Adults Social Worker – Physical & Sensory Impairments

Working for Essex; Colchester; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Essex County Council is recruiting an Adults Social Worker – Physical & Sensory Impairments on a permanent full-time basis. Salary £36,124–£51,834 per annum. Location: Clacton on Sea & Colchester.

Open to Experienced and Newly Qualified Social Workers, with NQSW starting at £36,124 rising to £38,487 on ASYE completion. The role involves working with adults under Care Act requirements, assessments, reviews, support planning and safeguarding.

Qualifications

• Qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration.
• Sound understanding of the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act, and safeguarding practice.
• Strong assessment, risk management, decision‑making and professional analysis skills.
• Able to work autonomously in case work planning and time management to maintain standards.
• Active contribution to a supportive team culture through learning, research and sharing around environmental factors.
• Committed to reflective practice, learning and continuous professional development.
• Experience of chairing meetings and building relationships with partner agencies and the local community.

Skills

Qualified Social Worker

SW England registration

Care Act 2014 knowledge

Mental Capacity Act knowledge

Safeguarding practice

Assessment & risk management

Autonomous case planning

Team collaboration

Driving licence

Job description

Adults Social Worker – Physical & Sensory Impairments

Permanent,Full Time

£36,124 to £51,834 per annum

Location:Clacton on Sea & Colchester

Working Style: Community-based worker

This vacancy is open to Experienced and Newly Qualified Social Worker’s (NQSW). Please note that the starting salary for a NQSW is £36,124 per annum, rising to £38,487 per annum upon successful completion of the ASYE programme.

We’re an adult social care service that wants to see citizens of Essex have as much choice and control over the way they live their lives as possible. We think everyone should have the chance to live a full and fulfilling life with people they love and care about, doing things that matter to them and living in a place they can call home. We’re determined that with the right support, everyone can maintain or achieve some independence and we’re proud to be working to make these ambitions a reality.

Our Social Workers work alongside people and their families and carers to help them think through what might help them get on with their lives in the way that works best for them. We do this within the framework of our statutory Care Act requirements. This means many of our conversations are framed as ‘assessments’, ‘reviews’, ‘support planning’ and ‘safeguarding’. But our aim is always to listen and understand what matters to the person and then to work with them to think through how this might be achieved.

Take a look at our short video here to get a glimpse into the role and what it’s like to be a Social Worker at Essex County Council.

About the Team

The North Essex Physical & Sensory Impairments team support people from eighteen years old with a wide range of conditions and difficulties including, Acquired Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke (CVA), Huntingdon’s Disease and Fibromyalgia. We aim to safeguard and protect the people we work with, balancing independence, control and being able to live as independent and a fulfilling life as possible.

As a member of this Team, you will have opportunities to practice systemically and will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team. The team are friendly and dynamic and are passionate about achieving good outcomes for the people we support. Through innovative working using TEC and community solutions for early help, alongside complex interventions and safeguarding, we strive to bring positive outcomes and ideas to life. The achievements within the team truly make a difference to the lives of the people we work with and take a step towards changing the opportunities and outcomes for adults in our local community.

About You

We are looking for someone who:

• Is a qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration.
• Has a sound understanding of the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act, and safeguarding practice.
• Demonstrates strong assessment, risk management, decision‑making and professional analysis skills.
• Is confident working autonomously in terms of case work planning and time management to ensure practice standards are maintained.
• Actively contributes to a supportive team culture through sharing learning, research, and articles around the broader environmental factors.
• Is committed to critical reflective practice, learning, and continuous professional development.
• Has experience of chairing meetings.
• Is able to develop strong relationships with partner agencies and the local community.
• Ideally has experience of working with people with a physical or sensory impairment.

Our Social Worker roles involve travelling around Essex. A driving licence and car - or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means - is essential.

Why Join Us?

In June 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated our Adult Social Care services as “Good” with a score of 73%

“The local authority had a good structure and processes in place to enable people to be supported successfully, and support people to remain independent and live healthy lives. The workforce was passionate about supporting people to achieve these outcomes and the local authority had good knowledge of their area, the people living there and the demographics.”

You can read the full report on the CQC website here.

Our teams are busy but warm, friendly and supportive. Our fabulous team managers will help you manage your workload and develop your practice.

We take your career just as seriously as you do, and we have a continuing professional development offer that’s second to none.

We welcome diversity because it makes us grow and we’re determined to become a fully inclusive and an anti-racist organisation.

Whatever you want to achieve in your social work career, you can do it here.

For more information [e-mail]

In March 2026, Greater Essex was accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

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