Practice Supervisor, Social Worker

About Us

At Oxfordshire County Council, we are committed to delivering high-quality Adult Social Care services that place people, families, and communities at the centre of everything we do. Our approach is grounded in strengths-based practice, recognising the capabilities and resilience of individuals while working alongside them to achieve meaningful, sustainable outcomes. We are proud to support a diverse population across Oxfordshire, working collaboratively with colleagues in health, the voluntary sector, and partner organisations to provide responsive and effective support. Our services are shaped by continuous improvement, professional curiosity, and a strong safeguarding culture, ensuring that the people we support are safe, empowered, and treated with dignity and respect.

This is an exciting time to join our service as we continue to develop our workforce, strengthen practice, and deliver better outcomes for residents across the county.

About the Role

As a Practice Supervisor Social Worker, you will play a key leadership role in ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe, and effective social work practice within Adult Social Care. You will be responsible for supervising and supporting a team of practitioners, creating the conditions for strong, consistent practice and continuous professional development. Through regular supervision, case discussions, and coaching, you will help colleagues to build confidence, apply legislation appropriately, and deliver person-centred interventions that achieve positive outcomes.

Alongside your supervisory responsibilities, you will manage a complex caseload, supporting individuals, families, and carers through assessment, review, and intervention. You will ensure that support plans are robust, proportionate, and aligned with statutory duties, while maintaining a clear focus on strengths-based approaches and promoting independence wherever possible. A key part of this role is ensuring that demand is managed effectively and that people receive a timely and appropriate response. You will oversee the prioritisation of referrals, supporting the team to manage waiting lists, assess risk, and allocate work in a way that is safe, fair, and responsive. This will include ensuring timely allocation of cases, supporting duty functions, and responding to changing demand so that individuals receive the right support at the right time.

Safeguarding is central to this role. You will lead and oversee safeguarding enquiries, chair strategy discussions and Best Interest meetings, and act as a Safeguarding Manager where appropriate, ensuring that risk is effectively managed and individuals are protected. You will contribute to the overall performance and quality of the service, undertaking case audits, supporting performance management, and embedding a culture of learning and improvement across the team. You will also play a role in workforce development, including recruitment and retention, helping to build a capable and resilient team.

This is a varied and rewarding leadership role, where your professional judgement, resilience, and ability to manage complexity will have a direct impact on both practice quality and the people we support.

About You

You will be a qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England, with significant experience working within adult social care and a strong grounding in statutory responsibilities. You will bring a comprehensive understanding of key legislation, including the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2005, and Mental Health Act 1983, and will be confident in applying this knowledge in complex and evolving situations.

You will have experience of supervising or managing others and will be confident in supporting colleagues to develop their practice while maintaining clear expectations around performance and accountability. You will create a supportive environment where practitioners feel able to reflect, learn, and deliver high-quality work.

Crucially, you will be comfortable operating in a fast-paced service, where managing demand is as important as delivering quality. You will have experience of overseeing or contributing to duty systems, prioritising referrals, and ensuring timely, risk-based allocation of work. You will understand the importance of balancing competing pressures while ensuring that people waiting for support are responded to safely, proportionately, and without unnecessary delay.

You will be confident using professional judgement to make decisions in complex situations and will bring strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Your communication style will enable you to build effective relationships with colleagues, partners, and the people we support, even in challenging or sensitive circumstances.

Above all, you will share our commitment to delivering compassionate, high-quality social work practice that supports people to live as independently, safely, and confidently as possible.

A full driving licence and access to a vehicle would be advantageous as this role requires frequent travel.

Please note that we encourage early application as we intend to interview applicants quickly and reserve the right to close the vacancy early once we have received a suitable number of applications.

Rewards and Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Annual leave starting at 29 days per year (plus bank holidays)
• A comprehensive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Agile and flexible working
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to health and wellbeing support 24/7
• Childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme, electric car scheme, range of staff discounts including travel, holidays, insurance, food, health and leisure activities.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.

Our commitment to:
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our commitment to:
Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Our commitment to:
Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Our commitment to:
Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, full time and part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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