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BE EXCEPTIONAL WITH US.

Explore our current vacancies and discover a rewarding career where your expertise is valued, supported and celebrated

Our Vacancies

Shaping our future together

To apply to join us and make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and families across Dudley borough at this exciting time, simply complete an online application form through our jobs portal.

​The current roles available are listed below, along with their closing dates. Click on ‘Apply now’ to complete an online application form for the position.

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Vacancies - at a glance

Social Worker - Dudley Exploitation Team

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Social Worker - Assessment Service

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Social Worker - Family Help

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Team Manager - Peripatetic Team

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Advanced Social Work Practitioner - Adolescent Safeguarding Team

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Advanced Social Work Practitioner - Family Safeguarding Team

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Social Worker - Peripatetic Team


Travel Support Team Manager

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Social Worker - Dudley Exploitation Team

  • £39,152 to £46,142 per annum plus £7,000 per annum Market Forces Supplement

  • Permanent (full time)

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026 

Grade 9 and Grade 10 posts available.

Dudley Exploitation Hub is a multi-disciplinary team that specialise in supporting children who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing harm outside the home. This includes sexual and criminal exploitation, modern slavery, youth criminality, and anti-social behaviour. The service provides a central triage point for referrals from across Dudley Borough and works with partners, our vulnerable young people and their families to disrupt and reduce risk through child centred safety planning and intensive intervention.

Our exploitation hub practitioners work intensively with young people assessed to be at High and Medium risk of exploitation and also support Lead Practitioners from across the partnership, including our Family Help and Youth Justice services, our health, education and police colleagues and our commissioned specialist exploitation services, to ensure that early vulnerabilities are recognised and early intervention and support is co-ordinated.
 

Working alongside families using our Restorative Model of practice, we use family led-decision making strategies and Motivational Interviewing skills to help families access creative and targeted support packages that will help to develop meaningful and lasting change for families. You will work with a small number of young people, no more than 10 at any one time to lead interventions and support specific to the risks outside the home. This may mean that you also co-work with practitioners in our Family Help or Youth Justice service so that packages are support are well co-ordinated, creative and reflect individual child and family needs.
 

We are seeking to recruit practitioners who can evidence sound knowledge around exploitation, missing and contextual safeguarding and have the ability to build and develop effective relationships with young people and families facing these complex challenges. You will work with a small number of young people, no more than 10 at any one time to lead interventions and support specific to the risks outside the home and co-work with practitioners in our Family Help or Youth Justice service. You will also contribute to learning with colleagues by mentoring, coaching, and participating in reflective discussions.
 

If you require more information or have any questions about this exciting opportunity please email Karen Johnson (Principal Service Lead) @ karen.g.Johnson@dudley.gov.uk

Job Description (G9)

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Social Worker - Assessment Service

  • £39,152 - £46,142 per annum plus £7,000 per annum Market Forces Supplement

  • Permanent (full time)

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026

Grade 9 and Grade 10 posts available.
 

Our developing Family Help service aims to provide targeted support and help to families so that children and families can thrive and more families are able to stay together. We recognise that providing the right type of support at the right time for families is key to working effectively and that lasting relationships with professionals is central to working alongside families and their networks. Working alongside families using our Restorative Model of practice, we use family led-decision making strategies and Motivational Interviewing skills to help families access creative and targeted support packages that will help to develop meaningful and lasting change for families. This includes increased capacity to manage complex parenting challenges and reducing risks within family networks and across our community.
 

Our Family Help service is delivered through the ‘Family Safeguarding model’ which delivers a whole family approach to support. Social workers and Family Help practitioners will co-ordinate the support offered to families drawing on the knowledge and skillset of experienced Child Practitioners; Drug and Alcohol practitioners’ Probation Officers; Domestic Abuse Workers, and Mental Health Practitioners. The Family Safeguarding programme is used to inform our direct work with families and our model of supervision is reflective group supervision involving those practitioners involved in supporting a family.
 

Our ambition is for more families to receive the support that they need from within their local community through our model of early support. However, we recognise that some worries about children and families arise quickly and can be significant for children, particularly child protection concerns. Our Family Help service therefore incudes an assessment service which uses our single assessment process and statutory child protection procedures, to work alongside families in assessing their needs and identifying the right plan of support for them. Referrals come directly to the team from our integrated children’s front door and link in closely with our Family Help and locality partners. We are currently developing our (Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT) and in time, the Assessment Team will work closed with MACPT to assess and plan for our children requiring child protection intervention.
 

If you require more information or have any questions about this exciting opportunity please email Karen Johnson (Principal Service Lead) @ karen.g.Johnson@dudley.gov.uk

Job Description (G9)

Job Description (G10)

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Employee Benefits

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Social Worker - Family Help

  • £39,152 to £46,142 per annum plus £7,000 per annum Market Forces Supplement

  • Permanent (full time)

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026 

Grade 9 and Grade 10 posts available.
 

Our developing Family Help service aims to provide targeted support and help to families so that children and families can thrive and more families are able to stay together. We recognise that providing the right type of support at the right time for families is key to working effectively and that lasting relationships with professionals is central to working alongside families and their networks. Working alongside families using our Restorative Model of practice, we use family led-decision making strategies and Motivational Interviewing skills to help families access creative and targeted support packages that will help to develop meaningful and lasting change for families. This includes increased capacity to manage complex parenting challenges and reducing risks within family networks and across our community.

 

Our Family Help service is delivered through the ‘Family Safeguarding model’ which delivers a whole family approach to support. Social workers and Family Help practitioners will co-ordinate the support offered to families drawing on the knowledge and skillset of experienced Child Practitioners; Drug and Alcohol practitioners’ Probation Officers; Domestic Abuse Workers, and Mental Health Practitioners. The Family Safeguarding programme is used to inform our direct work with families and our model of supervision is reflective group supervision involving those practitioners involved in supporting a family. 

 

We are based centrally at Cable Plaza, Dudley Waterfront but our Family Help service is a locality-based model. Teams working closely alongside Dudley’s 5 Family Hubs who provide early support to families through their links with our local partners. As the Family help service continues to develop, improved relationships between Family Help practitioners and our local partners will enable more families to be supported earlier when problems and difficulties are easier to address. 

 

We believe our children and families deserve the consistency and stability in the support provided. Our service works with families who require a single assessment, a co-ordinated plan including child protection plans and we undertake pre-proceedings and care proceedings work. We recognise that strong permanency planning for our children is key to supporting family relationships and networks, even when it is not safe for children to remain within the care of a parent. Our kinship offer is developing and we working closely with our kinship team to secure creative and supportive plans for family networks.

 

Our service is a friendly and passionate service, always seeking to improve the best outcomes for our children and families. We offer a great opportunity to expand your skillset, knowledge, and confidence within front line help and safeguarding practice, supported by regular supervision and a committed and supportive management team. 

 

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

 

If you require more information or have any questions about this exciting opportunity please email Karen Johnson (Principal Service Lead) @ karen.g.Johnson@dudley.gov.uk

Job Description (G9)

Job Description (G10)

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Employee Benefits

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Team Manager - Peripatetic Team

  • £55,461 to £59,414 - (salary subject to experience)

  • Permanent (full time)

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026

We’re looking for a confident, adaptable and inspiring Team Manager to lead our peripatetic social work team - a vital, flexible service that steps in wherever the need is greatest across Dudley.
 

This is not your typical management role. In this post, you and your team go where you’re needed most, supporting service areas under pressure and working with children and families at every stage of their journey. Your leadership will directly impact some of the most complex and high-risk areas of practice. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment, enjoy variety, and are passionate about making a difference where it matters most - this could be the role for you.
 

As Team Manager, you will:
 

  • Lead and support a mobile team of skilled social workers deployed across the service.
     

  • Respond to areas of highest need, ensuring children and families receive timely, effective support.
     

  • Provide oversight and direction on complex and high-risk cases.
     

  • Support your team to perform at their best under pressure, maintaining high standards of practice.
     

  • Work across the full child’s journey—from first contact and assessment through to long-term planning and permanence
     

  • Collaborate with senior leaders to identify pressures, allocate support, and drive improvement.
     

  • Champion high-quality, child-centred practice and strong professional decision-making
     

About you - You’re someone who:
 

  • Is a qualified, experienced social worker with a strong track record in children’s services.
     

  • Understands the full journey of a child through the system, and can confidently lead across all stages.
     

  • Is adaptable and solution-focused, comfortable stepping into new teams and challenges at short notice.
     

  • Stays calm, decisive and resilient in high-pressure situations.
     

  • Has the leadership skills to motivate, guide and develop staff in a changing environment.
     

  • Is committed to achieving the best outcomes for children and families, no matter the circumstances.
     

For further information regarding this role please contact one of the service managers in Family Help: Jodie Baker, Jodie.baker@dudley.gov.uk or Longina Furidze, longina.furidze@dudley.gov.uk 

Job Description / Person Specification

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Advanced Social Work Practitioner - Adolescent Safeguarding Team

  • £51,356 to £54,495 per annum

  • 37 hours per week

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026

This is an exciting and rewarding time to join Child Friendly Dudley in new Advanced Social Work Practitioner roles which have been introduced across our social work teams.
 

We are strengthening our commitment to young people by embedding a trauma-informed, relationship-based approach within our Adolescent Safeguarding Team. Building on our established restorative practice model, we are redesigning our services and implementing the Family Safeguarding model to ensure adolescents remain at the centre of everything we do. This means working collaboratively with families and partners to reduce risk, promote resilience, and create safer futures for young people. As part of the Families First redesign, our adolescent safeguarding service is merging with Family Safeguarding to create one integrated Family Help service — and we’re looking for passionate social workers who want to make a difference for young people and address the issues facing teenagers.
 

Advanced Practitioners will be pivotal in establishing consistently excellent social work practice in our teams. You will hold a caseload of some of our children needing the most skilled help, and share your expertise with others through modelling, coaching, reflective supervision and other learning activities.
 

You will be a registered social worker with significant experience of working with children and families in a statutory social work setting including being able to evidence how you have intervened in areas of poor practice, demonstrated leading practice and developing the professional practice of team members. You will also have experience of formally supporting others in a social work or social care role, which may include practice education of students or ASYE social workers. You will be dynamic and driven to achieve strong outcomes for our children, skilled in providing support and challenge to colleagues and families and creating change.
 

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.

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For an informal discussion please contact Longina Furidze, Service Manager Adolescent Safeguarding @ longina.furidze@dudley.gov.uk

Job Description

Person Specification

Employee Benefits

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Advanced Social Work Practitioner - Family Safeguarding Team

  • £51,356 to £54,495 per annum

  • 37 hours per week

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026

This is an exciting and rewarding time to join Child Friendly Dudley in new Advanced Social Work Practitioner roles which have been introduced across our social work teams.
 

We are building on our established restorative practice model by re-designing our directorate and implementing the Family Safeguarding model to ensure we focus on children first and place them at the heart of all we do.
 

Advanced Practitioners will be pivotal in establishing consistently excellent social work practice in our teams. You will hold a caseload of some of our children needing the most skilled help, and share your expertise with others through modelling, coaching, reflective supervision and other learning activities.
 

You will be a registered social worker with significant experience of working with children and families in a statutory social work setting including being able to evidence how you have intervened in areas of poor practice, demonstrated leading practice and developing the professional practice of team members. You will also have experience of formally supporting others in a social work or social care role, which may include practice education of students or ASYE social workers. You will be dynamic and driven to achieve strong outcomes for our children, skilled in providing support and challenge to colleagues and families and creating change.
 

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.

For an informal discussion please contact Karen Johnson, Head of Service - Family Safeguarding @ karen.g.johnson@dudley.gov.uk

Job Description

Person Specification

Employee Benefits

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Social Worker - Peripatetic Team

  • £39,152 to £46,142 plus £7000 per annum Market Forces Supplement
    (Grade and salary subject to experience)

  • Permanent (full time)

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026

At Dudley Children’s Services, we are building a flexible, dynamic peripatetic team that goes where the need is greatest—supporting children, young people, and families at critical points in their journey.
 

As a Peripatetic Social Worker, you won’t be tied to one team or service area. Instead, you’ll be deployed across the service, stepping into areas under pressure and working with some of the most complex and high-risk situations. This is a role for social workers who thrive on variety, challenge, and purpose.
 

If you are adaptable, resilient, and committed to delivering high-quality practice when and where it matters most, we want to hear from you.
 

What you’ll be doing:
 

In this unique role, you will:
 

  • Work as part of a mobile team of social workers, led by an experienced Team Manager.
     

  • Be deployed to areas of highest demand, providing targeted support where it’s needed most.
     

  • Work across the full child’s journey—from initial contact and assessment through to long-term planning and permanence.
     

  • Manage complex and high-risk cases, ensuring timely and effective interventions.
     

  • Quickly build relationships with children, families, and professionals in new teams and environments.
     

  • Demonstrate flexibility and professionalism while maintaining consistent, high-quality practice.
     

  • Contribute to stabilising services, reducing pressure, and improving outcomes for children.
     

About you - You’re someone who:
 

  • Is a qualified social worker, registered with Social Work England.
     

  • Has experience within children’s social care, with confidence working across different service areas.
     

  • Understands the child’s journey from start to finish, and can adapt your practice accordingly.
     

  • Is highly adaptable, able to step into new situations and make an immediate impact.
     

  • Is resilient and confident working in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.
     

  • Has strong assessment, analytical and decision-making skills
     

  • Is committed to child-centred practice and achieving the best possible outcomes
     

For further information regarding this role please contact one of the service managers in Family Help: Jodie Baker, Jodie.baker@dudley.gov.uk or Longina Furidze, longina.furidze@dudley.gov.uk 

Job Description / Person Specification (G9)

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Travel Support Team Manager

  • £51,356.00 to £54,495.00 Full Time Per Annum

  • Permanent (full time) Office 3+ days a week (pro-rata) or Onsite full time

  • Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

  • Closing date: Friday 28 August 2026

Previous applicants need not apply

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We are looking for an experienced, motivated and forward-thinking Travel Support Team Manager to lead our Education Travel Support Team (ETST). This is a key leadership role within Children’s Services, ensuring that over 900 children and young people can travel safely and reliably to school or educational provision every day.
 

The service supports a diverse range of children and young people aged 4–25, including those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), those in care, and those accessing respite or short-break services. You will be at the heart of a service that directly improves children’s daily lives and their access to education.
 

In this high-impact role, you will:
 

  • Lead and manage a team of eight staff to deliver a safe, efficient and high-quality travel support service.
     

  • Oversee the assessment of applications, commissioning of transport, contract management, performance monitoring, and continuous improvement activity.
     

  • Manage approximately £10m of procured travel support services and ensure robust contract compliance, including audits, investigations and contractor performance action.
     

  • Lead on safeguarding across all commissioned travel services including managing allegations, liaising with the LADO, carrying out formal interviews and, where necessary, making referrals to the DBS.
     

  • Build strong working relationships with schools, transport providers, social care and education teams.
     

  • Drive innovation and improvements, analysing performance and financial data to identify opportunities for efficiencies without compromising safety or quality.
     

  • Prepare reports, briefings and correspondence and work with Legal and Procurement to shape future commissioning activity.

This is a complex, varied and rewarding role requiring professional confidence, strong judgement and the ability to work under pressure especially during peak operational periods.

 

About you - We are looking for someone who:
 

  • Has significant experience in managing operational services, ideally in a transport, education or local authority setting.
     

  • Can lead teams effectively, motivating staff and developing a culture of high performance.
     

  • Has strong contract management, commissioning or procurement experience.
     

  • Understands safeguarding responsibilities and can manage sensitive, high-risk decision-making.
     

  • Is highly organised and able to work at pace, managing competing priorities.
     

  • Is confident in handling complex issues, complaints and investigations.
     

  • Builds positive, productive relationships with internal and external partners.
     

You will also need a full driving licence and business insurance. This role is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

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Don’t see the perfect role right now?

We are always looking for passionate, exceptional talent to join Dudley Children's Services. If your ideal role isn't listed above, we still want to hear from you. Get in touch with our team for a confidential, informal chat about future opportunities

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