Our social work roles
We have a wide range of rewarding social work job roles based around the country. Whether you are a newly qualified social worker, have a few years of experience in practice or lots of experience, we have roles to suit you. Please check out our current vacancies and read more about our social work roles below:
As a Family Court Adviser (FCA), you will be working directly with vulnerable children and families to advise the family courts on the best course of action for the child or young person. At the heart of this, you will provide case analysis and recommendations to the court.
You will work with parents, relatives, local authorities and the courts, and must demonstrate your understanding of what the child needs, wants and feels.
What you need
You will need to be an expert in safeguarding, child engagement, inter-agency working, case analysis, planning and recording.
Our work can be demanding. Therefore, you will need to be resilient and organised, have the ability to work proportionately, with strong IT skills and excellent verbal and written communication skills.
How we work
An FCA is a role where you can work truly flexibly. All our social work staff receive a laptop and a smart phone. This allows a flexible approach to work. Staff can work from an office, court, or home.
What we offer
You will enjoy a work environment where we will support your continuing learning and development and you will receive a great rewards and benefits package that focuses on you and your wellbeing.
In return for your skills and commitment, we offer a privileged role – being the voice in the family court for some of the most vulnerable children in England.
With approximately 75% of our total workforce being qualified Social Workers, we are the largest employer of Social Workers in England. Whether you are looking for a frontline role or a managerial role, take a look at our current vacancies. If we are not currently recruiting for a role that interests you, then you might want to register for our National Social Work Talent Pool.
View, search and apply for our social work vacancies.
Associate Family Court Advisers (self-employed social workers contracted by Cafcass) are an important branch of our working community. They are commissioned by our local teams across England to help manage work with children and young people and complement the work of our employed practitioners. Contracting Associate FCAs enables us to retain talented, passionate people who were previously employed by us as well as attract new skilled individuals to engage with us.
Find out more about becoming an Associate Family Court Adviser on our Cafcass Associates page.
Our Heads of Practice provide inspirational leadership to our teams, ensuring the delivery of high-quality services and practice across a geographical area.
They are responsible for leading practice improvement and influencing local delivery partners. Other duties might involve work on strategic or complex operational matters.
Ultimately, the focus of the role is to ensure that our priorities, policies and plans are delivered to the highest possible standard to ensure positive outcomes for children and young people.
Due to the geographical spread of our sites, you should expect a certain amount of travel although the provision of a laptop as well as a smart phone enables you to work at court, home and our offices.
What you need
You must have demonstrable post qualifying experience in a social work setting or equivalent of working with children and families at a sufficient level to be able to make an impact as a Head of Practice.
As this is a leadership role, experience of effectively managing staff, service and budgets at a senior level across a wide range of functions is also a requirement. You must have the experience and credibility to influence others and drive forward continuous improvement.
With approximately 75% of our total workforce being qualified Social Workers, we are the largest employer of Social Workers in England. Whether you are looking for a frontline role or a managerial role, take a look at our current vacancies. If we are not currently recruiting for a role that interests you, then you might want to register for our National Social Work Talent Pool.
View, search and apply for our social work vacancies.
As a Service Manager, you will lead and manage a team of experienced practitioners. Your role will be to provide professional support, advice and supervision to frontline practitioners, ensuring that all cases are allocated and a quality service is delivered to children and families, and to the family courts.
You will be responsible for the development of your team and the results delivered. You will work in partnership with other agencies and with our commissioned services to ensure the best possible outcomes for the children and families with whom we work.
What you need
For this role, we need you to have expert knowledge of children’s social work, including safeguarding, statutory responsibilities and assessment frameworks.
As it is a leadership role, a track record of highly effective practice management or supervisory experience is also essential. Furthermore, demonstrable experience of being a practice educator with the skills to continuously monitor, manage, develop and improve team and individual performance is a key requirement.
Let us tell you more...
“I joined Cafcass as a Family Court Adviser and worked in that role for sixteen months before securing promotion to the role of Service Manager.
I have the privilege of managing experienced staff who are all working towards the goal of achieving better outcomes for children. I am able to contribute to this goal through case discussions, supervision and auditing reports and files.
The role also enables me to build and maintain relationships with our partner agencies as well as our service users.
These are challenging times for all public services but working for Cafcass offers me flexibility and the ability to manage my own time that fits in with my family commitments.
I have found the role provides me with autonomy but I know that support is readily available from my line manager and an approachable senior leadership team.
This is rewarding and enjoyable role where I can see the difference we are making in children’s lives.”
- Catherine Howes, Service Manager
With approximately 75% of our total workforce being qualified Social Workers, we are the largest employer of Social Workers in England. Whether you are looking for a frontline role or a managerial role, take a look at our current vacancies. If we are not currently recruiting for a role that interests you, then you might want to register for our National Social Work Talent Pool.
View, search and apply for our social work vacancies.
As an Assistant Service Manager, you provide advanced social work-level services to children, families and courts by assessing and analysing court applications for any child protection and serious welfare issues affecting a child or young person.
You will influence those with parental responsibility to be more child-focused when needed and to advise the courts about how a child’s life can be improved, supporting judicial case management in the process. You will of course also need to keep the child at the centre of your work through high quality direct work.
As an Assistant Service Manager, you also work closely with the Service Manager to continually improve the quality of the work undertaken by Family Court Advisers. You’ll provide regular group supervision, training sessions, reflective supervision and informal coaching or mentoring to Family Court Advisers, as well as quality assuring case work and practice. This will contribute directly to improving outcomes for children and their families. You also support the Service Manager with case allocations, duty rotas and general staff support.
What you need
To be considered for an Assistant Service Manager role, you must have experience in social work with children and families at risk. You will also be able to demonstrate experience of training/coaching/mentoring/supporting others to improve their practice.
With approximately 75% of our workforce qualified Social Workers, we’re the largest employer of Social Workers in England. Whether you’re looking for a frontline role or a managerial role, take a look at our current vacancies. If we aren’t currently recruiting for a role that interests you then you might want to register for our National Social Work Talent Pool.
View, search and apply for our social work vacancies.