Job Description

Supervising Social Worker (Specialist Fostering Team) | 10489 | Permanent Contract| 37 hours per week | £39,862 to £41,771 per annum | Grade J | Countywide

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to join our brand‑new Specialist Fostering Team at a time of significant investment and ambition within Norfolk’s Fostering Service. We have secured substantial funding to strengthen our practical and therapeutic support for children and their foster families and are now looking to appoint two Supervising Social Workers to help shape this innovative team from the outset.

The Specialist Fostering Team plays a key role in supporting foster carers with a wide range of experience and skills, including those caring for children who need enhanced and specialist support. As a Supervising Social Worker, you will build strong, trusting relationships with carers, offering consistent, reflective supervision and helping them to feel confident, supported and connected in their role.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team alongside Carer Support Workers, an Occupational Therapy Assistant Practitioner and a Mockingbird Liaison Officer, you will contribute to a proactive, relationship‑based and trauma‑informed approach, ensuring support is responsive to the individual needs of each child and their foster family.

A core part of the role will be delivering and embedding specialist models of practice through your direct work with foster carers, drawing on the service’s enhanced therapeutic and practical support offer. This will include:

• Providing consistent, relationship‑based supervision to foster carers, strengthening confidence and resilience
• Working closely with fostering clinicians to implement trauma‑informed and systemic approaches, helping carers to understand and respond to children’s needs through consultation and shared planning
• Contributing to robust, transparent and well‑planned matching processes, including developing detailed profiles, supporting introductions, and ensuring carers feel well prepared and informed
• Building strong professional relationships with carers and wider networks, promoting a culture of trust, respect and shared decision‑making
• Supporting the stability of children’s homes by working proactively with carers and partners to identify risks early, strengthen support plans and reduce the likelihood of breakdowns

Through your work, you will help to strengthen stability for children, reduce isolation for foster carers and build confident, well‑supported fostering families.

This role offers a genuine opportunity to contribute to a developing service, influence practice and be part of an ambitious programme of change, while maintaining a strong focus on quality, safeguarding and positive outcomes for children. You will work closely with colleagues across Children’s Services and partner agencies, contributing to our shared ambition for children to thrive within their foster families.

Before you apply, we recommend reading the full and Person Specification to help you demonstrate you meet the criteria.

If you have any queries about these posts, please contact Amy Sibun, Head of Fostering, Adoption and Kinship Services on amy.sibun@norfolk.gov.uk

These are some benefits you can enjoy by working for Norfolk County Council:

• Competitive salary
• Generous holiday entitlement
• Health and Wellbeing services including fast-track physiotherapy and a free counselling service
• Flexible working opportunities including flexi-time, part time, remote and hybrid working – dependant on your job role and business need.
• Financial benefits such as:
  • ‘Norfolk Rewards’ our employee discounts programme which helps you save money on almost anything, from everyday groceries and clothes, to holidays, new technology, gym membership, trips to the cinema and days out.
  • A Blue Light card for Fire Service and Social Care Workers
  • Relocation expenses (where applicable)
  • An advance of your expenses if you travel for work
  • Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution, life assurance, death in service payments and dependants’ pensions.

  • Tax efficient ways of getting extra pension and new bikes

  • Access to our tax efficient car lease scheme for greener travel enabling you to lease a brand new, ultra-low emission vehicle (subject to eligibility)

  • A payment if you refer someone you know to a hard to fill job

You can also find information on our Terms and Conditions here.

Already a Norfolk County Council employee? See and apply for internal and external vacancies in myOracle using your @norfolk.gov.uk or @nccal.ac.uk email.

We would like to make you aware that priority consideration for this post may be given to current employees who are at risk due to restructure within the organisation or are in a redeployment position.

Redeployment closing date: 26 May 2026 at 23:55

All other applicants closing date: 08 June 2026 at 23:55