Working and living in Wakefield

Wakefield is a district with a strong, proud heritage and a bright future. We have rich and diverse communities, each with their own distinctiveness and history.

Through bringing together our communities and working with partners, we will make the most of people's skills, initiative and resources to ensure they achieve their full potential and help maintain a strong and successful district.

We aim to be one of the best performing councils in the country.

Wakefield is at the heart of Yorkshire, with a population of 336,000 based around Wakefield City, the Five Towns (Pontefract, Castleford, Knottingley, Featherstone and Normanton), and the towns and villages to the north west of the district. As well as vibrant urban centres, we have a rich open countryside, with four country parks and beautiful green spaces.

We have an increasingly diverse population and community pride and community links are strong. It's important to us that Wakefield continues to be a place where all communities and families can make the most of their opportunities - enjoy their lives and achieve their potential. This reflects proud local traditions - sport and heritage are important, as is culture and contemporary art. We are home not only to the internationally acclaimed Hepworth Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, but also to three professional rugby league clubs.

We have excellent travel links, sitting on the intersection of the M1 and M62 and with rail links on the East Coast mainline for London, North East and Scotland plus Transpennine services via Leeds.

As well as providing our own lovely surroundings, we are within easy travelling distance for the Peak District, the Dales, the North Yorkshire Moors and the East Coast.

International air links are close by at Leeds Bradford and Robin Hood (Doncaster Sheffield) airports.

Relocation support

If you are considering relocating to Wakefield we provide a comprehensive relocation benefits package.

This covers reasonable costs up to the value of £7,400 associated with moving into the Wakefield District.

For more information about these benefits and jobs contact our HR team at HRDirect-Policy@wakefield.gov.uk

For international candidates, registration with Social Work England is essential. Further information can be found on the SWE website.