Principal Social Worker - Fostering

Job description

About

Location - TBC

About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity to join Powys County Council's Mainstream Fostering Service as a Principal Social Worker.

You will play a pivotal role in promoting excellence across the fostering service, driving high standards of practice and ensuring that children and young people remain at the centre of all decision-making.

Working in partnership with the Team Manager, you will provide professional leadership, expert consultation and practice guidance to colleagues and foster carers. Working closely with the Team Manager, you will promote high standards of child centred, trauma-informed and relationship-based practice, ensuring children and young people receive safe, stable and nurturing care experiences. You will undertake complex and demanding fostering work, supporting children and foster families while acting as a key source of professional expertise, providing practice

guidance, professional consultation and constructive challenge to colleagues, and contributing to the continued development of high-quality fostering services across Powys.

You will contribute to service development, quality assurance and safeguarding arrangements and deputise for the Team Manager when required.

This is a rewarding opportunity for an experienced practitioner who enjoys balancing direct work with children and foster families alongside a wider role in developing practice, supporting colleagues and helping to shape fostering services that achieve the best possible outcomes for children and young people.

About you:

You are an experienced and highly skilled registered social worker with significant

experience within fostering, children's services or a related statutory childcare setting.

You have a strong understanding of safeguarding, permanence planning, fostering legislation and the needs of children who have experienced trauma and adversity.

You are committed to promoting excellent social work practice and have the confidence and credibility to provide professional leadership, guidance and constructive challenge.

You are skilled at building positive relationships with children, foster carers, colleagues and partner agencies and are passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people.

You will be motivated by continual improvement, reflective practice and supporting others to develop their skills, knowledge and confidence within a learning culture that values innovation and professional curiosity.

Most importantly, you will share our ambition for children and young people, ensuring their voices, wishes and experiences remain central to planning, decision-making and service development

What you will do:

You will manage a caseload of complex fostering work, including assessments, support planning, reviews and safeguarding matters, ensuring decisions are informed by the needs and experiences of children and young people.

Alongside your direct case responsibility, you will provide professional consultation, mentoring and practice guidance to colleagues across the service.

You will also deputise for the Team Manager when required, providing professional and operational leadership, supporting decision-making and ensuring the effective delivery of fostering services.

You will contribute to fostering recruitment, assessment and retention activity, support Foster Panel processes, undertake quality assurance work and help embed learning from audits, complaints, safeguarding activity and feedback.

Working collaboratively with partners, foster carers and colleagues, you will play a key role in strengthening fostering practice and promoting positive outcomes for children across Powys County Council.

Through your leadership, expertise and commitment to children, you will help strengthen fostering services across Powys, ensuring foster carers are well supported and children have the opportunity to experience safe, stable and nurturing family care.

This position has a requirement for an Enhanced DBS Check