Social Work Adviser

Do you want to use your social work expertise to help policy-making for children’s residential care in the Scottish Government?

This is a Fixed Term Appointment opportunity for 23 months with the option for Secondment if preferred.

The children’s residential care unit is based in the Scottish Government’s directorate for Children and Families. It works with colleagues inside the Scottish government and partners outside it to improve children’s residential care. Current team priorities include work on cross-border placements, reducing the use of restraint, and introducing measures relating to profit in the children’s residential care sector. The unit also has responsibility for policy relating to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

As professional social work adviser, you will provide children’s residential care social work input and advice across the unit’s work, and collaborate with policy and professional leads to identify linkages, risks and opportunities across a large number of policy programmes including delivery of The Promise, and Re‑imagining Secure Care and implementation of The Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, amongst many more.

We are looking for an individual who can identify key issues and liaise with stakeholders to develop solutions that are workable, and in keeping with children's residential care values and principles.