Our Vacancies

At Dudley MBC we’re recruiting for a Team Manager to join our dynamic Fostering Service.

Dudley Fostering Service is dedicated to recruiting and assessing the very best Carers to provide a warm and loving home for our children in care, both mainstream and connected/kinship. We are also committed to delivering high quality support and supervision to our Foster Carers and the children that they look after. We are based at Cable Plaza Dudley, which has the advantage of being co-located with the rest of children’s services.

In this post you will report directly to the Service Manager for Fostering. You will also be part of a supportive management team within a restorative local authority that is committed to the training and development of its social work practitioners. The Service consists of two support teams and a recruitment and assessment team, with a management team that consists of three team managers, an adoption/permanence advisor and a panel advisor.

The post which we are advertising for is the team manager for the recruitment and assessment team.

Recruitment and Assessment Team Manager

You will be responsible for:

5 FTE Social Workers
1 Advanced Practitioner
1 Recruitment and Retention/Marketing Officer
Your team completes joint viability assessments for connected carers with the children’s social workers, as well as full connected persons assessments. The team is also responsible for recruitment and assessment of mainstream foster carers and has successfully increased our recruitment in this area in the last year. You and your team work closely with the two Fostering Support Teams. You and your team also work closely with the safeguarding teams and the court via our legal advisers.

The three teams in the fostering service work closely together, and there is an expectation that teams and team managers help each other out when there are any peaks in work, which provides for a supportive and joined up service.

As a Team Manager you will provide regular welfare and case supervision to the practitioners within your team. You will also have access to a wide range of training and development opportunities both in house and via our Centre for Professional Practice.

As manager of this team you must be a qualified social worker with previous management experience or management ability. Previous experience of working with foster carers and fostering assessments is desirable.

For more information please contact liz.berry@dudley.gov.uk

Salary: Grade 10, £41,511.00 to £44,711.00 per annum plus £7,000 per annum Market Forces Supplement (salary subject to experience)

Are you ….

Enthusiastic and passionate with a genuine care for helping and supporting children and families?
Keen to make a difference to our children and work creatively to help keep families together wherever safely possible?
A team player who wants to be part of our multi-agency team of driven practitioners who work hard to achieve best outcomes for our children?
Someone who can thrive under pressure as part of a fast-paced environment?
Someone who has ambition, creativity, and a desire to learn?
Do you want to be supported to excel in your career through our career progression programme?
Our Family Safeguarding Service is a friendly, supportive team made up of Social Workers, Advanced Practitioners, Child Practitioners, Drug and Alcohol Workers, Probation Officers, Domestic Abuse Workers, and Mental Health Practitioners, all striving to make a difference and achieve the best outcomes for our children.

We believe our children deserve the consistency and stability in the support provided. Our service works with families right from the Front Door as part of initial assessments, supporting children on child in need plans, child protection plans, pre-proceedings, and care proceedings. Our service will give you the opportunity to expand your skills, knowledge, and confidence within front line safeguarding practice, with the support of our committed and supportive management team.

Family Safeguarding is a whole family approach to working with children and families that supports parents to create sustained change for themselves and for their family. Together in Dudley we believe every family has a right to help and support for their children and our Family Safeguarding Programme supports Practitioners to creatively support families to recognise their strengths and be supported to overcome their difficulties.

If you are passionate about working with children, are motivated to make a difference, and have a desire to help and support others then we want to hear from you!

What can we offer you?

Dudley Family Safeguarding service is proud to have permanent Service Managers and Team Managers. Our managers will ensure you have regular supervisions to guide and develop your practice and help you achieve your career aspirations.

We are a service that embraces the skills and qualities that each of our social workers contribute to work together to drive best practice and keeping children at the heart of all we do.

Your development will be supported through our comprehensive training offer which includes support from our Centre for Professional Practice, career development, as well as internal and external training opportunities.

We offer a competitive salary, which includes the Market Forces Payment of £7000 per annum.

We offer a range of flexible working options, including flexitime and home-working, dependent on service requirements.

A generous holiday allowance and special leave provisions.

The Local Government Pension Scheme.

All new employees receive a comprehensive induction.

A summary of all benefits for staff is attached.

We are recruiting Qualified Social Workers with a minimum of 12 Months post-qualifying experience.

Fostering Assessing Social Worker

Hours:- 1 x full time Fixed Term Contract post (37 hours per week) for 12 months and 1 x part time Fixed Term Contract post (18.5 hours per week) for 12 months

At Dudley MBC we are recruiting for 1 full time and 1 part time Social Worker to complete fostering assessments for connected/kinship carers and for mainstream fostering.

Dudley Fostering Service is dedicated to recruiting and assessing the very best Carers to provide a warm and loving home for our children in care, both mainstream and connected/kinship. We are based at Cable Plaza Waterfront in Brierley Hill, Dudley, where we are co-located with the rest of children’s services.

In these posts you will complete fostering assessments – kinship assessments using the new Form K (previously Form C), Initial Viability Assessments, and Form F assessments. You will report to the Team Manager for the Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team. You will also be part of a supportive fostering service and you will work closely with our two fostering support teams.

Closing Date:- 16th July 2025

Shortlisting:- 17th July 2025

Interviews to be held on:- 29th July 2025

Salary: Grade 10, £41,511 to £44,711 per annum plus £7,000 per annum Market Forces Supplement (salary and grade subject to experience)

For an informal discussion please contact Edward Wong, Head of Service – Adolescent Safeguarding Edward.wong@dudley.gov.uk

Dudley Children’s Social Care has implemented the Hertfordshire Family Safeguarding Model across social work teams. It is a strengths-based, whole-family approach to supporting children and their families, bringing together, and co-locate with, multi-disciplinary partners, working intensively with families to reduce the risks of children coming into care or becoming subject to child protection planning.

Dudley’s Children’s Social Care is Restorative in its practice approach, using Motivational Interviewing skills to bring about changes in children and their families, whilst acknowledging their strengths and that of their network.

The Adolescent Safeguarding Service works with children and young people from the age of 13 upwards and comprises of 6 social work teams and 1 Child Exploitation Team that sits within the Dudley Exploitation Hub which consists of the Missing Team, Police Officers and is supported by Health and Education Professionals.

The Service consists of Social Workers, Youth Workers, Substance Misuse Workers, IDVA and voluntary organisation partners such as Barnardo’s and Phase Trust, Citizens Advice Bureau and CAMHS. Integral to the Service is the support provided to children who go missing from home. In addition, the Service works closely with a range of external and internal partners such as the Youth Justice Service and Housing.

We are currently looking for Social Workers to join our dynamic and ambitious Service.

The successful candidate will display knowledge of Extra-Familial Harm and a high level of determination to ensure young people are able to remain living within their family networks in order to achieve positive outcomes.

We work with children and their families, co-producing the care plan that meets the needs of children who are at risk of child criminal and/or sexual exploitation. We always encourage and support innovative practice to ensure the most appropriate, robust and holistic support is offered to meet each child’s needs. A key part of this role will be your ability to positively impact the lives of children and young people.

We aim to create an inclusive working environment where everyone can achieve a healthy work/life balance. We are serious about our responsibility for personal and professional development and look to ensure that staff are equipped with the skills, knowledge and experience to succeed. The Councils Benefit Package is designed to boost and maintain the health, wellbeing and general quality of life of all our staff.

Security and support at work

We offer a wide range of benefits, to ensure that staff are paid fairly for the work they undertake and have the flexibility to enjoy a great work/life balance. We offer:

A competitive salary package, including a career progression scheme
A range of flexible working options, including flexitime and home-working, dependent on service requirements
A generous holiday allowance and special leave provisions
The Local Government Pension Scheme
A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme – we are committed to supporting you
Bullying and Harassment and Dignity at Work policies to protect your everyday working life
Your professional future

We invest in our staff, to enable them to develop personal and professional skills and progress in their Social Work Career.

All new employees receive a comprehensive induction, training and development programme, with regular opportunities to update their skills and achieve their full potential. We welcome fresh thinking, recognise real talent and encourage innovation and ingenuity.

We train staff at all levels. We have a huge range of training opportunities, through the Centre for Professional Practice Service. We encourage and support Continual Professional Development, with opportunities to attend external training, secondment opportunities, and earn extra qualifications through the Apprenticeship Levy.

We are recruiting Qualified Social Workers with a minimum of 12 Months post-qualifying experience.