Social Worker – Adoption/Family Finding

Job description

Job responsibilities

Do you want to make a real difference to the lives of adopted children and young people? If so this exciting and rare opportunity is for you.

The Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) is looking for a Social Worker to join our service on a full-time,fixed-term, 9 month contract. The role will be based in our specialist Family Finding Team, a small team comprising of four social workers (two as Senior Practitioners), a team manager and one business support officer who works across the service. You will be responsible for collating information about children and young people and identifying suitable adoptive families who can best meet the child's specific health, emotional, and developmental needs.

The team are based in Scott House in Huntingdon, with opportunities for homebased working and to access offices at Sand Martin House in Peterborough. Flexible hours/working pattern can be considered on appointment.

The Family Finding team are part of the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Adoption, and serve both Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. It is a fantastic time to join us in the RAA following a continued period of stability and growth. We pride ourselves on providing all workers with a friendly, safe, and supportive environment to work in. We are a learning organisation and are committed to practice education and developing staff through reflective practice and supervision.

We believe in supporting all our children to reach their full potential and we are keen to hear from you if you share our ethos. For more information, contact the Adoption/Finding Families Team Manager Tom HeyTom.hey@cambridgeshire.gov.uk or call Nathalie on 01480 475920

Interviews will take place week commencing 10th November 2025.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage

• A comprehensivewellbeing package to coverall aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• 6 days ofprotected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
• Arelocation package of up to £8,000 (eligibility applies)
• Apay progression scheme to enable you to accelerate through the pay grade as you gain experience and skills
• ARefer a Friend Schemewhere if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, well pay you an introduction fee of £350
• Access to ourCambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence (CARE) who will support your development, enabling you to become the best practitioner you can be

For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.

Day-to-day responsibilities of a Family Finder Social Worker include:

• Profiling children for consideration of prospective adopters.
• Developing transition plans and supporting the transitions of children from foster care to their adoptive homes.
• Providing written and verbal reports for a variety of settings, including adoption panel and court, that are concise and informative, based on analysis of evidence of adopters' skills and the childrens needs.
• Working in a holistic manner with internal and external colleagues.
• Supporting with service development and addressing issues that impact upon carer retention or satisfaction.
• Engaging meaningfully with training and supervision for your ongoing development, skills and knowledge.

To be successful in this role you will have an understanding of relevant Adoption legislation and knowledge of the factors that lead to improved outcomes for care experienced children and young people.

You will also be able to demonstrate that you have the ability to manage a complex caseload and achieve positive outcomes for the countys most vulnerable residents.

You will be a confident and dynamic individual who enjoys making a difference, are curious in your practice and enjoy building relationships with Carers and Children.

You must:

• Be aqualified Social Worker with a Social Work England registration
• Havethe ability towork from a variety of locations and travel countywide and beyond independently

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to reflect this diversity, which we believe is beneficial for our employees, the organisation and the communities we serve.

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you dont meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please dont be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers

Person Specification

General Requirements

Essential

• Please refer to job description above

Desirable

• Please refer to job description above

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Cambridgeshire County Council

Address

Huntingdon

PE29 3AD

Employer's website

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)