CouncilCloses in 5 days

Experienced Social Worker - Front Door Service

Kent County CouncilAshford, South East

Salary
£41,782 to £46,606 per year
Contract
Full time
Location
Ashford
Closes
3 September 2026

Overview

This is a local council role (full time) with Kent County Council based in Ashford. The advertised salary is £41,782 to £46,606 per year. Applications close on 3 September 2026. GovJobs has indexed this vacancy from its official source — use the apply button to view the full advert and apply directly.

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Job description

What will you be doing?

Are you an experienced social worker looking to use your skills in a different way?

Kent's Children's Front Door Service offers a unique opportunity to work at the heart of safeguarding. As part of one of our Front Door teams, you will play a crucial role in identifying children who may need help, protection, or support, ensuring that families receive the right response at the right time.

This is a role for social workers who have extensive post qualification experience in UK front line local authority children’s social work. It is a great opportunity for social workers who enjoy analysis, decision making and engaging with partner agencies. Every day you will respond to new requests for support and safeguarding concerns, gather and evaluate information, and use your professional judgement to make recommendations that can have a significant impact on children's lives.

Working within a fast-paced and supportive environment, the successful applicant will be working within a duty rota system with their team members, utilising core social work skills in assessment and analysis underpinned by the Kent Integrated Children's Services Practice Framework. They will further develop skills in risk assessment, threshold application, information sharing, and multi-agency safeguarding. No two days are the same, providing exposure to a wide range of complex situations and opportunities to continually develop your practice.

Why join Kent's Front Door Service?

  • Make a difference at the earliest point in a child's journey.
  • Develop advanced skills in analysis, safeguarding and decision making.
  • Liaise with police, health, education, and other partner agencies.
  • Gain exposure to a diverse range of complex safeguarding issues.
  • Be part of a supportive team environment.
  • Enhance your professional development and broaden your social work experience.
  • Benefit from KCC’s attractive benefits package including an annual retention market premium.

This role is ideal for an experienced social worker who enjoys critical thinking, collaborative working and making informed decisions in complex situations. If you are looking for a fresh challenge that will broaden your safeguarding expertise while allowing you to make a difference for children and families every day, we would love to hear from you.

This post is considered by Kent County Council to be a customer facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh Sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the job description/person specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence – The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.

Bryony Khadaroo | Service Manager – Children’s Front Door and Out of Hours Service |Kent Integrated Children’s Services I Kroner House, Eurogate Business Park | Ashford| TN24 8XU | (03000) 422259

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.

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How this role compares

We hold 194 council vacancies in South East that publish a salary, and their median advertised starting figure is £34,660. This role pays more than about 71% of them.

There are 4,945 council roles open across the UK on GovJobs right now, 332 of them in South East.

You have 4 days left to apply. Council adverts we hold typically run for around 26 days, so this is a shorter window than usual.

Kent County Council has 77 other vacancies open on GovJobs, with a breakdown of what they pay and the kinds of roles they recruit for.

These figures are calculated from the vacancies GovJobs currently holds, not from official pay statistics. They are a guide to the market, not a valuation of this post.

How to apply

GovJobs does not take applications or send your details to the employer. Use the apply button to open the official Lg Jobs advert, then check the employer's instructions, attachments, person specification and closing time before applying.

This listing was last checked on 27 Aug 2026, 15:12. If the official advert has changed or closed, report it and we will review the listing.

Why this listing is on GovJobs

GovJobs indexes public-sector vacancies from official sources, normalises the title, employer, location, salary and deadline, and links back to the source so you can verify the advert yourself.

The source for this role is Lg Jobs. Applications stay on the official employer or source website, not on GovJobs.

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