Specialist Adolescent & Child Exploitation Social Worker

Make an impact where it matters most - Specialist Adolescent & Child Exploitation Social Worker, working in Children & Families Team.

Your experience can help young people build safer futures. Join us in Devon and support adolescents and their families through moments when consistent, thoughtful support can make a lasting difference.

This is a 12-month fixed-term opportunity. Secondment applications will also be considered. If you're interested in this opportunity on a secondment basis, please obtain approval from your line manager before applying.

Bring your passion and expertise to a specialist role with real purpose. Help shape safer futures for young people in Devon, with an annual Retention Payment of £2,000 pro rata.

About Us - Building Safer Futures Together

Adolescence is a time of change, and the right support can make a lasting difference. In Devon's Children & Families Service, we walk alongside young people at pivotal moments in their lives, helping create safer futures through restorative practice and strong relationships. It's demanding, meaningful work, supporting adolescents who may be at risk of harm both within and beyond their home.

We look beyond immediate concerns to understand each young person's relationships, environments and lived experience. Working alongside families, communities and partner agencies, we bring curiosity, consistency and compassion to strengthening connections, disrupting harm and creating opportunities for change. For young people on the edge of care or vulnerable to exploitation, those relationships can be the foundation for a safer, more stable future.

Your Role - Build Trust. Create Change. Shape Safer Futures.

Looking for a specialist role where your relationships, judgement and ideas can make a lasting difference? As a Specialist Adolescent & Child Exploitation Social Worker, you'll work alongside young people facing risks outside the home, including exploitation, missing episodes, harmful peer influences and family breakdown. You'll combine professional confidence with compassion, building trust while taking action to reduce risk and disrupt harm. This is an opportunity to bring your relational skills and analytical thinking to challenging, purposeful work and help young people see possibilities beyond the risks they face.

You'll put your expertise into action as you:

• Build strong, consistent, trauma‑informed relationships, making sure young people's voices shape their assessments and plans
• Look beyond the immediate concerns, using holistic, contextually informed assessments to understand family, community and peer influences
• Work restoratively with families to strengthen connections, increase safety and help prevent care entry
• Bring professional curiosity and evidence‑informed practice to identifying, assessing and responding to extra‑familial harm and exploitation
• Use your statutory knowledge and professional judgement to lead safeguarding interventions and make informed decisions
• Bring partners together to spot risks early, coordinate action and disrupt exploitation
• Develop creative, child‑centred safety plans that build resilience and strengthen the networks around each young person
• Turn your observations and analysis into clear, high‑quality records that support effective planning and outcomes

At the heart of this role is the chance to help some of Devon's most vulnerable young people build safer, more stable futures through the relationships you strengthen, the risks you address and the trust you build.

The Journey You'll Support - From Connection to Lasting Change

Change starts with connection. You'll walk alongside young people and their families through challenging moments, helping turn support into practical steps towards safety and stability:

• Early Identification: Spot emerging risks, make those first connections and offer support when it can make a difference
• Escalating Risk: Look beneath the surface and coordinate responses to harm outside the home, including exploitation
• Edge of Care: Work intensively with families to strengthen relationships, prevent breakdown and build change that lasts
• Disruption and Intervention: Join forces with partners to challenge exploitation, reduce harm and increase safety
• Stability and Hope: Help young people rebuild trust, reconnect with positive networks and take steps towards a safer future

Throughout that journey, you'll recognise strengths as well as risks, helping young people feel seen, heard and supported while keeping their safety at the centre of every decision.

About You - Bring Your Experience. Make Your Impact.

You know that a trusted relationship can open the door to change. Reflective, resilient and committed to adolescents, you bring curiosity to complex situations and put relationships at the heart of your practice. If you're ready to use your experience in a specialist role where you can help young people feel heard and build safer futures, we'd love to hear from you.

You'll bring:

• A strong understanding of adolescent development, trauma, exploitation and contextual safeguarding
• The ability to build genuine, trusting relationships with young people and their families
• Confidence in assessing risk, analysing complex situations and adapting safety plans as circumstances change
• Experience supporting young people at risk of harm outside the home or on the edge of care
• A collaborative approach to working across multi‑agency safeguarding systems
• A commitment to trauma‑informed, restorative practice that keeps the child at its centre
• A Social Work qualification and registration with Social Work England
• Completion of your ASYE and a commitment to ongoing professional development

Our Offer to You

We offer a strong package of benefits that recognises your contribution and supports your career and wellbeing:

• £2000 Retention payment per annum pro rata. Recognition of your continued commitment. (subject to qualifying conditions).
• Reimbursement of your annual Social Work England registration fee.
• Generous annual leave, and the ability to purchase additional annual leave.
• Free onsite parking, modern on-site amenities, & flexible hot-desking options available.

• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme - more information can be found on the Peninsula Pensions website.

• Promotion of a healthy work-life balance and flexible working options where possible.
• An employee benefits platform that offers discounts at over 900 national & local high street retailers
• Access to ongoing learning and development opportunities.
• Employee Assistance programme & a variety of wellbeing services for the times you may need some additional support
• Cycle to Work & Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.

For more information about working for Devon, please visit our Working for Devon page.

The salary will be determined by qualifications, skills and experience. Please refer to the relevant Job Descriptions and salary ranges below:

Social Worker: £40,444* per annum
Experienced Social Worker: £41,177 - £48,738* per annum

Please click here to see the Job Description for Social Worker (Grade F)

Please click here to see the Job Description for Experienced Social Worker (Grade G)
*Plus an additional £2,000 retention payment.

Sponsorship Opportunities: We welcome applications from internationally trained and qualified candidates who are now residing in the UK and interested in joining our team.

Thinking of relocating? Subject to qualifying conditions, you may also be eligible for a generous relocation allowance to help you make Devon your home.

For any queries or an informal discussion about this role, please contact Emma Youngs on 01392 383000, or email emma.youngs@devon.gov.uk

Ready to make a difference? Apply by 13 December 2026.

Interviews will take place throughout the campaign, so we encourage you to apply early. The advert may close before the published date if we receive sufficient applications.

How to apply

Please ensure when completing your application form that you provide a supporting statement which demonstrates how you meet the essential and desirable criteria as described in the person specification of the job description. Applications may not be taken forwards if the supporting statement is not adequately completed.

Internal Applicants, please note: If you are an existing DCC employee, please use your iTrent Employee Self Service (ESS) details to log in and apply.

We welcome applications from candidates seeking a secondment. Please ensure you have approval from your current line manager before applying.

Additional Information

• Internal Applicants: If you are an existing DCC employee, please use your iTrent Employee Self Service (ESS) details to log in and apply.

• This role requires Social Work England Registration (SWE).
• This role requires a DBS disclosure

• DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
• For details on the use of AI in applications and Devon County Council's use of AI in Recruitment please see Use of AI in Our Recruitment Processes - Working for Devon | Devon County Council
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
• Personal data we collect from you will be processed in accordance with the Applicant privacy notice.

REQ010913 - Children's Social Worker