Gloucestershire County Council
Social Work Lead
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This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.
Job Title: Social Work Lead
Job Location: Shire Hall
Salary: £48,226 - £51,356 per annum
Hours per Week: 37.00
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 23/09/2026
Job Requisition Number: 14844
This post is not open to job share
PAY AWARD PENDING AT 3.3% salary will increase to £49,817 - £53,051 per annum/pro rata for part time
Are you passionate about supporting people to achieve the best possible outcomes and live independently for as long as possible?
Are you excited by the opportunity to be part of a brand-new service and help shape the way it develops?
If so, we would love to hear from you.
About the Role
We have a full-time Social Work Lead position available within our new Community Reablement Service.
This is an exciting opportunity to join an innovative countywide service at the beginning of its journey and play a key role in shaping how the service develops and delivers positive outcomes for the people of Gloucestershire.
As a Social Work Lead, you will provide professional leadership, supervision and support to Social Workers, Social Care Practitioners, and Reablement Co-ordinators across the service. You will promote excellent practice, supporting staff to deliver strengths-based, person-centred interventions that maximise independence and wellbeing.
Working as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team, you will play a key role in supporting adults at a critical stage in their journey. You will help ensure people experience a seamless transition from reablement into longer-term support where required.
You will be expected to promote a culture of professional curiosity, reflective practice and continuous improvement, encouraging accountability while role modelling best practice in your own work.
A key aspect of the role will be supporting practitioners to manage complex situations involving risk, safeguarding, mental capacity and decision-making. You will coordinate and oversee safeguarding enquiries in line with the Care Act 2014, provide professional advice and guidance, and support practitioners to deliver high-quality outcomes for adults with care and support needs.
This role offers a unique opportunity to influence the development of a brand-new service, helping to shape processes, embed best practice and support the growth of a highly skilled workforce.
A key focus of this role will be supporting the service's Front Door Hub. The Front Door Hub acts as the central point for referrals into the Community Reablement Service and receives referrals from a wide range of stakeholders, including health professionals, Adult Social Care teams, community services and partner organisations. Working alongside colleagues within the Front Door Hub, you will coordinate and oversee incoming referrals, gathering and analysing information to determine the most appropriate pathway and response for each individual. This will involve identifying whether a person is suitable for reablement support, allocating work across the service, and ensuring timely decision-making.
About the Service
Our Community Reablement Service has been designed to help people regain confidence, skills and independence following a change in circumstances.
The service brings together professionals from a range of disciplines, working as one team to support people to achieve what matters most to them. Our focus is on enabling people to do as much as possible for themselves, building on strengths, promoting resilience and connecting people with their communities.
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As a Social Work Lead, you will play a key role in embedding strengths-based practice across the service, supporting practitioners to deliver high-quality Care Act assessments, support planning, safeguarding interventions and person-centred decision-making.
You will also contribute to service development, helping to establish and refine new ways of working that support excellent practice and deliver outstanding outcomes.
About You
To join us, you must:
- Hold a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.
- Have successfully completed your ASYE and have significant post-qualifying experience within Adult Social Care.
- Have experience of supervising, mentoring or supporting the professional development of Social Workers and other practitioners.
- Have excellent knowledge of the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Human Rights legislation and Adult Safeguarding responsibilities.
- Have experience of supporting or leading complex safeguarding enquiries and risk management processes.
- Demonstrate strong analytical skills and professional judgement when working with complex situations and competing risks.
- Be committed to strengths-based, person-centred practice and supporting people to maximise their independence.
- Have excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence, coach and support others.
- Be able to prioritise effectively and work confidently within a fast-paced and evolving environment.
- Be enthusiastic about service development and helping shape an innovative new model of support.
Our values are at the heart of everything we do and how we treat each other. They provide essential guiding principles about the way that we work and set the tone for our culture, and identify what we, as an organisation, care about. See more about our Values on our website.
If you hold the same behaviours and approach, then we want to hear from you! In exchange, we will provide you with full training and support to help you succeed in your role.
Why Join Us?
As part of our new Community Reablement Service, you will:
- Help shape and influence the development of a new countywide service.
- Provide professional leadership and support to a skilled multidisciplinary workforce.
- Champion strengths-based social work practice, safeguarding and professional development.
- Support the development of innovative approaches that improve outcomes and maximise independence.
- Work within a supportive and collaborative environment that values creativity, learning and continuous improvement.
- Make a meaningful difference to the lives of adults across Gloucestershire every day.
Gloucestershire County Council provides the following rewards package in return for your hard work:
- 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays
- Option to purchase up to 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part time employees)
- Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
- Free staff parking
- Regular formal and informal support
- Safe, supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
- Training and development opportunities
- Clear career progression pathways, to support you in progressing professionally and personally
- Personal licences to Adults CCINFORM
- Reimbursement of professional Social Work registration fees
- Family friendly policies and benefits to help support you and your family
- Staff discount scheme that offers access to great savings including discounts with major supermarket chains and high street retailers
- Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) network and the Young Employees Network
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We’re closer than you think:
We are an easy commute from many locations, view our commuting times map to see what we mean. For interested professionals located in Wales and Scotland, please contact us to discuss your application.
Applying:
Please write your application with consideration for the criteria in the Job Description. This should include examples of why you should be considered and the experience, skills and knowledge that you would bring to the post.
To start your journey with us, click ‘Apply’ today!
Additional Information
To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:
This position is subject to an Enhanced Adults DBS with Barred List Check.
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship for this role. Candidates will need to have the right to work in the UK that enables them to commit to at least six months’ employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer.
We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.
It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early due to the volume of applications received and / or due to the needs of the service. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.
If you are an Internal applicant and consider yourself to have a disability* as per the Equality Act (2010), please declare this in an email to recruitment@gloucestershire.gov.uk, as this is NOT currently covered in the application due to a technical error. By providing this information, you can choose to be considered for a guaranteed interview under our Disability Confident pledge if you meet all essential criteria. It also enables the recruiting manager to arrange any reasonable adjustments you may need during the process.
**a disability is defined as: a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term (
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