Join us
You’ve picked a brilliant and exciting time to join us. We need people with a range of expertise and it's people like you who are key to our success.
Join Social Work England
The place for you
Are you passionate about making a difference? Do you want to be consistently inspired, valued, and encouraged by a supportive team of colleagues? Social Work England might be the place for you.
Now is an incredibly exciting time to join us. We’ve recently launched our strategy for 2023 to 2026, which sets out our ambitions to drive positive change in social work. We’re still a relatively new organisation, with a bold and fearless approach. You can expect an innovative, open-minded culture – somewhere you can try new things, and really have an impact.
Application process
Learn more about applying, and what it's like to interview with us.
Find out more about applying
Read more about what our people say
Meaningful work
Every day, social workers support millions of people. The work they do can transform people’s lives.
Our purpose is to regulate social workers in England. We strive to raise standards, encourage professionalism and protect the public.
In all our work, we're guided by our behaviours and values. We developed these behaviours and values were together with our people. We’re proud of them and what they mean to us as an employer and a specialist regulator.
We’re also committed to collaborating with everyone involved in social work, making sure social workers and people with lived experience have a voice in our work.
We offer you:
Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do.
We are continuing to:
- work towards the Mindful Business Charter
- work towards the Race at Work Charter
- build on our Disability Confident Scheme accreditation
- use the Employer’s Network for Equality and Inclusion benchmarking tool
These tools help us to evidence our progress and identify areas for development.
We are proud winners of an ENEI TIDE bronze award for 2022 to 2023.
People who cycle to work can save money through this scheme. Pay for bicycles and related equipment from your gross salary, before deductions for income tax and National Insurance.
We support flexible working hours and practices, to help you get the best work-life balance. This includes options to:
- job share
- work from home
- choose the hours that you work (for example, fitting your hours around childcare)
- opt for condensed hours
The options available to you will depend on your role and what your team needs. You're welcome to ask about your options at your interview, or when you start working with us.
You start with 25 days leave, rising each year to a maximum of 30 (plus 8 bank holidays). We offer a scheme to buy an additional 5 days annual leave per year. We have a range of family friendly policies. We also offer generous and enhanced terms above statutory entitlement.
When you join us, we provide you with a comprehensive organisational induction, supplemented by team specific training. We encourage you to keep developing your skills and professional knowledge through:
• our e-learning platform, GROW
• in-house training courses and learning sessions
• external training courses and qualifications
• external conferences and events
We offer a modern, spacious office in Sheffield. It is a 10-minute walk from Sheffield rail station, overlooking the River Don. Facilities include:
- onsite café
- bike storage
- free tea and coffee facilities
- multiple meeting rooms and collaborative spaces
- free gym access and fitness classes
- changing and shower facilities and lockers
Our office has accessible toilets and lifts. You can read more about the accessibility of our office.
We offer a defined contribution pension. We base your pension contributions on your actual pay, and you’ll receive tax and national insurance relief on these contributions. We provide life insurance cover at 4 times your basic annual salary.
We are passionate about the wellbeing of our people. We provide support and guidance that is specific to what you need.
Our mental health first aiders are a point of contact if you are experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress. No matter how minor you think the issue may be, mental health first aiders listen and provide support in a non-judgmental way.
We also provide access to a 24-hour employee assistance programme. This is a confidential telephone service for you and your immediate family. It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The programme offers telephone counselling and practical support on issues such as financial, legal and domestic problems.
Applause is our recognition scheme. Our people can nominate each other for great work. Every month, a panel of people from across the organisation will review the nominations and award vouchers. You can spend these vouchers at a wide variety of shops.
We want everyone to be their authentic self and thrive at work. That’s why we offer staff networks, social events, and opportunities to share your voice.
Staff networks
Our networks provide a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience. The networks help ensure we provide an inclusive working environment. They include:
- Think Well (focused on mental health and wellbeing)
- Queer Collective
- People Forum
- Women’s Network
- Race Equality Network
Social events
We regularly run social events for our staff. These have included:
- summer barbecues
- Christmas parties
- clothes and book swaps
- office fuddles (sharing food)
- monthly online listening clubs (sharing music)
Teams also arrange their own social events, such as going out after work.
Your voice
‘Your voice’ is an online space on our intranet run by, and for, our people. It offers a platform for anyone to share information that is important to them, ensuring that we hear diverse voices. Our people have used ‘Your voice’ to write about everything from religious holidays to health and wellness.
Many of our people tell us they enjoy the support they get from their line managers and peers. You will enjoy:
- monthly one to ones with your manager, where you can discuss your work, aspirations, and wellbeing
- a supportive team of colleagues
- a culture of collaboration, where helping each other is a priority
Driving positive change in social work
If you want to know more about our work and our ambitions, you can read our strategy for 2023 to 2026.
Read the strategy
Equality, diversity and inclusion
You can learn more about how we champion equality, diversity and inclusion.
Learn more about our approach