Experienced Social Worker BSAFE, Barnsley

Position reference: 50017350

Directorate: Children’s Services | Service: Children & Family Social Care

Salary: £42,839 -£49,282 (Career Grade)

Working Arrangements: Agile Working- minimum 3 days in the office

This is a full-time role. We are committed to supporting work–life balance, and requests for flexible working, including job share, will be considered in line with the needs of the service. Given the requirement for continuity of support to service users, any flexible working arrangements would need to ensure consistency in case management.

Hours per week: 37

Contract type: Permanent

We are happy to talk flexible working arrangements with you, please get in touch.

See our range of Employee Rewards: Employee rewards and benefits

Closing date: 13/03/2026 at 23:59

The successful candidate will be required to speak English to an appropriate standard.

This post requires an Enhanced DBS Check

If you are currently living overseas or have lived overseas in the last five years please be aware, if you are the preferred candidate for the post, you will be required to apply for an overseas criminal records check from the country/countries you have resided in. If you experience difficulty in obtaining an overseas criminal record check please email

When applying, please ensure you are prepared to start work with all the necessary legal documents, such as a valid visa, relevant to the type of work you will be undertaking. Please be aware that our organisation does not possess a Home Office license and, as a result, is unable to provide sponsorship for anyone seeking a visa as a skilled or temporary migrant worker.

Pensions Regulations have provisions to reduce pension payments in certain circumstances of those who return to work within local government service. If you are in receipt of a pension upon commencing employment with the authority, this may affect your pension entitlements and you should therefore seek advice from the relevant Pensions Authority.

At Barnsley Council you can start a career that makes a real difference to people’s lives, helping our council and residents to be the best they can be.

We’re an award-winning council and one of the biggest employers in the borough, supporting around 243,000 people. We put people at the heart of everything we do, and that includes our employees. As part of the team, we offer lots of benefits and rewards to support you to thrive and grow, like flexible working, employee discounts, support for your health and wellbeing, and opportunities for training and development to grow your career and develop your skills.

There’s so much happening in our thriving borough, and now’s the perfect time to join our excellent Children & Family Social Care team as we work to make Barnsley the place of possibilities.

• We’re an award-winning team and one of the biggest employers in the borough supporting around 243,000 people.
• Working at Barnsley Council means being part of a team that makes a real difference to people’s lives, where you can develop the skills you need to make change happen.
• If you join the team you’ll receive great pay alongside an excellent pension scheme. With flexible working we’ll also support your work/life balance, helping you to adjust your hours and take time off when you need it.
• We’ll help you to develop your career and grow your skills with opportunities for training and development.
• There’s so much happening in our thriving borough and your talent and skills will help us make Barnsley the place of possibilities.
• Key to our success is working with our residents, partners, businesses and organisations and building these partnerships to bring about change in Barnsley.

About the Post:

To apply for this post you must have a Social Work Qualification and be registered with Social Work England.

Be Their Light - Join our BSAFE service as a Senior Social Worker

We have a rare opportunity for a highly experienced and tenacious Social Worker to join Barnsley’s BSAFE contextual safeguarding team. In BSAFE, we work directly with children, their families and the networks supporting them, providing specialist intervention, advocacy and consultation through a ‘co-allocation’ model.
We work alongside children and young people experiencing harm beyond the family home, using skilled, relationship-based practice to identify, disrupt and reduce exploitation and extra familial harm whilst ensuring that children’s voices are central to all assessment and planning and that interventions address both family based and contextual risk factors.
As a social worker in BSAFE you will provide expert frontline social work within contextual safeguarding, holding complex risk and modelling confidence evidence informed practice and will bring curiosity, confidence and critical thinking to complex safeguarding situations, ensuring that risk outside of the home is understood, challenged and addressed through robust statutory intervention and strong multi agency collaboration.
The role requires confident risk management, professional curiosity and the ability to work effectively in complex and dynamic safeguarding situations.

You will be relentless in striving and developing ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ services to children and their families, advocating for our children as victims and working alongside our co-located police to respond to those who pose a risk to our children, creating safer communities for our children to grow up in.

In Barnsley we believe in working collaboratively with our families and are excited about becoming a signs of safety local authority. When you join us, you can come on this exciting journey with us and have access to a full suite of development and training opportunities.

We will provide you with a comprehensive induction programme, dedicated supervision and a commitment to your learning and development, with a robust Continuous Professional Development programme through our Practice Development Hub.

Our vision in Children's Services is clear - Barnsley a place of possibilities:

We are one service with one goal, working together to build a brighter Barnsley for every child

• Putting Children and Families First

• Working together in partnership to deliver joined up care

• Delivered by a strong and valued workforce

If you feel that you have the skills, knowledge and experience to join us and work with us to achieve positive outcomes for our children, young people and families in Barnsley then we’d love to hear from you.

If you would like to speak with a Service Manager about the vacancy, please contact:

Interviews will take place on Monday 23rd March 2026

Please use the documents below to help support you with your application form.

Job Profile: Experienced Social Worker Job Profile.pdf
Senior Social Worker Profile.docx

Vacancy Exposure Profile: Exposure Profile LOW.docx

Help with your application form

Why work for us?

Please ensure you view the job profile for this role, as you will need to demonstrate in your application form how you meet the required criteria.

We welcome the opportunity to have a chat about the role and are happy to address any questions you may have about flexible working arrangements, including as a result of caring responsibilities.

We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued and everyone truly feels able to be themselves. If you have any support needs during the recruitment process, please let us know.

CV's are not accepted for this role.

At Barnsley Council, we believe in second chances and value diversity. Our recruitment process is inclusive, and we welcome applicants with past convictions. We're committed to fairness and do not discriminate. Join us in building a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. #InclusiveHiring #SecondChances"