Salary range: £59,739 - £63,519 p.a. incl. London weighting
Contract: Fixed Term Contract - 12 Months
Hours of work: 36 hours per week
Location: Civic Centre and The Turning Point
Join Us as Principal Social Worker – Lead, Inspire, and Grow Your Career
CYP is entering an exciting period of transformation, realigning services to better meet the needs of the children and families we serve. As our Principal Social Worker (PSW), you will play a pivotal leadership role in guiding our workforce through this change, ensuring staff are well-supported, well-trained, and empowered to deliver outstanding social work practice.
Why Brent?
Brent is a dynamic and diverse London borough where the iconic Wembley Stadium dominates the skyline. Spanning both inner and outer London, it is a place of contrasts—economically, environmentally, and culturally—creating a vibrant and rewarding environment in which to work. Our deep-rooted commitment to diversity, innovation, and community engagement makes Brent a unique and inspiring place to build your career.
The council is driving a far-reaching transformation agenda to better serve our community—making this an exciting time to join us in a role that offers both challenge and opportunity.
The Opportunity
As Principal Social Worker, you will take a leading role in shaping and strengthening frontline practice. You will be instrumental in embedding “This is Brent CYP. This is how we grow” across our services, ensuring that our social workers receive the best possible learning and development opportunities. You will also oversee the professional development framework for the Children and Young People’s Directorate, making sure that all staff benefit from a culture of continuous growth and high-quality training.
As a key leader within the organization, you will model best practices, drive innovation, and cultivate a culture of curiosity and collaboration. This role is not just about leading others—it’s about growing as a leader yourself, with access to ongoing professional development, mentorship, and strategic involvement in shaping Brent’s future.
Who We’re Looking For
You are a qualified, experienced social work professional with a strong track record in assessing risk, developing collaborative interventions, and leading change. You are committed to championing strengths-based practice and challenging unnecessary use of statutory power. Your creativity, persistence, and deep appreciation for the resilience of children and families set you apart as a leader.
You thrive in a reflective and curious environment, where collaboration and innovation drive positive outcomes. As a mentor and advocate, you will inspire our workforce while continuously developing your own leadership skills.
Brent is a tremendously vibrant London borough where the iconic arch of Wembley Stadium dominates the skyline. Spanning both inner and outer London, it is a borough of huge contrasts in terms of its economic, environmental, ethnic and social make up. Learn more about Brent and our communities by watching this video:
Brent Children and Young People Services boasts a bright and buzzy atmosphere where colleagues are friendly, supportive and get stuck in. Brent is the 2020 London Borough of Culture(s) where people are proud of their culture and background – and we are proud of our diverse workforce. Working in a well-connected borough, in state-of-the-art buildings, you’ll be surrounded by restaurants, coffee shops and facilities if you to choose to work in Brent.
We have a great rewards packages for social workers up to senior team managers. We provide a welcome and retention payment when you join, which includes:
Key worker rental housing in Wembley for permanent social workers (subject to availability)
Golden hello and relocation packages (for hard to recruit to roles)
Annual retention payment for all social work qualified staff.
You will also receive:
A commitment to manageable caseloads across all teams.
The Social Work progression framework, enabling you to move to senior social worker and beyond when you’re ready. We are committed to retaining the best staff and providing you with the support and opportunities to achieve that.
Group and 1-2-1 supervision.
A small team model, supported by practice consultants with training in systemic and reflective practice.
A culture of highly effective flexible working, supported with some of the best IT in local government.
A very generous Local Government Pension Scheme.
A host of other rewards and benefits such as reduced cost gym membership, London Designer Outlet privilege card, Wembley Boxpark privilege card plus many more.
If you’d like to know more about Brent and working in children and young people’s services, please visit our website. If you are interested in having an informal discussion about working in children's social care in Brent please contact:
Palvinder Kudhail, Director, Integration and Improved Outcomes: Palvinder.Kudhail@brent.gov.uk
Rashida Forbes, Principal Social Worker: Rashida.Forbes@brent.gov.uk