Assessing Social Worker - Residential Centre - South London
Caritas Recruitment
Remote-friendly
Senior Assessing Social Worker - Residential Family Centre
Please note that only Social Work England Registered Social Workers with Right to Work in the UK will be considered for this role, please do not apply if you are not a SWE Registered Social Worker who has the Right to Work in the UK.
Caritas Recruitment is working with a well‑established charity in South London that is recruiting multiple permanent Senior Assessing Social Workers to join its Residential Family Centre in South London.
These roles are ideal for experienced social workers looking to move away from Local Authority work while continuing to undertake high‑quality, evidence‑based assessments that directly inform court and Local Authority decision‑making.
About the Role
As a Senior Assessing Social Worker, you will manage a small caseload of complex families (typically 3-4 cases), leading on parenting assessments, intervention and planning across residential, diagnostic and community‑based settings.
The role combines purposeful direct work, structured parenting support, professional analysis and high‑quality report writing. Work is predominantly centre‑based, with limited but ad‑hoc home working for report writing.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead responsibility for allocated families and their full assessment journey
- Develop and implement clear assessment and intervention plans
- Undertake direct work and structured parenting interventions with parents
- Analyse information from observations, records and multi‑agency input
- Identify risk, protective factors and capacity for change
- Produce high‑quality, analytical and defensible assessment reports
- Present professional opinion to courts and Local Authorities
- Provide practice guidance and oversight to practitioners within the team
- Maintain accurate and timely case recording, including risk assessments and weekly summaries
- Maintain safeguarding responsibility and respond appropriately to emerging risk
- Work collaboratively with residential, outreach and multi‑agency partners
Flexible Assessment Delivery
- Diagnostic assessments (typically 4-6 weeks)
- Residential, community‑based and hybrid assessments
- Transition and post‑placement support where required
Person Specification
Essential
- Qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England
- Minimum 4 years post‑qualifying experience
- Experience completing complex parenting assessments
- Experience of court work and giving evidence
- Strong analytical skills and high‑quality report writing ability
- Sound professional judgement and confidence managing complexity
- Experience working with families with multiple and complex needs
- Experience within residential family assessment settings
- Experience of community‑based assessment work
What's on Offer
- Salary up to £42,000 per annum
- Permanent contract
- Multiple positions available
- Supportive, specialist assessment environment
- Opportunity to step away from statutory LA caseloads while maintaining court‑facing work
For more information on this role or for a discussion about Social Work opportunities across England and Wales please contact Gemma at Caritas Recruitment - g.bridgman @ (url removed) / (phone number removed)
Caritas Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.
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