Senior Social Worker

We are pleased to be inviting applications for a compassionate and dedicated social worker to join our Disabled Children’s Team.

The Disabled Children’s Team are committed to providing bespoke care packages to meet the unique needs of children with complex and profound disabilities in York. We believe in creating a supportive and inclusive community where every child can thrive and achieve their potential.

It is an exciting time to join York as successful candidates will be involved in driving a strong value base of good practice in York with embedding our new practice model, Building Brighter Futures. We are on an 18-month journey of implementation of Signs of Safety led by Andrew and Pene Turnell. Successful candidates will receive continuous training and will be part of the leadership group of the Building Brighter Futures practice model forward.

Successful candidates will have a manageable caseload to allow you to form strong relationships with children, young people, and the team around them. Our social workers work in a high challenge and high support environment with an established and committed team. There is regular one to one supervision as well as peer supervision.

Candidates will need to be highly motivated and committed to ensuring timescales are met to ensure our young people receive a good quality service. The candidate will need to be able to work independently, with skills in working within timescales and with conflicting priorities.

It is critical that candidates have excellent written and oral communication skills. The preparation of clear, analytical, and coherent reports is a requirement of this post. Assessing need and writing children’s plans which include the voice of children, young people and families throughout the process is essential.

If you are a dedicated Social Worker who wants to make a difference for children and young people, then apply now.

The Council is committed to investing in the talent and wellbeing of our staff and can offer a generous annual leave allowance, access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, comprehensive Health & Wellbeing initiatives and a reward package which recognises your contribution. We can offer flexible working practices, community engagement and volunteer activities and, as part of our commitment to you, promote continuous Learning & Development. In addition we also offer a growing range of discounts, rewards and savings.

This post is suitable as a job sharing position.

Hybrid working arrangements are available for this role. Each role at CYC is different and your working arrangements will be determined based on the requirements of the role and in collaboration with you and your needs as part of the recruitment process. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team.

City of York Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. We require the successful candidate to undertake an enhanced Criminal Record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service.

As this role is public facing, applicants will need to demonstrate, at interview, their competency to converse and provide advice and guidance to members of the public, in spoken English to CEFR level C1: Can express themselves fluently and spontaneously, almost effortlessly. Only a conceptually difficult subject can hinder a natural, smooth flow of language.

Please note, we do not have a sponsorship licence to sponsor individuals for visas to work in the UK, therefore we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

For further information or an informal discussion please contact Emma Smith (Service Manager) at Emma.Smith@york.gov.uk

Closing date: Sunday 1 November 2026 at 12 midnight

Iinterview date: Tuesday 10 November 2026