Cardiff
Social Care & Health
Contract
26-01-2026
27-04-2026
Cardiff Council
£neg
We are looking for a Principal Social Worker which will focus on Court Work. You will be a case holding social worker working with approximately 10/11 children (4/5 families) who are subject to care proceedings. You will be responsible for all aspects of the case management including statutory visiting, care planning and review, and court. You will work with children and their families to assist in decision making for Children to remain at home or return home to their parents. Assessments will need to consider the current risks and associated protective factors whilst also identifying the likelihood of sustained change within the child’s timescales. You will have experience of working with children subject to care proceedings and their families and produce work of an excellent standard which provides recommendations based upon sound evidence based analysis. You will have undertaken assessments using the DOH Framework of assessment and have knowledge and understanding of the principals of the NSPCC Reunification framework. You will understand the impact of trauma both on parents’ capacity and on the child’s needs and be able to ascertain if the parent(s) has capacity to meet the needs of the individual child. You will require the skills to overcome barriers to engagement during the assessment process and tailor your assessments to the learning styles of parents. Your assessments will draw upon the knowledge of other professionals working with the child and their family and exploring the informal support networks available to the parents to assist them in the parenting role. We are looking for a Principal Social Worker which will be a supervisory role. Cardiff Council are looking for a Principal Social Worker to work predominantly in a supervisory role, alongside case management of a small complex caseload, within one of our Locality Teams. The successful candidate would be supported by their Team Manager and the Operational Manager. They would work within a team of social workers, social work assistants and resource assistants (additional administrative support). The successful candidate will be required to supervise a pod of social work assistants and lesser experienced social work staff. Cardiff Council is seeking an individual able to support staff, ensuring the focus of a supportive, positive environment is nurtured within the team. You will be responsible for conducting monthly supervision, chairing strategy meetings and attending joint visits. You will be expected to provide regular oversight of the Young People’s care plans through robust quality assurance of the Social Work Assistants work and attendance at relevant meetings such as Child Looked After Reviews. Whilst the role is predominately non-caseholding, where concerns escalate in respect of Young People allocated to one of your supervisees you will be expected to take on allocation until risks have de-escalated to enable relocation to the Social Work Assistant or NQSW.