Salary

Up to £44,711 & excellent benefits (pay award pending)

Contractual hours

37

Basis

Full time

Region

Rotherham

Job category/type

Childrens Social Work, Social Care

Date posted

29/07/2025

Job reference

REQ20838

Directorate: Children and Young People’s Services

Temporary for 12 months, full time, 37 hours per week.

ABOUT THE FIRST RESPONSE SERVICE

We will deliver on our promise to our children – will you?

If you want to talk children, come and work with us!

We talk about children, not cases, and keeping children at the forefront of our decision making ensures them better outcomes.

As a service, First Response is one big team comprising of the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH); 4 duty teams; the Out of Hours service, EVOLVE (exploitation) and ENGAGE (crisis support).

We are currently recruiting to Social Work posts in the duty and assessment teams.

The duty teams undertake assessments on new children into the service and work across the Borough.

We operate a 4-week duty rota, with each team spending one week on duty, allowing the 3 following weeks to complete assessments and other associated tasks.

As the team manages all incoming assessments, no two days are ever the same.

This work will include S47 investigations; initiating care proceeding; accommodating children; assessments; pre-birth assessments; Legal gateway meetings following PLO processes.

Work is varied, complex, and high paced but very rewarding.

Don’t take our word for it.

This is what one of our newly qualified social workers had to say.

‘My experience in Rotherham as a newly qualified social worker could not have been better, the support and guidance provided by the social workers and managers has helped to build my confidence and skills in order to ensure the best outcomes for the children I work with’.

ABOUT YOU
• You will care.
• You will make sure children are at the heart of all you do.
• You will ask the right questions to make the best plans for children.
• You will have experience of working with children in a social work setting.
• You will have excellent assessments skills where analysis is key.
• You will be able to organise your daily workload independently.

You will have some experience and understanding of court work.
• You will be a team player and value the strength that your colleagues bring to the team.
• You will have experience of carrying out safeguarding investigations as part of a multi-agency partnership.
• You will be able to demonstrate initiative and work flexibly to ensure children receive a service that matters.
• You will be able to negotiate tactfully when dealing with potential conflict.
• You will be able to forge positive working relationships with partners.
• You will be capable of accurate reporting and the communication of sometimes complex information to a variety of audiences.
• You will be passionate about maximising a child’s life chances.

If you have any questions regarding the role, please email the Service Manager Joanne McCartan at [email protected] / or Hannah Meredith at [email protected]

Shortlisting: 15th August 2025.

Interview date: week commencing 18th August 2025.

These posts involve working with children and therefore if successful you will be required to apply for a disclosure of criminal records check at an enhanced level.

Further information about the Disclosure Scheme can be found at www.gov.uk/disclosure-barring-service-check.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

These posts operate under a Career Grade/Grading Assessment Scheme, with starting salary and progression through the grades being linked to experience, qualifications and level of work being undertaken.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination.

The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customers, and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best.

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview.

For further information, please visit our website.

Until 31st March 2026 employees paid at Band D and above are subject to a temporary pay reduction of 1.15% spread out by means of a monthly deduction from each pay period over the full financial year.

In recognition of implementing this temporary measure, those who experience a pay reduction will be awarded three additional days leave (pro rata for part-time).