Adoption Social Worker

Adoption Social Worker – Barnardo's

Do you want to make a genuine difference in the lives of children, young people, and families? If so, we'd love to welcome you into our passionate and supportive Adoption Service here at Barnardo's. We have a wonderful opportunity for a committed and creative Social Worker to join our Pan‑Wales Adoption Team. Working with us means joining a compassionate group of professionals who believe deeply in the power of safe, loving, and lasting family relationships—and who will value your contribution every step of the way.

Why join Barnardo's?

At Barnardo's, we believe in quality over quantity. You'll hold a manageable caseload that allows you to truly focus on the children and families you're supporting. You'll benefit from regular supervision, peer support, emotional wellbeing resources and a workplace culture built on kindness, reflection, and professional growth.

We offer hybrid working across Wales, giving you the flexibility to organise your work in a way that supports both your priorities and your wellbeing. We pride ourselves on providing a friendly, safe and supportive environment for all our staff.

  About the role

As a Social Worker within our Adoption Service, you will:

• Recruit, assess and train prospective and approved adoptive parents as part of our CIW‑registered service
• Provide thoughtful, tailored pre‑ and post‑placement support to adoptive families
• Offer training and therapeutic, relationship‑focused interventions that acknowledge the impact of trauma, loss and early adversity
• Work with hope, creativity and empathy as you help families build secure and lasting connections
• Contribute to the ongoing development of our service through reflective practice, learning and professional curiosity

We are looking for someone who is enthusiastic, motivated, and passionate about achieving the very best outcomes for children. You'll be supported to work therapeutically and to grow your skills through ongoing development opportunities.

What we're looking for

• A qualified Social Worker with registration (or eligibility to register)
• Someone who embraces learning and wants to grow within a highly experienced team
• A compassionate, resilient practitioner who believes in children and in the power of family

 

Thinking of applying?

If this sounds like the next step in your journey, we'd be delighted to hear from you. Please refer to the Person Specification and Job Description when completing your application, reflecting on how your skills, experience and values align with the needs of the service.

If you'd like an informal chat before applying, we warmly welcome you to get in touch with Erica Puttick on 02920484316 / 07707147398

 

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people. 

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay. 

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours.  More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application. 

Workplace Offer: What it means for you

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these. Please read through the advert carefully to understand the remits of hybrid working that will be specific to the role.

Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland)

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

• Reference number:22878
• Job Title:Adoption Social Worker
• Location:Barnardo's Cymru Adoption & Fostering Service
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:37
• Salary:£36,427 - £44,846 plus Office at Home Allowance of £312 per annum
• Closing Date:12 June 2026
• Interview Date:To be confirmed

Benefits

Vacancy Alerts

Additional Info

• Information Sheet for Applicants Applying for Positions Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults - Welsh (updated July 2021).pdf (103.82 KB)
• Information Sheet for Applicants Applying for Positions Working with Children and Vulnerable Adults (updated July 2021).pdf (107.00 KB)
• Barnardo's Workplace Offer Visual Summary.pdf (27.58 KB)
• Social Worker – Fostering & Adoption Job Description and Person Specification.pdf (0.57 MB)
• Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy Dec 2024.pdf (164.07 KB)