Cornwall Council
Principal Social Worker (Children's)
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Progress Your Career. Stay in Practice. Lead Without Leaving What You Love.
A rare opportunity for genuine career progression without moving into management — our Principal Social Worker role offers a Team Manager salary while keeping you at the heart of direct practice.
The Service and Team
Cornwall isn’t just a fantastic place to live — it’s an inspiring place to grow your social work career. Fresh from our ‘Good with Outstanding features’ Ofsted judgement (July 2024), we’re a service on the rise: ambitious, bold and focused on delivering real impact for children and families.
Our transformed Family Help model brings together the best of Early Help and Child in Need practice, codesigned with practitioners to deliver more effective, truly child-centred support. We’re investing where it counts: our specialist Parent Assess team delivers high quality in-house assessments, and every Family Help Team is strengthened by an Integrated Family Domestic Abuse Support Advisor and dedicated clinical psychology input, ensuring a confident response to domestic abuse and complex needs. We champion meaningful family participation through Family Group Conferencing, Family Led Meetings and consistent use of genograms and ecomaps. Families also benefit from our award-winning Family Information Service, a strengthened parenting offer and one of the best care leaver services in the country.
Ofsted recognised the strength of our culture and approach:
“Senior leaders and politicians are relentless in their drive to continue to improve the lives of Cornwall’s children and families… Staff’s care, commitment and child-focused approach shine through.” — Ofsted, July 2024
Cornwall offers forward-thinking social work in a place where wellbeing comes first. With stunning coastlines, strong communities and a culture that values balance and professional pride, this is a service where practitioners thrive — and where your leadership will shape the future of children’s services.
The Role
Research (CCInform 2026) shows that many social workers feel their only progression route is through management with few senior opportunities for those who want to remain in direct practice. Our Principal Social Worker role changes that. This is a specialist practice leadership position, paid at Team Manager level, designed for experienced practitioners who want to influence practice quality while staying close to children, families and frontline work.
As a Principal Social Worker, you will hold a small caseload of direct work, deputise for your Team Manager, and play a key role in developing the skills, confidence and professional curiosity of your team. You’ll be supported by a comprehensive core learning offer and a clear qualification and career pathway, giving you the structure and space to continue developing your expertise. We value continuous learning and recognise its impact on outcomes — with progression and rewards that reflect your contribution.
Roles are available in teams across the county, including Family Help, Children in Care, and the Disabled Children & Therapy Service.
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This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.
This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check.
Learn more about social work careers with us: Work in Adults or Children’s Social Care – Cornwall Council
What You’ll Need to Succeed
- A recognised social work qualification and Social Work England registration
- 60 Master’s level post-qualifying credits (with support towards a further 60 academic credits)
- At least 5 years post-qualification experience in children’s social work
- Strong practice expertise grounded in evidence-informed approaches
- A passion for relationship-based practice and developing others
- Excellent reflective skills, with the ability to lead and influence practice and develop others
We welcome applications from experienced registered practitioners returning to social work.
Please read the role profile for the full details of this role attached below in this advert.
What We Offer
We recognise the difference you make — and we support you every step of the way.
- Competitive salary equivalent to Team Manager level
- £4,000 welcome bonus and generous relocation package (eligibility applies)
- Lease car scheme
- Flexible working options, including hybrid and part-time
- 26 days annual leave (rising with service) plus bank holidays
- High-quality supervision and a culture of professional curiosity
- Our excellent learning and development offer
- Practice Educator support from our dedicated team
- Access to Community Care Inform and Research in Practice
- Payment of Social Work England registration fees
Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high-performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met. Find out more about working and volunteering for us.
Working Pattern
37 hours per week, Monday–Friday, with flexible options available.
Additional Information
We encourage informal conversations before applying. To find out more or speak with a practitioner, please contact:
Tracey Davey – Principal Social Worker
tracey.davey@cornwall.gov.uk | 07973497274
Cornwall Council is unable to offer visa sponsorship or transfer existing sponsorship for this role.
The full role profile is attached here
We recommend saving a copy of this to refer to if you are invited to an interview.
Application Process
The application process section has been updated to include information on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) when applying for roles. A request for the templates to be updated in ORC has been submitted, but please use the following statement while this is in progress:
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Please attach a supporting statement to your application, you can add your Education & Qualifications details manually using the application form timeline or you can upload your CV.
Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points marked as ‘Application’ on the Role Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work/personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.
Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process.
We recognise that you may choose to use AI tools when preparing your application. We ask that any information you include is an accurate reflection of your own skills, knowledge, experience and achievements. You may be asked to discuss the examples and evidence you provide during the selection process.
We may adapt our shortlisting approach where we receive a high volume of applications. Any shortlisting decisions will be based on the information provided in your application and the essential requirements of the role.
Please note that applications cannot be edited after they have been submitted, please contact careers@cornwall.gov.uk if you have any queries or require assistance with your application.
Existing employees must apply using their Cornwall Council email address through the Opportunity Marketplace on Oracle.
Cornwall Council deliver services to more than half a million local people and over five million visitors a year. Working here - Cornwall Council
We are happy to talk about flexible working options such as part-time or compressed hours. More examples of our flexible working opportunities can be found here - flexible working options.
Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g., race, disability, sex, gender reassignment status, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.
Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.
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