Social Worker – Family Worker; Link South

About The Role

Social Worker - Family Worker (Link Role), South Essex. Permanent, Full Time. £37,185 to £50,081 per annum.

Location:

Rayleigh. Working style:
Community-based worker. Closing Date: 25th January 2026. Interview Date: 3rd February 2026.

We’re recruiting for two Social Workers (Link Family Workers) to join our high-performing Family Solutions team based in Basildon and Rayleigh, South Essex. This is a fantastic opportunity to work within a service described by Ofsted as “exceptional”, delivering early help to families facing multiple and complex challenges. Family Solutions is part of Essex’s Children & Families service, working holistically with disadvantaged families to help them make meaningful and lasting changes.

You’ll be part of a supportive, multi-disciplinary team that values collaboration, innovation, and professional growth.

As a Social Worker (Family Worker), your role will be varied, impactful, and deeply rewarding. You will:

• Act as a source of advice and support for colleagues, including joint visits and joint working on complex cases (e.g. concerns around neglect).
• Support the team to build positive and constructive working relationships with colleagues in statutory children’s services.
• Manage your own caseload and assess safeguarding risks.
• Work in partnership with the team manager and practice supervisor to review referrals and support threshold decisions as required by the team.
• Build strong, trusting relationships with families to promote positive change.
• Provide practical and specialist advice.
• Facilitate complex family meetings and coordinate additional support services.
• Offer emotional and practical support in homes and community settings.
• Work closely with your manager or senior social worker through regular supervision.
• Support the further integration of Family Solutions and Children Social Care as part of the Family First Partnership Programme.

• Support manager and practice supervisor to undertake screenings of new contacts, understanding threshold.
• Determine the direction and actions required to progress cases forward on a day‑to‑day basis; recognise when key decisions regarding risks/concerns need referral to the Team Manager or Practice Supervisor.
• Act as a source of advice, guidance and support to colleagues in relation to complex cases; mentor and guide alternatively qualified colleagues in best practice.
• Undertake holistic assessments of family needs to create intervention plans and identify how outcomes can be achieved that fully reflect the family and young person’s views and aspirations, delivering interventions including group work programmes.
• Facilitate complex family meetings, managing potentially competing views of families and professionals, finding achievable solutions.
• Undertake individual and group programmes of work to enable children and families to develop their skills to resolve issues and problems themselves; provide information and accompany families to help access other local services.
• Provide specific practical, personal and emotional support to families in their homes or other settings as part of an agreed plan to achieve agreed and sustainable family outcomes.
• Participate in regular supervision to review work and ensure effective interventions for families.
• Embed principles of effective practice in service delivery; work collaboratively with staff and partners to ensure effective risk management in line with the thresholds of the Effective Support and Guidance document and the SET child protection procedures.
• Define specific individual and shared targets and objectives annually within the performance management framework.

• Qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England, and post-ASYE.
• Recent experience in frontline children’s services, experience completing assessment and managing CIN and/or CP cases.
• At least three years’ experience post‑qualifying.
• Willing to work towards Practice Educator Qualification.
• Strong commitment to uphold the standards and values of the social work profession.
• Evidence of continuing professional development with good knowledge in relevant professional area…