Work with us

St Andrew’s Children’s Society is a wonderful place to work. In our latest Care Inspectorate Inspection Report (2020) it was noted that “management was described as supportive, approachable and inclusive which was valued and appreciated” by staff members.

Current Vacancies

Social Worker/Senior Practitioner

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Social Worker/Senior Practitioner to join our team based in Aberdeen.  This is a full time post but part time hours could be considered. The post affords exciting opportunities to contribute to and develop our services and the successful candidate will have a passion to do their best to meet the needs of vulnerable children in the looked after system who need adoptive and foster care families. The caseload will be a mixture of adoption recruitment and placement work, adoption support to existing families, work with adopted adults and supporting foster care placements.

The posts of Social Worker/Senior Practitioner is full time (36.25 hours per week) and applicants should hold a recognised social work qualification C.Q.S.W., C.S.S., or Dip.SW. The holding of a current driving license is also essential.

The worker will be based in Aberdeen but operate within approximately 60 miles of the City.

The closing date is 9 September 2022. 

Please read the job description before completing the application form.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by calling 0131 454 3370 or emailing info@standrews-children.org.uk

Service Manager (Adoption Support)

Post: Service Manager (Adoption Support)

Responsible to: The CEO and The Board of Trustees of St Andrew’s Children’s Society.

Salary Scale: .41 – .50 (Scottish Joint Council Scale)

The post of Service Manager is full time (36.25 hours per week) and applicants should hold a recognised social work qualification either C.Q.S.W., C.S.S., or Dip.SW. The holding of a current driving licence is also essential.

The post holder will carry a limited caseload of adoption support work as well as having responsibility for management and staff supervisory tasks as agreed between the Service Manager and the CEO.

St Andrew’s Children’s Society’s history of caring for children goes back to 1922. This is a challenging post which offers scope for much innovation and development.

Major Tasks/Job Activities:

– Professional Supervision of Senior Practitioners within the team and some management responsibility in conjunction with the CEO.

– Work in all aspects of adoption and family placement work with particular focus on overseeing the adoption support services the agency provides.

– Offering appropriate support to foster carers during placement.

– Coordinating adoption support service that the agency provides and being involved in direct work with adopted children and adults adoptees and birth family members.

– Devising and delivering group work and training programmes for the agency’s adopters, children and young people and foster carers.

– Help to develop and encouraging good standards of practice in relation to the work we undertake with families and the services we provide for children.

– Help development of recruitment initiatives to encourage the continued growth of the services we offer.

– Represent At Andrew’s Children’s Society in a highly professional manner to outside agencies in the Edinburgh and Aberdeen areas, throughout Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

Additional Considerations:

– Have an ability to produce clear and well written reports concerning the work he/she undertakes for the agency, as well as keeping clear and concise records for the agency’s files.

Supervision:

Professional consultation and supervision to promote professional growth will be provided by the CEO.

Terms and Conditions:

Holiday pay, sick leave, pension entitlement, car and other expenses are outlined in the Contract of Employment.

 

The closing date for this position is 1st October 2023.

Social Worker/Senior Practitioner

Job title: Social Worker/Senior Practitioner – Family Placement/Adoption Support
(Post dependent on experience)

Agency:  St Andrew’s Children’s Society

Responsible to: Service Manager, the CEO & Board of Trustees

Job purpose: To promote the welfare of children through the provision of high-quality adoption and foster care placements

Salary Scale: £31,458 – £36,125 (SW) / £36,807 – £42,000 (SP)

The post of Social Worker/Senior Practitioner is part time (21.25 hours per week). Applicants should hold a recognised social work qualification either C.Q.S.W., C.S.S., or Dip.SW. The holding of a current driving licence is also essential.

The post holder will carry a caseload with a predominantly adoption support and adoption counselling work but also adoption placement work and involvement in our foster care service.

Our history of caring for children goes back over 100 years. This is a challenging post which offers scope for much innovation and development in all areas of family placement work.

Main duties:

• Work in all aspects of adoption; assessing and preparing applicants, linking and matching children with them but predominantly providing a full range of adoption support services.

• Work in all aspects of foster care for vulnerable families; assessing and preparing prospective carers, linking and matching children with them, and supporting the carers during placement.

• Participate in the adoption counselling service that the agency operates for adoptees and birth family members.

• Participate in group work and training programmes for the agency’s adopters, carers, Adoption and Foster Care Panel members and Trustees.

• Help to develop and encouraging good standards of practice in relation to the work we undertake with families and the services we provide for children.

• Help development of initiatives in the recruitment of adopters and foster carers to encourage the continued growth of the services we offer.

• Represent St Andrew’s Children’s Society in a highly professional manner to outside agencies in the Edinburgh and Aberdeen areas, throughout Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom

• Carry out any other duties that may reasonably be required.

Additional Considerations:

Have an ability to produce clear and well written reports for the Adoption and Foster Care Panel and outside agencies concerning the work he/she undertakes for the agency, as well as keeping clear and concise records for the agency’s files.

Supervision:

Professional consultation and supervision to promote professional growth will be provided by a Service Manager and the CEO.

Terms and Conditions:

Holiday pay, pension provision, sick leave, car and other expenses are calculated and offered broadly in line with those of local authority departments of social work and are outlined in the Contract of Employment.

St Andrew’s Children’s Society reserves the right to vary or amend the duties and responsibilities of the post holder at any time according to the needs of the Company’s business.

 

The closing date for this position is 1st October 2023.

Administrative Assistant

Post: Administrative Assistant

Responsible to: The Office Manager, the CEO and the Board of Trustees of St Andrew’s Children’s Society.

Salary Scale: £22907 – £26097 pro rata

The post of Administrative Assistant is part time. Approx. 21.75 hours; days and times to be agreed with the right candidate.

Job Purpose: The post holder will provide a comprehensive range of secretarial and administrative support services to the agency.

St Andrew’s Children’s Society’s history of caring for children goes back over 100 years. St Andrew’s Children’s Society offers a range of social services predominantly family placement through adoption and fostering.

The post holder will develop an understanding of the administrative needs of an agency that offers an adoption and foster care service to children and families. Attention to detail is important and candidates must be able to organise and prioritise tasks.

Major tasks/job activities:

• Taking minutes at adoption and fostering panels.
• Carrying out a range of procedures and instructions using initiative to make routine decisions processing confidential, personal and sensitive information
• Routine filing and collation
• Data inputting and/or the use of a range of software packages including our company software system (CHARMS) and Microsoft Office.
• Meet all deadlines – both planned and ad hoc as directed
• Preparing standard reports
• Telephone answering/reception work as required

Supervision:

Consultation and supervision to promote personal growth will be provided.

Terms and Conditions:

Holiday pay, sick leave and other expenses are calculated and offered broadly in line with those of local authorities and are outlined In the Contract of Employment.


The closing date for this position is 1st October 2023.

Foster carers - short term, long term and short break (also known as respite).

Responsible to: Supervising Foster Care Social Worker.

Payment scale: The agreed fostering allowances and fee paid monthly (see current rates below).

Job purpose

To provide a family home and care to children and young people who cannot be cared for by their birth parents.

Main duties

  • The key tasks for a foster carer are wide ranging — they cover the health, educational, cultural and religious needs of the child or young person you care for.
  • Also, children and young people usually have a need to maintain contact with members of their family or other significant people and your support for this is very important.
  • Often they will have difficult and challenging behaviour and you will be helped to find ways of both managing these challenges and of helping them learn new ways of coping and interacting with adults and their peers.
  • You will be asked to prepare reports and attend meetings; and you will need to record a range of information about each child in placement and you will need to know how to keep this information safely and protect the confidentiality of the children and their families.
  • You are a vital member of a team and we will offer you support and training to help you fulfil your role and to develop new skills.

Additional considerations

  • The information contained in the Placement Agreement form, and other information in relation to the child and his or her family is shared in confidence. Families may have shared private, and at times painful, details of their lives and it is necessary that they feel trust in you. Information must only be shared with relevant parties. You should ensure written information is locked in a secure place.
  • Decisions will be made with your foster care social worker and the child’s social worker about what to tell your family, friends and neighbours. Details about the child’s health and family relationships must be handled discreetly.
  • Information about parents cannot be shared with the child without the parent’s consent.
  • A child or a child’s parents may entrust you with information. You may have to explain that some information is important and must be shared with the child’s social worker. In other words you must make it clear that you cannot hold all information in confidence.

Teamwork

You will be a key participant in the development of the plan for a child in your care. You are part of the Team that will work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for the child.

The Team can include:

  • You – the carer
  • The child
  • The child’s parents
  • Other family members/friends who are important to the child
  • The child’s social worker
  • Your foster care social worker and other staff of St. Andrew’s Children’s Society
  • Other professionals involved in the care and education of the child eg Health Visitor, Teacher, GP, School Doctor and Psychologist.

Supervision and support

  • Professional consultation and supervision to promote professional growth in your role as a foster carer will be provided by your Foster Care Social Worker and their Manager. You will also be given access to the support of other foster carers who understand the challenges of the fostering task.
  • You will also receive free membership to The Fostering Network.

Terms and conditions

You will receive a Foster Carer Handbook that details all your conditions of service and the expectations of you in the foster carer role. You are considered as self-employed for HMRC purposes.

Fostering allowances and fees

Details of the rates paid are issued in April each year to all carers. Payments are made four weekly in advance directly into bank accounts, and carers receive a statement giving details of the payment made.

Carers must ensure that St. Andrew’s Children’s Society is supplied with their full name, address and relevant bank account details to ensure payments are made efficiently.

St. Andrew’s Children’s Society reserves the right to vary or amend the duties and responsibilities of the post holder at any time according to the needs of the Company’s business.

Please complete the attached Fostering enquiry form if you are ready to take the next step in your fostering journey with us.

Alternatively, please call 0131 454 3370 and ask to speak to the Duty Worker or email info@standrews-children.org.uk if you have any questions you would like to ask first, about becoming a foster carer for St Andrew’s Children’s Society. We are looking for foster carers who live within 60 miles of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Elgin. They will be matched with one of our Foster Care Social Workers in our Edinburgh and Aberdeen offices.

Additional Trustees

We are looking to recruit additional Trustees who share our vision and passion. In particular, we are seeking candidates with:

An appreciation of the operational and strategic challenges facing charities
An understanding of the changing adoption/fostering child care and social care landscape in Scotland
An ability to work as part of an experienced team contributing to the charity’s governance
A strong financial or business background

In addition, Trustees act as ambassadors for St Andrew’s Children’s Society and support the broad range of activities undertaken to support its work.

Treasurer

A key role within the Board is that of Treasurer. Our present Treasurer, Kirsty Fergusson has been in that role for the past eight years. In that time, Kirsty’s home life has become more hectic with the addition of two children and she has also moved to a senior accountancy role, now working in Livingston. Treasurers are allowed to “move on” and Kirsty has asked the Board to recruit a new Treasurer.

So, we are looking for a new Treasurer to join our Board of Trustees. Ideally you will have experience in financial accounting and be interested in supporting our work.

Please contact Claire McMahon, our Office Manager on 0131 454 3370 for more information on the Trustee and Treasurer roles.

There is always someone to talk to.