Adoption social worker

Barnardo's Adoption North England have a fantastic opportunity for social workers to join our busy team on a permanent full-time basis.

Location of Post:  the successful candidate will be on a hybrid contract with an office base in the North East area, primarily working from home. They will be expected to work across the region of their office base but there will be a need to  work across the whole of the North of England depending on service need and attend monthly team meetings at the Leeds office, so travel across the whole region is essential.

We are looking for enthusiastic individuals who bring a passion for adoption work and for developing secure permanent homes for children.

Objectives of Service

As an Adoption Social Worker, you will work within a team of social workers, managers, and admin staff to recruit, train, assess and support prospective adopters in the North of England to provide safe, loving and nurturing families for children in need of permanent homes. You will work with our adopters, the placing authorities and other professionals to maintain the best quality of service, support and outcomes for children.

Key tasks include:

• Assessment of prospective adopters and completion of assessment reports
• Attending relevant multi agency meetings such as CLA reviews, Placement Planning meetings and panels
• Timely recording and good communication with all professionals involved in placements
• Training delivery in both Group and Individual settings

The post holder will contribute as part of the team to the training and assessment of new carers, and to maintaining the office duty system. After a suitable induction period the post holder will join the Helpline support rota (out of hours service).

Please note this is not a full job description; other duties and responsibilities are allocated within the team according to experience and particular skills. Please also refer to additional information section below for a broader understanding of the role

Supplementary Information

A professional Social Work qualification and SWE registration are essential for this post as is experience in Family Placement, Child Protection or work with Looked After Children.

The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving license that enables them to drive in the UK and have use of a car and business use insurance. Barnardo's is, however, willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means.

When completing your application please refer to your skills and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information Document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

For further information or an informal discussion contact Hayley Hurrell or Lisa Massey on 0800 1577015.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

History of Service

Barnardo's is a Voluntary Adoption Agency. Our head office is in Barkingside, Essex with branches throughout the UK. The Adoption North England team is part of the wider Family Placement service which also has adoption and fostering services throughout the UK. The Adoption North England team has office bases in Leeds and North Tyneside and covers a wide geographical area from the Scottish border in the North to South Yorkshire and Cheshire in the South and from Merseyside in the West to Humberside in the East.

At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Additional Information for Adoption Social Worker 

When completing your application form, please refer to the skills, knowledge and experience required as detailed in the Job Description and Person Specification and also any further information included in this Additional Information Sheet. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Initial Responsibilities

• You will be expected to carry out all aspects of the adoption social worker role in the Voluntary Adoption Agency - from adopter recruitment, preparation, assessment and approval through to linking, matching, placing and supporting children with their adoptive/permanence family.
• You will be working alongside colleagues to develop and deliver various training programmes to prospective and approved adopters; this will include Early Permanence and preparation training for example.
• You will play an active role as part of the office duty system and work as a part of a team to develop and grow the service. This may include taking a lead role in your area of interest/expertise.

Additional Responsibilities

• You will be required to work alongside external agencies to complete non-agency adoption work, for example, step-parent adoption assessments which will require some court attendance.
• You will play an active role in the recruitment of prospective adopters and support the regional recruitment hub as and when required to undertake online initial visits.
• You will be expected to play an active role in family finding, which includes attending fun days and profiling events to support families, and managing all expressions of interest.
• Due to the ever evolving, changing nature of adoption, flexibility, creativity, and adapting to change will be essential.

Barnardo's Adoption North England always look to develop and improve the services provided to adopters and looked after children seeking a permanent placement. This offer includes the provision of a comprehensive suite of training, therapeutic support and peer mentoring services etc.

You will have experience of assessment and inter agency working and be a strong communicator and team-worker with knowledge of the issues facing vulnerable children and young people. An understanding of safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures is a must too.

You will need to be able to work to clear timescales and have good communication skills. You will keep accurate and up to date records on computer systems and write reports and other pertinent documents in accordance with service policy and procedure and current regulations.

As we work with Local Authorities anywhere in the UK you may be expected to travel throughout the country to attend meetings and facilitate placements.

You will have the opportunity to work in a specialist area of social work in a highly skilled, motivated and supportive team whilst receiving high quality management support and supervision.

You will be expected to attend relevant training which will be provided to aid your performance and development. You will participate in and contribute to team functioning, promoting the aims and objectives of the service and to the development of the new areas of work.

You will have received a Social Worker job description and person specification.  This is a generic role in use throughout the organisation however you will be employed to work as a Social Worker in Barnardo's Adoption North England. The team covers the whole of North England, and we are currently seeking to recruit a social worker based in the North East region, however please note that whilst this will be your nearest office base, you may be required to work across North England depending on business need. The role will be based within the Adoption team but there will be an expectation that staff will support colleagues and carers in the Fostering team as the need arises.

The post-holder may be required to work on some evenings and occasional weekends to support the work of the service in meeting the needs of adopters and their children.

You will also be required to contribute to an out of hours helpline for adopters and carers in our service.

 

 

Initial Location of PostNorth East –

TBC

Main office base for team meetings -

Unit 9, Pavilion Business Park,

Royds Hall Road,

Wortley,

Leeds,

West Yorkshire,

LS12 6AJ

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.

Our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band (these are the figures advertised)– 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:22828
• Job Title:Adoption social worker
• Location:Barnardo's Adoption North
• Contract type:Permanent
• Hours:37
• Salary:£36,427.87 up to £42,244.38
• Closing Date:15 May 2026
• Interview Date:28th/29th May 2026