Social Workers Without Borders are proud to be a member of the Experts by Experience Employment Network, which aims to increase representation of people with lived experience in the charitable sector. Please feel free to use their information and resources which may help in preparing your job application. 

Hours of work: 30 - 37.5 hours negotiable. Working with volunteers requires flexibility in working hours, including regular evening and weekend working to accommodate volunteer availability. 
Contract: Permanent, subject to funding 
Starting Salary: £50,000 pro rata 
Annual leave: 25 days plus bank holidays, pro rata 
Pension Scheme: 6% employer pension contribution 
Location: Working from home, UK. 
Reporting to: Board of trustees 
Benefits: - Professional development opportunities 
- Regular professional supervision from the board of trustees + 
external supervision/coaching 
- Access to training and CPD opportunities to support Social Work England registration requirements 2 

About Social Workers Without Borders 
Social Workers Without Borders is a social work charity working for migration justice. We believe social workers should work in solidarity with people impacted by borders. We mobilise a network of social workers and social work students to practice in a way that is rights-based, upholding the inherent dignity, worth and humanity of every person. 

Social Workers Without Borders provide independent social work reports for people impacted by immigration policy, this includes children, families and adults. Most of our reports concern children’s welfare and we are frequently instructed to give expert evidence for immigration decisions that could separate families. 

Our Story 
Social Workers Without Borders was formed in March 2016 in response to the injustice faced by displaced people in Northern France and Greece. Social workers mobilised and went to Calais and to Leros, where they put their social work skills to use by delivering vicarious trauma training, building safe spaces and completing social work assessments as evidence for separated children’s applications to enter the UK. 
Our experience of completing social work assessments for separated children in Northern France highlighted a crucial need for this kind of expert evidence for immigration decisions. Social Workers Without Borders registered as a UK charity in 2017, and since then we have gone on to provide independent social work reports for people across a broad range of immigration and asylum matters. 

Our purpose, vision and values 
Everything we do at SWWB is to ensure we achieve our charitable objectives: 
Social Workers Without Borders (SWWB) was established for the public benefit to relieve need and to promote the physical and mental health of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in the UK and internationally by: 
• Providing excellent social work services 
• Promoting excellence in social work practice and developing a model of social work practice with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants 
• Providing education and training to social workers and others working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants .

Our vision is for social work practice that upholds social justice and human rights. Social work should not be complicit with harmful immigration policies. A person’s immigration status should not determine the quality of support they receive from social workers. 
We use our social work practice to promote the best interests and voices of those impacted by immigration and asylum law to decision-makers. 
In order to achieve this, we are committed to our organisational values.

Our Work 
Expert Witness Services: We provide independent social work reports to be used as expert evidence in immigration and asylum matters. These reports are the outcome of a specialist social work assessment and make recommendations about a person or family’s needs, safety and welfare. Our reports provide rigorous and impartial professional analysis, adhering to the professional standards of our social work regulator (Social Work England) and the duties set out in the Practice Direction for the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. 
We operate a broad referral criteria, and take a person-centred approach to the delivery of our service. We provide evidence for a range of case types, including family reunion, parental deportation, deportation of young people, asylum applications and appeals, family visas, age disputes, adults with complex needs and undocumented children and families. 
Our team of Specialist Social Worker are experienced social workers who specialise in preparing expert evidence. Specialist Social Workers supervise and support a team consisting of a lead social work assessor and a supporting social work assessor. The lead social work assessor must be a registered social worker and this role is allocated to the person with the most relevant professional experience. The role of supporting social work assessor is usually allocated to new volunteers, or newly qualified social workers or social work students. 
We pride ourselves on producing high quality reports that are well received by the judiciary. Producing an independent social work reports requires a lot of time and skill. By operating a robust supervision, review, and quality assurance process we maintain high standards whilst also offering practitioners the opportunity for professional learning and development. 
The contribution made by our network of volunteer social workers is outstanding, and we would not be able to do the work that we do without the committed support of so many excellent social workers and social work students. 
Campaigns: Our campaigning sits at the intersection of social work practice and immigration and asylum policy. In recent years, a series of legislative changes have intensified the UK’s ‘hostile environment’ strategy, embedding border controls into nearly every aspect of daily life, including into social work practice. As a social work led charity we are increasingly concerned about the way the language of ‘safeguarding’ is used to justify harmful, punitive immigration measures. 
We use our professional expertise, values and ethics to strive for a world where people have fair and equal treatment regardless of their immigration status. We believe social workers should be allies in the movement for migration justice. We mobilise social workers to come together, organise, resist, and make change. 
Education: Frequently social work is co-opted into enforcing hostile immigration policies. We do not believe this is consistent with social work’s core values. Through education we inspire social workers to be allies in the struggle for migration justice.

We have identified a significant gap in social work education and training in relation to working with people who are impacted by immigration control. Our education makes an offering to help address this gap, though we recognise the need for systemic change to ensure that social workers are better equipped to support members of our communities who are impacted by borders. 
We believe in the transformative potential of education. We know that when social workers have the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills, and to reconnect with our value base, this has a positive impact on how social work is practised. 

Our Staff 
Our current staff structure includes: CEO; Operations Manager; Head of Expert Witness Service; Head of Education and Volunteering, and 2 Specialist Social Workers. We are a small, but effective team! We offer a friendly and supportive working environment. We want to nurture staff to develop their knowledge and skills and follow their interests and ambitions. 
The purpose of CEO role 
1) Hold operational oversight and ensure delivery of the strategic objectives. 
2) Be responsible for the financial health of the organisation, including managing the budget and fundraising. 
3) Have oversight of the governance of the organisation. 
4) Represent the organisation to external organsiations and the wider sector. 
5) Represent the values and culture of the organisation both internally and externally. 

Core Responsibilities 
Strategy and Governance 
● Strategy 
Support the Board of Trustees in setting the strategic direction for SWWB including its vision, mission and values, working with the SWWB team to ensure that implementation is aligned to strategy and charitable purpose, reporting back against strategic priorities each quarter. Be the driving force of the organisation's aims. 
Monitor, evaluate and report on organisational services, projects, and developments. 
Represent the organisation through external stakeholder networking, building relationships externally, updating social media and sharing SWWB’s view on changes to legislation and impact on our work. 
Maintain knowledge and expertise related to migration justice and advise the board with appropriate information on all relevant matters. Ensure we are providing good information to beneficiaries and others. 
Finance 
●Income generation 
Being responsible for the overall financial health of the charity including developing, overseeing and monitoring an effective programme of income generation and diversification. 
● Managing budgets 
Work with the Treasurer and Operations manager to ensure timely preparation of annual budgets and to closely monitor spend against budget, review cashflow and budget re-forecasts with budget holders and ensure reports are prepared for Board review. 
● Financial administration 
Work with the Treasurer and Operations Manager to maintain and develop SWWB’s accounting systems, financial controls and procedures. 
Organisational Health 
● Staff management and wellbeing 
Provide support and management to all staff 
Oversee all recruitment and team building activity 
● Embody and uphold organisational values 
Ensure a culture of consultation and feedback across different stakeholders. 

Support SWWB to grow and develop as an inclusive and diverse organisation including embedding anti-racism at the heart of all policies and practices. 
Skills and abilities: Essential 
Able to lead and support a team of staff and volunteers. 
Ability to represent SWWB’s publicly, through public speaking, attending meetings and networking. 
Be able to lead the strategic vision of the organisation, and to ensure our work reflects this and is working towards our strategy. 
Proven ability to fundraise for an organisation. 
Knowledge of the social care and asylum sector. 
Share our values and aims for our work. 
Desirable  A registered social worker. 

Experience: Essential 
Experience of the social care and asylum sector, and of influencing change in these areas. 
Experience of managing the finances of an organisation, including managing the budgets, but also generating new income through fundraising. 
Able to manage a diverse team of staff and volunteers, and create a culture that reflects SWWB’s values. 
Experience of supporting an organisational growth, whilst managing capacity and ability to deliver our services. 
Desirable -Has experience or a personal connection to immigration control. 

Application Process

If you would like to discuss the role before applying, please contact Roaa (Operations Manager) at office@socialworkerswithoutborders.org also email for a Social Workers Without Borders Application Form 

More Info at our website

Please note CVs will not be considered.