Senior Social Worker - Leaving Care Service

Senior Social Worker - Leaving Care Service
PO5 - £52,194 - £55,323 (Plus Market Supplement)
Office & Community Based 
Interviews: w/c 20.04.2026

Senior Social Worker – PO5. Candidates must have experience of working directly with care leavers.

Leaving Care Service | Office & Community Based | London Borough of Newham

Interviews: w/c 20.04.2026 (Job advert may close early if high volume of applications received)

Join Us and Help Build a Fairer Newham — Recently Rated Outstanding by Ofsted (Nov 2025)

Newham is a vibrant, diverse, and culturally rich borough with a young population and limitless potential. We are proud to be one of the first local authorities in the country to recognise “having left care” as a protected characteristic, reflecting our unwavering commitment to equity, inclusion, and meaningful change for our care leavers.

In November 2025, Ofsted rated Newham’s Children’s Services Outstanding, including the Leaving Care Service. Inspectors highlighted the borough’s exceptional dedication to young people and the strength of our relational, long‑term practice:

“Council members, senior leaders and the workforce share a strong commitment to Newham care leavers… Young people remain at the heart of practice long after they leave care… support does not lessen as they transition into adulthood. Personal advisers build strong and enduring relationships… providing consistent guidance, support and advocacy. They fiercely champion their young people’s rights, and there is a strong culture of keeping the door open long after age 21.”

This is a rare opportunity to join an Outstanding service where restorative, systemic, and relationship‑based practice sits at the centre of everything we do. You will be joining a highly supportive and reflective team that values trust, professional growth, and meaningful relationships with young people.

If you want to make a real, lasting difference—and be part of a service that genuinely champions its care leavers—Newham is the place to do it.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Social Worker to join our dynamic Leaving Care Service. You will work within one of five supportive teams, each comprising a Team Manager, a Senior Social Worker, and a group of Personal Advisers.

As a Senior Social Worker, you will undertake complex, relationship‑based work with care leavers aged 18–25, ensuring they receive consistent, high‑quality statutory support as they transition into adulthood. You will also play a key leadership role within the team, contributing to professional development, reflective practice, and service stability.

In this role, you will:

• Build trusting, meaningful, and enduring relationships with care leavers aged 18–25.
• Lead on comprehensive assessments, risk management, and safety planning to safeguard young people.
• Co‑produce realistic, progressive, and aspirational Pathway Plans that reflect each young person’s goals and strengths.
• Provide expert guidance and advocacy across housing, health, education, employment, finance, and wellbeing.
• Support young people to develop and sustain safe family, kinship, and community connections.
• Work collaboratively with internal and external partners to ensure a holistic and coordinated approach.
• Line‑manage and provide case supervision to one Personal Adviser, ensuring oversight of all young people allocated to that PA.
• Offer professional leadership to colleagues through mentoring, coaching, and modelling reflective, restorative practice.
• Provide interim managerial cover in the absence of the Team Manager, supporting service continuity and decision‑making.
• Chair key meetings relating to young people’s plans, ensuring high‑quality multi‑agency coordination.

About You

To be shortlisted, you must be a qualified and experienced Senior Social Worker with Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) Level 1 & Level 2 qualification, alongside:

• A strong track record of working with care leavers or children in care in a statutory setting.
• Proven experience managing a complex caseload and co‑producing high‑quality, outcome‑focused Pathway Plans.
• Confidence and skill in assessing, managing, and mitigating risk, including developing effective safety plans.
• A deep understanding of the challenges faced by care‑experienced young people, including trauma, identity, stability, and transition to adulthood.
• Insight into the barriers young people face when accessing education, employment, training, housing, and health services.
• Experience working within a diverse, urban community and a commitment to anti‑discriminatory and anti‑oppressive practice.
• High professional standards, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and a commitment to reflective practice, systemic thinking, and continuous learning.
• The ability to coach, mentor, and support colleagues, contributing to a positive and restorative team culture.

Please view JD here

Additional Information

We are committed to creating an inclusive, anti-racist environment for all. When you apply for a job at Newham, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. If you share our vision and values, and you bring the experience and skills we need, that’s all that matters to us.

The London Borough of Newham has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Please attach CV along with your supporting statement, explaining in no more than x2 A4 sides why and how you meet the criteria for this role.

We practice anonymised recruitment. Please ensure that you remove all personal information from any documents that you upload.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found by https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn.