Directorate: Workforce, Learning and Development Service
Contract and hours: Permanent / Full-Time
Closing date: 18 September 2025
Job summary
The post holder will be responsible for contributing to the delivery of strategic actions aimed at improving the attraction, recruitment and retention of social workers in both Adults and Children Services. The post holder will be required to work closely with Trust colleagues in Human Resources, Corporate Communications, Operational Managers and regional stakeholders including counterparts in other Trusts and the Office of Social Services, DoH. The aim of this collaborative work will be to deliver innovative and flexible approaches to support the attraction of high quality social work staff, within a very competitive employment market, and to help to support and retain our current social work workforce.
The duties of this post include undertaking tasks aimed at building HSC employer profile, playing a key role in the recruitment process, leading a programme of work that supports induction and practice development for all new social workers, and focusing on how we can retain social work staff and celebrate their success and achievements. In summary, the post holder will make a significant contribution to ensuring that we have a highly skilled, resilient and well-motivated social work workforce for the future.
Main responsibilities
For each of the following, the post holder will;
Staff Support and Development
– Contribute to the development and implementation of a social work workforce recruitment and retention strategy for the Trust.
Attraction
– Work in conjunction with other stakeholders on campaigns, for the social work workforce to attract new staff into the Trust.
Recruitment
– Work with managers and human resources colleagues to identify projected vacancies and to quickly progress these posts through the recruitment process.
– Work with regional colleagues to implement and support regional recruitment initiatives.
– Scope and track the use of temporary social work posts in the Trust and work with service leads to develop into permanent posts where possible to improve workforce stability.
– Support managers to develop attraction and retention strategies for those services or teams with consistently high vacancy rates.
Retention
– Lead on a programme of work using an evidence base to plan and deliver retention interventions that support social workers to remain in the organisation.
– Identify teams with high absence and sickness levels, identify factors that may be contributing to those high rates and work with service leads to develop strategies to support and improve.
– Identify teams with consistently low retention levels, identify factors that may be contributing to retention levels and work with service leads to develop strategies to support and improve those teams.
– Design, plan, implement and evaluate training initiatives to support retention of the social work workforce.
– Have a key role in initiatives that support the implementation of Safer Staffing in social work guidance standards.
– Contribute to the provision of career pathways, careers guidance and specialisms advice and support for social workers in the Trust.
– Champion and contribute to initiatives that support social worker well-being.
– Promote/develop the use of mentoring/coaching within the Trust so early career social workers can learn from later career social workers.
– Participate in shared learning events on how best to support the social work workforce.
Monitoring and Review
– Provide regular workforce data and summary reports of vacancies, recruitment, staff retention, leavers, and use of agency/temporary staff to inform workforce planning.
– Collate data and identify themes from exit and stay interviews
– Review data and monitor those teams with high absence/sickness rates, identify factors that may be contributing to those high rates and work with service leads to develop strategies to support and improve.
– Annually review the movement of Newly Qualified Social Workers in the Trust to identify patterns of movement in and out of the Trust for early career social workers.
– Assist with the monitoring and quality assurance of recruitment processes to ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
– Maintain records using information technology.
Professional Responsibilities
– Participate in the Trust’s Staff Development Review.
– Engage in Professional in Practice training and continuous professional development as required by the Trust and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC).
– Provide expert advice on particular areas of practice.
– Ensure compliance with all Trust Policy and Procedures
– Maintain professional registration with the NISCC.
Partnership
– Lead and contribute to the development of effective working relationships with other disciplines, agencies and training providers.
– Engage with staff and others to understand staff’s working experience and how to enhance their work/ life balance.
– Coordinate and participate in the interviewing of /staff.
– Participate in planning groups relating to workforce at a Trust and Regional level.
– Actively participate with key stakeholders, e.g. HR and Universities to identify the opportunities and processes for Social work posts within the Trust.
Service Improvement
– Lead on the vision of becoming an ‘employer of choice’, meaning that the Trust will have sufficient high quality staff to meet the needs of our community.
– Work with managers in the development, planning, implementation and evaluation of staff initiatives to recruit and retain staff.
– Promote and co-ordinate workforce wellbeing initiatives in partnership with others.
– Assist with monitoring of outcomes of workforce initiatives and report on emerging issues and trends in workforce.
– Maintain accurate records using information technology.
– Participate in Quality Improvement Projects.
– Appraise, interpret and apply suggestions, recommendations and directives to improve services.
– Protect and improve the quality of social care services.
For complete details view the full job description in the Additional Information section below.
