Social Worker (Newly Qualified)

Job description

About

Priority Candidates will be considered in the first instance

Wigan Life Centre South

Salary: Grade 9, £39,862 - £45,091 per annum.

4 positions x 37 hours per week

We're on a journey to build a workforce reflective of our Borough.

We are committed to fostering diverse teams where everybody can bring their authentic selves to work and feel that they belong. If you want to work for a Council where everybody is encouraged to meet their full potential and make a difference in our neighbourhoods, we would love to hear from you!

Your role:

Start your social work career with confidence, support, and purpose.

Wigan Council is proud to offer an exciting opportunity for Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) to join our Family Safeguarding Academy Team a dedicated, supportive environment designed to nurture your development in your first year of practice.

What Makes Our Academy Team Unique?

You won’t be doing this alone. Our model ensures you are fully supported every step of the way:

• A small, dedicated team of 4 Newly Qualified Social Workers, progressing together
• Direct support from an Advanced Practitioner and Team Manager
• High levels of mentoring, co-working and shadowing opportunities
• Exposure to excellent practice through modelling and mirroring approaches
• Regular reflective team sessions and individual supervision to deepen your learning

You will also benefit from wraparound support across the organisation, including:

• Access to our experienced Workforce Development Team
• Participation in our highly commended ASYE Programme

About you:

Our children and young people have told us that they want social workers who are:

• Kind
• Thoughtful
• Responsible
• Flexible
• Able to prioritise them and spend time with them
• Committed to helping them be happy and safe

If you are ready to build your career in a supportive, forward-thinking service, we would love to hear from you.

Join Wigan Council’s Family Safeguarding Academy Team and take the first step towards becoming a confident, skilled, and impactful social worker.

About us:

We understand that for great social workers to stay with us we need to invest in your career, which is what we will do from day 1.

Our first Academy Team was established in 2021, and after five years of success in developing confident, skilled practitioners, we are delighted to be recruiting again.

Our Academy Team has been created specifically for NQSWs who are ready to begin their social work journey within a highly supportive and structured setting. This is your opportunity to develop strong foundations in practice while working alongside peers who are on the same journey. Over this first year in practice you will be supported to build confidence in your social work practice, develop your professional judgement and autonomy, gain experience with complexity increasing gradually in line with your development, strengthen your assessment, intervention and relationship-based practice.

At the end of the programme, you will transition into one of our mainstream Family Safeguarding Teams, equipped with the experience and confidence to thrive.

Here at Wigan, we are proud to support flexible working patterns, when the service can accommodate this. We also take a blended approach to where we work, depending on the work we do. This may include working from home, the office, or the community. We like to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits click here to find out more about working for #TeamWigan.

To be appointed to this role you must be able to prove your right to work in the UK. Please visit the link below to check you qualify to apply. Please note, at present we are not a licenced sponsor. Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Prove your right to work to an employer

If you would like an informal chat about this role, please contact our Ellie Wilson on E.Wilson3@wigan.gov.uk or Michelle Molyneux on M.Molyneux@wigan.gov.uk who will be happy to talk to you about the roles available and our fast-track recruitment process can provide an interview within 2 weeks, if you meet the essential criteria.

Interview date: 25/06/2026

This position is subject to Enhanced Disclosure Procedures plus child barred list check

The employer is committed to safeguarding

To view the details relating to this position, please click the links below:

Supporting Documents

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