Children's Social Worker - First Response

Job Description Directorate – Children and Young People’s Services Temporary 4-6 months contract, Full Time, 37 hours per week Now is the time to come and work for Rotherham Council Children and Young People’s Service. For more information about Rotherham Social Care jobs, please visit: https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/childrens-social-work-jobs 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). To guarantee children the best from us, whilst supporting individual staff to develop, we ensure our resilience by rotating social workers between roles, moving between MASH and duty on a rota basis. This ensures all social workers are meeting their full potential, utilising all their skills, and developing analytical skills alongside skills needed for managing an allocation of children. We are proud of our relationships with our partners who are co-located with us and part of the team. We make the most of their input, holding daily multi agency meetings in response to domestic abuse, ensuring quick safety planning for children, as well as having easy access to partners for strategy meetings, and information sharing when needed. 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 Service Manager Joanne McCartan: joanne.mccartan@rotherham.gov.uk Advert closing date: 25th May 2026 Shortlisting: 26th May 2026 Interview date: 29th May 2026 / 1st June 2026