Are you a passionate and experienced social worker who is committed to making a lasting difference to the lives of children and young people? Sheffield Fostering Service is seeking a dedicated Social Worker to join our Recruitment and Assessment Team.

About the Role

Children and young people across Sheffield need foster carers and supported lodgings hosts who can offer safe, nurturing and life-changing homes. As part of our Recruitment and Assessment Team, you will play a key role in helping us find, attract, assess and develop those individuals and families.

This is a varied and rewarding role that goes beyond traditional social work practice. The role offers a unique blend of relationship-based social work, community engagement and assessment work. You will be responsible for raising awareness of fostering and supported lodgings across Sheffield, building connections within communities, supporting prospective carers and hosts through their journey from their first enquiry through to approval, ensuring they feel informed, valued and supported throughout the process. Your ability to build trust, inspire confidence and understand people's motivations will be central to helping us recruit carers from all backgrounds and communities across Sheffield.

We are looking for someone who can bring creativity, energy and fresh ideas to the role. Someone who can spot opportunities to engage new audiences, develop innovative approaches to recruitment and help us reach people who may never have previously considered fostering or supported lodgings. You'll be confident in taking initiative, testing new ideas and helping to shape the future of recruitment within Sheffield's fostering service.

Key Responsibilities

Undertake comprehensive fostering and supported lodgings assessments in accordance with fostering legislation, national minimum standards and statutory guidance.
Build positive relationships with prospective foster carers and supported lodgings hosts, guiding them from enquiry through to panel and approval.
Actively contribute to fostering and supported lodgings recruitment campaigns, events and community engagement activities.
Develop links with local communities, businesses, faith groups and partner organisations to raise awareness of fostering and supported lodgings opportunities.
Deliver engaging information sessions and presentations to prospective applicants and community groups.
Produce high-quality, analytical and evidence-based assessment reports and panel documentation.
Work collaboratively with colleagues, children and young people's services, partners and existing foster carers to strengthen recruitment and retention activity.
Champion diversity, inclusion and equality, helping to recruit carers and hosts who reflect the communities and needs of Sheffield's children and young people.
Identify opportunities to improve recruitment processes, applicant experiences and community engagement approaches.

About You

We are looking for a qualified and registered social worker who:

Has significant post qualification experience of working with children, young people and families.
Is passionate about helping children and young people achieve positive outcomes through family-based care.
Has excellent assessment, analytical and report-writing skills.
Is a confident communicator who can engage, influence and inspire people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Enjoys networking and building relationships within local communities and professional networks.
Brings creativity, curiosity and enthusiasm to their work and is willing to explore new approaches to recruitment and engagement.
Can work independently, manage competing priorities and take initiative when opportunities arise.
Understands the importance of diversity and inclusion and is committed to recruiting carers and hosts who can meet the varied needs of Sheffield's children and young people.
Shares our values of collaboration, participation, compassion and child-centred practice.

What We Offer

The opportunity to play a pivotal role in recruiting the foster carers and supported lodgings hosts who will shape the futures of Sheffield's children and young people.
A supportive, experienced and ambitious fostering team.
Regular supervision, training and excellent opportunities for professional development.
Flexible and hybrid working arrangements where appropriate.
A comprehensive employee benefits package.
The opportunity to contribute to innovative recruitment initiatives and community-based projects.
A rewarding role where your work has a direct and lasting impact on the lives of children, young people and families across Sheffield.

If you are passionate about relationship-based social work, community engagement and helping to grow a diverse and thriving fostering community, we would love to hear from you.

Join us in finding and developing the foster carers and supported lodgings hosts who provide life-changing opportunities for Sheffield's children and young people.

Further information from Amy.Matthews@sheffield.gov.uk

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.