Are you passionate about making a lasting difference to the lives of children and young people? Do you enjoy building meaningful relationships, supporting foster families, and being part of a dedicated and supportive team? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

The Fostering Support Team, based at Scott House, Huntingdon, is an established, welcoming, and enthusiastic team committed to achieving the very best outcomes for children and young people in care. We are looking for a motivated and child-centred Social Worker to join us on this rewarding journey.

At the heart of everything we do is a commitment to ensuring children and young people experience stability, security, and a strong sense of belonging. Working alongside our incredible foster carers, we strive to provide nurturing homes where children can thrive, enjoy family life, develop their identity, and achieve their full potential.

We are passionate about ensuring every child has the opportunity to feel safe, heard, valued, and supported. Whether a child’s journey leads to independence, adoption, reunification, or long-term fostering, we are committed to walking alongside them every step of the way.

If you share our values and are inspired by the opportunity to make a real difference, we would love to hear from you. For more information, contact the Fostering Team Manager Sharyl Acheampong Sharyl.Acheampong@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Closing date 3 November, interviews will be held week commencing 9 November.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

What will you be doing?

As a Fostering Social Worker, no two days are the same. You will play a vital role in supporting foster carers and ensuring children and young people receive the best possible care and opportunities to flourish.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing professional supervision, guidance, and support to foster carers, enabling them to meet the needs of children and young people effectively.
• Building positive and trusting relationships with foster families, children, birth families, and partner agencies.
• Undertaking regular visits to fostering households and completing statutory assessments, reviews, and monitoring activities.
• Ensuring children’s voices are heard and that their views, wishes, and feelings are central to all planning and decision-making.
• Working collaboratively with colleagues and multi-agency professionals, including education, health, and voluntary sector partners.
• Responding to safeguarding concerns and promoting safe, nurturing environments for children.
• Completing clear, analytical, and timely recording, reports, and assessments in line with statutory requirements.
• Participating in the team’s in-house fostering duty system and supporting carers when they need advice and guidance.
• Delivering training, workshops, and support groups for foster carers.
• Supporting fostering recruitment events, community engagement activities, and initiatives that help retain our valued foster carers.
• Contributing to the ongoing development and improvement of the fostering service.

About you

We’re looking for someone who is passionate about child-centred practice and who shares our commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people.

You will be:

• A confident and motivated practitioner who enjoys working collaboratively with others.
• Curious, reflective, and committed to continuous learning and improvement.
• Passionate about supporting children, young people, and foster families.
• Able to balance competing demands while maintaining high standards of practice.
• A strong communicator with excellent relationship-building skills.

You must:

• Be a qualified Social Worker and registered with Social Work England.
• Have experience of working with children and families and an understanding of fostering practice.
• Be able to travel independently across Cambridgeshire and work from a variety of locations.
• Be willing to support the delivery of foster carer training and support groups, including occasional evening sessions.
• Be willing to attend recruitment events, fostering information evenings, and community engagement activities.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrate a commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• 6 days of protected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
• A relocation package of up to £8,000 (eligibility applies)
• A pay progression scheme to enable you to accelerate through the pay grade as you gain experience and skills
• A Refer a Friend Scheme where if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, we’ll pay you an introduction fee of £350
• Access to our Cambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence (CARE) who will support your development, enabling you to become the best practitioner you can be

For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.