Senior Social Worker, Ref: CH02526
G10: £47,181 - £50,269 per annum

About the role:

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Specialist Social Worker to join our Youth in Sight team, which is a multi-disciplinary team working with adolescents aged 10-18 years who present with complex needs relating to their mental health or emotional dysregulation. This will include young people with repeat hospital admissions and those that are likely to require therapeutic care without early intervention and the provision of services to them and their families to support them to remain safely within their family home.

Walsall Children’s Social Care are dedicated to providing comprehensive and compassionate services for children and young people. We believe in nurturing the potential of every young person, and we are seeking passionate professionals to join our multidisciplinary team in our mission to support adolescents (10-18 years old) during a crucial phase of their development.

We are looking for a dynamic and empathetic individual to join our multidisciplinary team to empower, understand and support adolescents and their families at times of need. The team adopts a holistic and coordinated approach when working with parents, the young person and the system that surrounds the family. We believe that by establishing a strengths-based approach and relational way of working with families we will build authentic relationships and secure positive outcomes.

The Youth In Sight team includes a senior practitioner, parenting support officer, systemic family therapist, youth worker and speech and language therapist who adopt a relational approach and work with a small cohort of young people, giving you the time and space to work intensively with the family and be able to make considered and balanced decisions. You will have access to the collective expertise of disciplines, enhancing your capacity to develop effective solutions and contemplate the broader context.

Youth in Sight use components of the family safeguarding model to create a sense of unity within the team and ensure families are receiving meaningful intervention. As a senior specialist social worker within the team, you will partake in Group Supervisions every 4 weeks to measure success, reflect on your intervention with the family and identify any areas of concern. Team members will use a shared database to ensure information is accessible and shared with each other promptly. All team members are trained to use the ‘Valuing Care Tool’ to help us really understand a young person’s needs and be able to measure impact of our support and intervention.

We want every child and family in Walsall to be understood, happy and safe, and to feel a sense of belonging which will help them learn, achieve and succeed. We’re applying this vision to everything we do for children, young people and families.

About you:

As a senior specialist social worker within the team, you will have a minimum of 2 years post qualifying experience of working with children and their families with a varied range of needs and vulnerabilities.

You will lead and contribute to purposeful statutory assessments, planning and reviews, promoting participation, consultation and co-production with young people and their families.

You will collaborate with the wider partnership to secure support and form a holistic view of the family’s circumstances, and adopt a ‘Think Family’ approach when considering the needs of the whole family unit.

You will advocate on behalf of the young person and their family and deliver therapeutic interventions to support and strengthen the resilience of families.

You will have excellent communication skills and be able to work with children, young people and families in an open, honest and transparent way, working in partnership with them to ensure their voice is heard and they are actively involved in decisions about their lives.

You will contribute to a positive and supporting team environment, promoting collaboration and sharing knowledge and expertise. You will offer support to ASYE social workers, including reflective conversations, support, guidance and co-working.

As a Specialist Senior Social Worker, you will have access to specialist training commissioned by the Practice Development Hub.

You will demonstrate commitment to your own practice development and continued professional development and be registered with Social Worker England.

Why work for Walsall?

Walsall is an OFSTED rated outstanding, innovative and creative local authority, but above all our friendly supportive culture ensures practitioners have the right support to grow and develop.

You are part of a challenging profession, that’s why we ensure you are never alone but instead surrounded by approachable practitioners and managers. Allowing you to spend time on what counts, direct work with children young people and families.

Career development pathways and flexible hybrid working will make you want Walsall to be in your future!

Walsall is where innovation really happens. Our Families First offering is leading the way in the transformation of regional and national approaches too, and we’re one of only ten local authorities working this way. Our multi-agency structure is already established and we’re going to continue to innovate to ensure better outcomes form children and young people

Walsall is a truly exciting place to be where you can make a difference to every family. If you share our vision, shouldn’t you be here too?

Families First:

We’re committed to creating a culture of supporting families to overcome challenges and to stay together and thrive. Or where that isn’t possible, for family networks to offer safe, loving and stable homes and keep children out of local authority care

Family Service: Family networks will be placed at the heart of our practice, as we recognise the importance of engaging the wider systems around a family as early as we can so that children and young people remain living at home or with their families.

Family Help: Our family help service will align our family safeguarding model and targeted early help teams in supporting children, young people and families as soon as possible.

Child Protection: We’ve created a new role of Lead Child Protection Practitioner, and you simply won’t find that anywhere else. We’re continuing to develop our multi-agency child protection team. It’s all about developing systems and practices with partners including the police, health, and probation services to form an expert network of child protection leads and specialists.

Looking after you:

We’re committed to growing and developing our own workforce. So you’ll be supported throughout their career to become skilled and confident through our learning and development offer.

We also want you to achieve and maintain a healthy work life balance and there’s a range of employee benefits to suit everyone’s lifestyles.

Flexible working - there are different options depending on your role and on customer and service needs, this includes 9-day fortnights, flexible and hybrid working.

Clinical Supervision
Retention Payments post 2 years in service
A commitment across our service to Equality Diversity and Inclusion
Established learning and development frameworks

About the rewards:

We’re committed to creating a high-quality and valued workforce where you can feel cared about and listened to. You’ll have managers available to guide you, plus access to our comprehensive practice development training. There’s also continuous professional development, opportunities for networking and collaboration, and clinical supervision that promotes your wellbeing.

As well as a competitive salary, you can look forward to a generous pension scheme, 28 days’ annual leave (pro-rata) plus 5 additional days for 5 years continuous local government service, family friendly policies, flexible and hybrid working arrangements for your life-work balance, and a progressive health and wellbeing agenda led by a dedicated team.

Would you like to talk to a social worker about the realities of working in Walsall? If so, please contact Rebecca Warren, Group Manager, Help and Protection, who will connect you with one of our practitioners: Rebecca.warren@walsall.gov.uk or 01922 653476

Should you wish to have an informal discussion or find out more about this position, please do not hesitate to contact the Youth In Sight Team Manager Leanne Adshead leanne.adshead@walsall.gov.uk or the Youth In Sight Assistant Team Manager Joanne Burgess Joanne.Burgess@walsall.gov.uk

View Job Description and Employee Specification

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.

Closing date for applications is 26th June 2026.

Interviews will take place week commencing 6th July 2026.

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.

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

Latest Jobs

Senior Social Worker - Ref: CH02526