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Principal Social Worker - Children's Social Care

Sutton Council
Sutton
Hybrid Working
Permanent
Full Time
11
36
£77,550 - £92,601 (£97,103 unconsolidated maximum)
Per annum
recruitment and retention bonus
32 days

21/05/2026, 23:55

TBC

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

This is an exciting opportunity for an inspirational and values‑driven leader to join our Senior Management Team as our Principal  Social Worker.  As the guardian  of professional standards you will ensure that the work of our practitioners across children’s services remains ethical, effective and centred on the child. You will assist the organisation by helping to create the conditions for excellent  practice to flourish and to be evidenced
As a Principal Social Worker  your key responsibilities will be:

  • Strategic Leadership and Advice: Operating at a senior level to influence council strategy, providing professional advice to the DCS, and ensuring statutory compliance.
  •  Overseeing frameworks to improve social work practice, auditing cases, and ensuring a consistent, high-standard approach across adult social care.
  •  Leading and supporting the social care workforce, supporting effective supervision, and creating a positive learning culture.
  • Safeguarding Leadership: Driving the strategic safeguarding agenda to ensure a robust response to concerns and ensuring social workers are "making safeguarding personal".
  • Connecting Frontline and Strategy: Acting as a conduit to inform directors and senior staff about practice realities, including the impact of policies and demographic changes.
  • Championing Best Practice: Promoting trauma-informed, strengths-based, and human rights-based approaches to practice.

As our Principal Social Worker, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring Sutton meets the LGA Standard for Employers, working closely alongside the Principal Social Worker of Adult Social Care and their Occupational Therapy Services. You will provide confident leadership, expert and professional advice, and clear decision making on all aspects of  practice.

You will champion the voice of children, young people and their families, ensuring their needs and aspirations shape service design, practice development, and partnership working. You will work closely with a skilled and committed workforce, acting as a critical friend, and ensuring that the voice of frontline practice is represented within senior decision making forums. 

You will be the strategic lead for representing and developing our Practice Framework strengthening our restorative and trauma-informed practice models, ensuring they are consistently applied and evidenced within children's records Furthermore, you will maintain a strong focus on anti-racism and anti-discriminatory practice, promoting inclusivity both within the work with our families and within our workforce.  

This is a demanding and high‑profile role in which you will hold lead operational responsibility for ensuring the Council meets its statutory duties under the Children Act 1989, and all associated safeguarding and regulatory frameworks. You will work closely with internal and external partners—including health, education, and commissioned providers—to secure safe, stable, and ambitious social work practice. You will also contribute to the strategic direction of the wider service, driving innovation, quality improvement, and best practice in line with Ofsted expectations and national standards. You will play a pivotal role in ensuring that Sutton fulfils its promise to every child:  to feel safe, support and be able to thrive.

For more information about the role and/or an informal conversation, view the Role Profile or contact Jackie McCarthy, Director - Children's Social Care and Safeguarding on jackie.mccarthy@sutton.gov.uk

About You

This role offers an excellent opportunity for a motivated and values‑driven leader who is passionate about improving the lives of every child and family open to social care. We’re looking for someone who brings compassion, resilience, innovation, strong relationship‑building skills, and a commitment to delivering high‑quality, child‑centred practice.

It’s a great fit for:

  • an experienced Service Manager ready to step into a senior leadership role with wider strategic influence
  • an established senior manager looking to make an impact in a forward‑thinking, ambitious local authority

You’ll be supported to understand Sutton’s approach to working with our children, young people and their families with access to coaching, mentoring, and collaborative leadership to help you succeed.

We’re looking for candidates who can demonstrate:

  • strong experience in children’s social care
  • a proven ability to lead teams and partnerships to deliver improved outcomes for children 
  • confidence in managing performance, driving service improvement, and leading change in complex environments
  • a clear understanding of statutory responsibilities under the Children Act and related legislation

This is a chance to shape the future of social work practice in Sutton and ensure every child or family who comes into contact with us feels the benefit of strong, relational social work skills. 

The London Borough of Sutton “is uncompromising in its focus on improving quality of frontline social work” – Ofsted

London Borough of Sutton works closely with Kingston University and regional partners as part of the Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership (SWTP). The partnership offers staff a wide range of pre and post qualifying education opportunities to promote continuous learning and development. This includes staff being encouraged to support the practice education of Social Work students and those in the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE). Staff are also given the opportunity to attend conferences, workshops and have access to research and practice resources to support their ongoing professional development.

As a Council, we are on an ambitious transformation journey to strengthen outcomes for our children, young people, and families, and to respond effectively to increasing levels of need. Our vision is to deliver outstanding, relationship‑based practice that enables every child to feel safe, supported, and able to thrive. We are equally committed to creating an inclusive, diverse, and stable environment where our workforce can develop, grow, and feel proud of the difference they make.

Children's Social Care is going through an important change to meet the growing needs of the children and families we support. We are making many improvements to ensure that care for children is better and to create positive working environments for our staff. With committed leaders and experienced managers, we are bringing fresh ideas to our work and are helping to make real improvements in how we support children and families. Our aim is to provide high-quality care that helps children thrive while also creating an inclusive, diverse, and supportive environment for our staff to develop their careers.

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

  • A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade 
  • Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
  • Two volunteering days per year
  • Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role) 
  • Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
  • Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
  • Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
  • Interest free season ticket loans
  • Local Government Pension Scheme
  • Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
  • Electric vehicle leasing scheme
  • Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities. 
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. 

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

Important Information - Political Restrictions
This post has been deemed as politically restricted / sensitive and therefore applicants will be required to declare any interests that may be deemed political as part of their application.