Social Worker

Do you want to make a real difference for children, families and communities?

At Change Grow Live, we believe in people. We know that with the right support, anyone can make positive changes in their lives. We are looking for a passionate and experienced Social Worker to join our Kirklees service and help improve outcomes for adults, children and families affected by substance use.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Social Worker to join our well-established adult drug and alcohol treatment service as a Social Worker Lead on a 9-month fixed-term maternity cover contract, working 18.5 hours per week.

The role offers an excellent balance between frontline practice, professional leadership and partnership working, alongside the benefits of blended working, flexible arrangements, ongoing professional development and a supportive team environment that promotes a healthy work-life balance.

You will be joining an established team of Social Workers and Family Recovery Coordinators, working under the leadership and professional supervision of our Senior Social Worker, with access to peer support, reflective practice and opportunities to contribute to service development across Kirklees.

Location: Kirklees

Full Time Hours: 18.75 hours per week

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract until 31st July 2027 (Maternity Cover)

*Please note: Full-time hours at Change Grow Live are 37.5 hours per week. For part-time roles, the salary and payments will be pro rata based on contracted hours. 

About the Role

As Social Worker Lead, you will bring specialist social work expertise into an adult treatment setting, ensuring that safeguarding, family-focused practice and partnership working remain central to the support we provide.

Working as part of a dedicated social work team and under the guidance of our Senior Social Worker, you will collaborate closely with recovery coordinators, family workers, safeguarding leads and partner agencies to improve outcomes for adults in treatment, their children and wider family networks.

Whilst this is not a statutory social work role, it provides a unique opportunity to influence practice, strengthen multi-agency working and champion safeguarding and family-focused interventions across the service.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide specialist advice and consultation on safeguarding, risk management and complex family situations.
• Support recovery staff with referrals, care planning and safeguarding actions.
• Work collaboratively with Kirklees Children's Social Care and other partner agencies to improve outcomes for children, young people and families.
• Represent the service at multi-agency meetings including MARAC, safeguarding forums and partnership groups.
• Support the development of workforce knowledge, skills and professional confidence around safeguarding and family-focused practice.
• Work alongside the leadership team to drive continuous improvement and strategic priorities.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships across children's and adults' social care, health services, education, safeguarding teams and criminal justice partners.
• Promote strengths-based, trauma-informed and recovery-focused approaches throughout the service.
• Support the wider integrated care system to develop knowledge and confidence in working with families affected by substance use.

About You

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Social Worker who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and families and wants to apply their skills within an innovative adult drug and alcohol treatment service.

Essential Requirements

• Recognised Social Work qualification.
• Registration with Social Work England.
• Completion of ASYE.
• Experience of working with children, families and/or adults with multiple and complex needs.
• Sound knowledge of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults legislation, policy and practice.
• Understanding of the impact of substance use on children, families and communities.
• Experience of partnership working with a variety of agencies and professionals.
• Strong communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Ability to support and develop the practice confidence of colleagues.

Desirable

• Experience of working within drug and alcohol treatment services.
• Knowledge of local safeguarding arrangements and procedures.
• Experience supporting strategic priorities relating to the national drug strategy.
• Experience developing or delivering parenting interventions or family support programmes.
• Experience of working directly with children and families.

Why Join Change Grow Live?

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference while enjoying the flexibility and support needed to maintain a positive work-life balance.

We Offer

• Flexible and blended working arrangements to support a positive work life balance.
• A supportive, welcoming and experienced multidisciplinary team.
• The opportunity to work alongside an established Social Work team led by a dedicated Senior Social Worker.
• Regular professional supervision, peer support and reflective practice opportunities.
• Quarterly attendance at our National Social Work Forum.
• One day per month dedicated to independent learning and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
• Access to specialist training, development opportunities and post-qualifying awards.
• One hour of paid wellbeing time each week.
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata), increasing with length of service.
• Contributory pension scheme.
• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including discounts on shopping, travel, leisure and entertainment.
• The opportunity to influence practice and improve outcomes across the wider Kirklees system.

If you are looking for a rewarding role where you can use your social work expertise to improve outcomes for adults, children and families, whilst enjoying flexibility, professional support and a positive work-life balance, we would love to hear from you.

A note about using AI in your application

AI can be a really helpful tool when putting together your application, and we're happy for you to use it. However, what we're most interested in is you. We want to understand your experiences, achievements and strengths, so please make sure your application reflects your own story and clearly shows how you meet the essential criteria and the impact you've made in previous roles. There's no need to write in a particular style. The strongest applications are authentic, specific and clearly demonstrate your skills, experience and potential. We look forward to learning more about you.

Please ensure that when completing your application form and supporting statement, you reflect on the details outlined in the job description. This will help us understand how your skills and experiences align with the requirements of the role.

Direct applications only — we will not be engaging agencies for this vacancy.

Please note: This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must already have the right to work in the UK at the time of application. For applicants with time-limited visas, unfortunately, we are unable to support new visa applications or extensions. More information about eligible roles and occupations can be found here: Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high number of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

This post is subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level.