingbird hub, identify training needs and support the delivery of continuous learning and service improvement.You'll work across the three boroughs (Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham) and contribute to our wider goals of improving placement stability and enhancing support for both foster carers and children.

For further details, please review the Job Description and Person Specification

What you'll bringYou're a qualified and registered social worker with extensive post-qualification experience in statutory children's services. You have a strong understanding of fostering practice and a passion for achieving the best possible outcomes for children, young people and carers.You'll bring supervisory and leadership experience, with the confidence to make key decisions, support complex casework and manage performance with empathy and clarity. You understand the challenges of social work and know how to support your team in delivering high-quality, reflective practice.Your knowledge of relevant legislation is sound - including the Children Act 1989, Care Planning Regulations and fostering standards - and you're confident using data and business tools to monitor performance and plan improvements. You're also skilled in managing your own workload, writing clear reports and using IT systems effectively.Above all, you're someone who leads by example - professional, committed, collaborative and always focused on what's best for the children and families we serve.Why join usAt RBKC, we're all in - investing in our people, our communities and our future.You'll be part of the Three Borough Shared Services - a team that values openness, inclusivity and impact. We're proud of our fostering service and continuously look for ways to improve. You'll benefit from excellent training, support with professional development and opportunities to grow into senior roles. Flexible working is available where possible and our employee benefits package supports both wellbeing and career progression.This is more than a leadership role - it's a chance to help shape the future of fostering and make a lasting difference to children and carers across our communities.About usKensington and Chelsea is home to diverse communities, thriving businesses and unique local places. Everything we do is focused on supporting our residents, strengthening our approach and creating a fairer borough.As a competent and caring Council, we take pride in our work every day, ensuring our services are delivered with care and competence. We listen to our residents, act with integrity and work together to build a borough that is greener, safer and fairer for all.As Principal Social Worker, you'll live the spirit of we're all in - leading your team through challenges, embedding high-quality supervision and strengthening our fostering offer. Whether it's improving placement outcomes, supporting staff or tackling complex cases, your leadership will help build a stronger service and a fairer borough for everyone.

Interview details and role requirements

Interviews will be held on the 1st and 2nd September and will be held in person.
This role will require and Enhanced Adults and Children's DBS check.

Ready to join us?

We're all in - are you? If you share our values and have the skills to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

Please apply online explaining how you meet the requirements set out in the person specification and job description.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

We are committed to promoting equality and respecting diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.

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Location:
London, England, United Kingdom
Salary:
£60,000 - £80,000
Category:
Human Resources

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