Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO1£41,133 - PO4 £52,194

Retention Bonus: £2,000 per annum (made in 2 payments across the year)

Contract Type: Full time/Permanent

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 14/08/2026

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role:

The assessment team in Adult Social Care is called the Community Active Recovery Team (CART). Staff in the team assist residents who are new to Adult Social Care. The team’s key objective is to work preventatively with vulnerable adults and to help them to live as independently as possible by providing them with the tools to be self-sufficient within their existing support networks and communities as well as safeguard them where appropriate. To achieve these goals, we offer reablement support for up to 6 weeks, and during this period we provide proactive case management support to residents. This involves collaborating with occupational therapists, physiotherapists, community health colleagues and the local authority’s equipment supplier, all working together to help residents live their best lives as independently as possible.

We are seeking high calibre and creative applicants who, like us, are committed to building on residents’ strengths and their natural support networks, rather than simply assessing people to determine their eligibility for a service. We are looking for social workers who firmly believe that it is essential to give the residents who we serve as much choice and control as possible over their day to day lives. As a social worker, you will also hold a varied caseload working with residents who’s funds may have depleted, completing human rights assessments, and holding more complex cases such as those who may need more intense support.

The team also has a Integrated Care Management (ICM) workstream. ICM staff work in Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDTs) with community health professionals located in NELFT and Primary Care Teams across three PCN clusters (north, central, south). These MDTs aim to divert residents with long-term conditions from hospital readmission or institutional care settings by providing preventive interventions.

There is also a Continuing Health Care (CHC) workstream within CART. The social worker will be working closely with the CHC team in the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Their responsibilities will include being the social care representative within all CHC assessments, leading on Checklists and being part of the formed MDT for Decision Support Tool meetings (DST) to determine eligibility for CHC funding. Assessments may take place in the community, residential care homes or nursing homes if discharged from hospital through the Discharge to Assess pathway.

There are vacancies available in all three workstreams within CART.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

Engage with individuals, carers, families, groups and communities to assess and intervene preventatively using professional judgment, and develop person-led Support Plans to meet the needs of individuals that promote choice, control and independence.
Be able to use a strength-based approach to assessment to support individuals to identify and develop their support networks and consider positive risk taking to enhance their wellbeing.
Be able to identify safeguarding concerns if vulnerable residents have experienced harm and carry out section 42 enquiries where needed.
Be responsible for delivering high-quality and legally compliant social support in a timely way to agreed standards.
To be able to complete court fit mental capacity assessments and engage the resident and their families in any best interest decision where appropriate.

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

Previous experience in working in adult social care, or be able to demonstrate transferrable skills to meet the needs of this post.
Hold a current registration with Social Work England and be able to provide your registration number.
Knowledge and experience of issues relating to people in need, including relevant legislation, guidance & procedures
Experience of service delivery which is culturally sensitive and responsive to the needs of a multi-cultural community
Ability to work as a team member
Ability to work under regular supervision from a line manager
Ability to work effectively under pressure
Ability to prioritise work and risks.
Ability to ensure Performance Indicators relating to service areas are met
Ability to participate in change effectively
Ability to communicate clearly verbally and in writing, and to follow through required actions
Commitment to the participation of vulnerable people and their families both at an individual and service level
Detailed working knowledge of the Care Act 2014 and other relevant legislation, procedures and guidance relating to children and families
Experience and working knowledge of Strengths Based Practice
Ability to demonstrate understanding of the financial implications for a Local Authority when commissioning care and support to meet needs and an awareness of how to consider other funding streams / means of meeting needs.
Awareness of current issues in care and support policy and practice

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
Satisfactory declaration of interest;
This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
Satisfactory DBS check;
Social Work England Registration;
As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Emma Marlow at emma.marlow@walthamforest.gov.uk.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.

Fraud Awareness Notice:

The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).

We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.

If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.

If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:
fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk

London Borough of Waltham Forest

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