Social Worker Children Looked After

We have an opportunity to join our Children Looked After Team based in Reigate.

When not working with our residents in the community, we are keen to support agile working with a combination of home and office working. We are keen to get the balance right of providing flexibility but ensuring you feel connected to your team and the service.

The salary range for Social Workers is £42,239 - £45,135 per annum. We also offer a financial package of up to £6,000 which is payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post.

Rewards and Benefits

We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee

28 days annual leave, rising to 31 days after 5 years' service (plus bank holidays)

Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave

An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing

Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year

Paternity, adoption and dependants leave

A generous local government salary related pension

Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more

2 paid volunteering days per year

Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

Refer a friend payment of £1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social WorkerOur Progress

We are proud of our recent Good Ofsted judgement, which marks a significant milestone for Surrey. The report highlights that "Children in care have trusting and positive relationships with their Social Workers. Social Workers use creative life-story work to help children understand the reasons why they are in care." And "Staff are well-trained and committed, feel highly valued and are proud to work in Surrey."

If you are considering your next professional opportunity and looking for an ambitious and highly motivated employer who is continuously striving for better services for children and young people, then our Surrey Children's Services would love to hear from you.

About working with Children Looked After

As a member in the Children Looked After Team, your role will be to support children living with relatives, friends or foster families and perspective adopters or older children living in children's homes and semi-independent units. You will build sustainable relationships with them and plan for their permanence. You will be responsible for ensuring their safety and support them take the necessary steps towards independence.

Through regular visits, assessments and reviewing their Care Plan, you will nurture and develop meaningful relationships with these children and young people; understand and interpret their wishes; and champion and support them to reach their full potential. Occasionally, you will be required to prepare reports and attend court.

You will be supported in this challenging role with regular supervision and consultations with our Mental Health Focussed Social Worker. You will also find support by working alongside other social workers, family support workers and partnership organisations such as : Health Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (New Leaf), Independent Reviewing officers and carers.

Supporting You

In Surrey, you will have a sense of belonging within your individual team but also the wider service areas and directorate. You will receive high quality supervision, as there is a firm commitment towards dedicating time that focusses on the work you do with children and families, to enable you to work creatively and holistically with a child centred approach.

You will also be supported in your career development by your management team and our Surrey Children's Service Academy, which currently has over 60 courses available and offers a bespoke learning programme so you can be at the forefront of best practice, providing you with support and a clear pathway to achieve your future aspirations.

Modules such as motivational interviewing and our total respect course allow you to feel empowered in having essential conversations whilst still ensuring a child centred approach to your practice.

Our Inclusive Approach

To apply you will need to upload your CV and answer the following questions :

Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?

Please tell us about the key skills and experience you will be able to bring to this role.

Please tell us about an example that demonstrates how you have built long lasting relationships with children.If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short first round virtual interview to explore your answers to the above questions (lasting approx. 15- 20 min)

If your Teams call goes well, you will be invited for an in person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment. That's why, if you're invited to a face-to-face interview, we'll share the themes of the questions with you in advance. This way, you can prepare and feel comfortable knowing what topics will be covered during the process, allowing you to focus and confidently discuss your valuable skills and experiences.

The job advert closes at 23 : 59 on the 22nd September 2025.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

You will need to be registered with Social Work England.

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and locality based social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

Local Government Reorganisation

Surrey County Council is preparing for Local Government Reorganisation which will allow us to implement the Government led policy of devolution, which is all about giving more powers to local areas.

Currently, Surrey has a two-tier council system, with 11 district and borough councils and a county council, all responsible for different services. All these councils will be reorganised into a smaller number of new unitary councils which will come into effect in April 2027. At this point, this role will be transferred, with all existing terms and conditions intact into one of the new unitary councils.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where :

The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application

The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application formOur application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and / or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups