Children’s Services

Fostering

Supervising Social Worker Kinship

Ref: 001723

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £44,253 - £48,738 per annum (Grade 8)

Hours: 36.66 per week

Location: Spindles Shopping Centre, Floor 8, George Street, Oldham, OL1 1LS

Closing Date: Sunday 4 October 2026

Interview Date: TBC.

Purpose of the Role:

To assess, supervise and support kinship (Connected Persons) foster carers and Special Guardians in Oldham, ensuring high-quality, safe and stable family-based care that promotes children’s welfare within their wider family network. Practice is grounded in systemic, relationship-based approaches and aligned to National Minimum Standards and statutory kinship guidance.

Key Responsibilities:

1) Assessment & Permanence

Complete viability assessments connected persons/kinship fostering assessments, and Special Guardianship (SGO) reports, including presenting to Fostering Panel and court where required.
Undertake temporary approvals and Regulation 24 processes, progressing timely to panel or court in line with Oldham procedures.
Develop child-centred plans that prioritise safe permanence within family networks, consistent with Oldham’s Kinship Local Offer

2) Supervision & Support of Carers

Provide regular supervision visits (planned and unannounced), reflective discussions, and annual reviews for approved kinship foster carers, in accordance with NMS Standards
Identify and coordinate training, learning and development needs of carers and support groups, in line with NMS Standards
Offer practical and emotional support, signposting to specialist services (e.g., therapeutic support) as part of Oldham’s Local Offer for kinship families.

3) Multi-Agency Collaboration & Child-Focused Practice

Work closely with children’s social workers, education, health, and the wider team around the child to achieve good outcomes, including Family Time (contact) arrangements.
Contribute to statutory meetings (CIOC reviews, care planning, child protection conferences) and court proceedings as required.
Apply systemic practice principlesrelationship building, understanding family dynamics, and reflective learningembedded within Oldham’s practice model.

4) Duty & Service Development

Participate in duty rota arrangements to support carers and placements.
Contribute to recruitment and retention activities, foster carer forums, and continuous service improvement.
Uphold OSCP multi-agency practice standards and local safeguarding procedures adopted across Greater Manchester.

5) Recording, Compliance & Quality Assurance

Maintain accurate case records on council systems, meeting data protection and recording standards.
Ensure work complies with Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and National Minimum Standards.
Contribute to audits, panel feedback, and performance monitoring to evidence quality and impact.

Person Specification:

Qualifications & Registration
Qualified Social Worker Social Work England registered.

Experience

Post-qualification experience in fostering/kinship/children’s social care, including assessment and supervision of carers, and multi-agency working.
Experience of compiling complex assessment reports for panel/court and managing safeguarding concerns.

Knowledge

Strong understanding of Children Act 1989, Fostering Services (England) Regulations, NMS, and Kinship Care statutory guidance (Oct 2024).
Awareness of Oldham’s Kinship pathways, Local Offer, and Greater Manchester safeguarding procedures.

Skills & Behaviours

Excellent assessment, analysis, and report-writing skills, with ability to meet court/panel timescales.
Strong relationship-building and communication skills, including reflective supervision with carers.
Organised, resilient, and able to manage a varied caseload within a systemic, strengths-based framework.
Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, culturally competent practice, and trauma-informed approaches. (Embedded across NMS and local safeguarding standards.)

About Us:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

Our Values and Behaviours:

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

Work with a resident focus
Support local leaders
Committed to the borough
Delivery high performance
Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page

Our Benefits Package:

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
The option to purchase additional annual leave.
An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
Staff recognition and celebration events.
Peer support groups

Inclusive Recruitment:

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.

If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer, someone who has served in the Armed Forces, or you’ve participated in the GM Elevate Programme, and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.

Data and Privacy:

For details of how we use your data please see our Privacy Notice

Important Information:

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc

Supporting Documents

↗ Job Description & Person Specification
↗ Right To Work