Consultant Social Worker: Fostering and Residential - Ref: CH04626

Grade: G11; Salary Range: £51,356 - £54,495

Children are at the heart of Walsall local authority. They receive support, help and services that reduce risks for them and meet their needs. (Ofsted, 2025)

Do you want to join our OUTSTANDING local authority?

If so, we have a current opportunity for an experienced social worker to work as a Consultant Social Worker in our fostering and residential services

Children and families are at the heart of our practice in Walsall as identified within our recent Ofsted inspection:

Children benefit from positive, trusting relationships with their social workers. Social workers enable children, through direct work, to share their lived experiences, hopes and aspirations.

About the job

As Consultant Social Worker for Fostering and Residential Services, you will play a key role in strengthening practice, learning and development across our fostering and residential workforce. You will lead the design, delivery and evaluation of training and development activity for foster carers, residential colleagues and practitioners, ensuring that trauma-informed, therapeutic and reflective approaches are embedded in day-to-day practice.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a leadership team that has “created a learning organisation that has effective and accountable relationships with each other and with partners” (Ofsted, 2025). You will provide practice leadership, reflective supervision, coaching and consultation, helping practitioners and carers build confidence, develop their skills and respond effectively to the complex experiences of children in care. You will also use learning from quality assurance activity, feedback and service priorities to shape bespoke development activity, strengthen placement stability and support continuous improvement across fostering and residential services.

About you:

We are looking for an experienced, confident and values-driven social worker who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people in care. You will bring strong knowledge of children’s social care practice, fostering and residential regulatory frameworks, and the impact of trauma, attachment and adversity on children’s development and relationships.

You will be skilled in developing others through reflective supervision, observation, coaching, mentoring and training. You will be able to analyse learning needs, design creative and accessible development opportunities, and support practitioners, residential colleagues and foster carers to translate learning into confident, child-centred practice.

Most importantly, you will share Walsall’s ambition for children and young people. You will be collaborative, restorative and relational in your approach, able to build strong working relationships across services and with partners, and committed to equality, inclusion and continuous improvement. You will be someone who can bring energy, professional curiosity and creativity to a role that directly supports the quality, stability and experience of care for children in Walsall.

Our Offer:

To provide the right conditions for you, we are committed to manageable workloads, high support from managers, essential paperwork only, enabling technologies.

Within Walsall we offer a comprehensive training and development programme which contributed to our OUTSTANDING Ofsted grading in May 2025.

There is a comprehensive training offer for workers in Walsall. There is an impressive offer to workers in gaining a social work qualification and for newly qualified social workers developing their knowledge of frontline practice. The general training offer is wide ranging and gives workers the opportunity to learn incrementally about their role.

Wellbeing is at the heart of our work. We offer specialised clinical supervision, to support work/life balance, flexible working and specialist employee assistance and therapeutic support when it is needed. We know we need to make social work a career people want to stay in.

Salary Scale £51356- £54495

Closing date for applications: 23^rd August

Interviews: 3^rd September

If you would like to discuss this role please contact Hannah Thompson Principal Social Worker

Hannah.Thompson@Walsall.gov.uk

View: Job Description and Employee Specification

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Note:Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas.

For this role the successful candidates must undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check. BPSS is the minimum standard to ensure the identity and integrity of an employee who has access to official information using secure networks linking central government and local authorities. A BPSS check involves four main elements; Identity Check, National and Immigration Status, Employment History (last 3 years) and Verification of Criminal Record (unspent convictions only).

Important note: When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification. If you do not include a supporting information statement, you will not be shortlisted. Please also ensure that you complete the work history and qualifications sections of your application form. Please do not add a CV as we do not accept them. Please see our Information for Applicants leaflet for further information.

We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this job vacancy. We are not accepting agency applications or referrals at this time.

At Walsall Council, we appreciate that AI can be a useful tool for ideas or guidance. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. Over-reliance on AI can make responses feel less personal, and we really want to understand what makes you unique. Your experiences, skills, and perspective are what set you apart, so please ensure your application as a whole – particularly your ‘Supporting Information’ – reflects your own voice.

Walsall Council’s Children’s Services are the only Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ local authority in the Black Country. During a visit in May 2025, Inspectors described Walsall Council as a place where children were at the heart of. The council’s journey of continuous improvement started in 2017 and has since transformed into a service with a clear vision, clear priorities and a clear plan, all informed by the views of our staff and children. Staff are at the core of delivering great outcomes for children and young people in Walsall, which is underpinned by our Walsall Right 4 Children vision. The latest Ofsted inspection demonstrated that staff in children’s services are proud to work for Walsall Council and feel supported to do great work.

Here at Walsall, we want to attract the best talent. That's why - as well as a satisfying and rewarding job - we offer a range of attractive benefits. Working arrangements in most jobs are flexible (you may work flexitime, full or part time and job sharing is usually available) and you can expect generous holiday entitlements, a first class pension scheme and plenty of opportunities for training and personal development.

We advertise vacancies because we want the best talent available. If that's you, we're waiting for your application.

Living in Walsall

Part of the Black Country, famous for its enterprising and industrial past, Walsall is reinventing itself to become a progressive modern community. The borough is centred around the major town of Walsall, but also includes five smaller and distinctive district centres (Bloxwich, Aldridge, Willenhall, Darlaston and Brownhills), together with numerous villages.

Walsall Council is committed to Safer Recruitment.

To achieve our commitment, we will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce.

Social Work Matters - Children's Social Worker Recruitment

Some of our children require a special kind of support: yours. Visit our microsite to find out more about joining Walsall Council as a Children's Social Worker.

Walsall Council

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Consultant Social Worker - Ref: CH04626