Advanced Practitioner (Senior Social Worker) - Family Safeguarding

Somerset County Council; Taunton; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Somerset County Council is seeking an Advanced Practitioner (Senior Social Worker) for its Family Safeguarding Team in Taunton. The role involves case management of complex child welfare scenarios while providing mentorship and training to new social workers. This permanent full-time position offers a supportive work environment with opportunities for professional development and a competitive salary. The council promotes a healthy work-life balance and utilizes innovative technology to improve service delivery.

Benefits

30 days annual leave

Flexible working arrangements, including remote work

Training and development opportunities

Generous Pension Scheme

Employee Assistance programs

Qualifications

• Significant post-qualification experience in Safeguarding.
• Ability to develop strong working relationships with children and agencies.
• Calm management of unexpected situations.

Responsibilities

• Hold a caseload of complex cases including Child Protection.
• Provide multi-agency support to implement effective plans.
• Mentor less experienced colleagues and manage meetings.

Skills

Problem Solving

Relationship Building

Education

Social Work qualification

Registered with Social Work England

Job description

Advanced Practitioner (Senior Social Worker) - Family Safeguarding

Closing in 4 days (30 June, 2025)

Job details

Salary: £40,476 to £44,711 per annum

Department: Social Care

Working pattern: Full Time

About the job

Some key information

• Flexible working available, using a hybrid model - working from home and your contracted work base.
• 30 days annual leave
• A commitment to your CPD through a bespoke learning and development programme
• Great opportunities for career progression in Somerset
• Permanent 37 per week, finishing at 4:30 pm on Fridays.

What will I be doing?

Your day-to-day work will involve working within the Family Safeguarding Team in Taunton working alongside dedicated and child focused social workers and Family Safeguarding adult workers who specialise in supporting parents and carers who have experienced domestic abuse, mental health support needs and substance misuse issues. The foundations of all of our work is relationship-based and strengths-based practice and we pride ourselves on doing this well.

As a Senior Social Worker/Advanced Practitioner in the team, you will hold a caseload of complex work, but also support the team in other ways, including practice educating students, co-working, and mentoring less experienced colleagues, and chairing planning meetings and Strategy Discussions.

You will work closely with the Team Manager and the other AP's in the team to manage the balance of the different parts of the role flexibly, so that it suits you, your colleagues, and the families you support. We will encourage you to develop practice specialisms and link with colleagues countywide and partner agencies, to build your expertise so you can share it with the team.

• Case holding complex Child in Need, Child Protection and pre-proceedings/court work
• Positive and supportive multi-agency working to ensure plans meet identified needs and are implemented at the right level for the family
• Attendance at Advance Practitioner meetings and contributing ideas to build strong social worker knowledge and skills.
• QA of care planning in the area teams

What kind of experience or qualifications do I need?

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be. But it will really help if you:

• Have significant post Social Work qualification experience in Safeguarding
• Are able to develop and grow strong and supportive working relationships with children and young people, parents and carers and professional agencies
• Have strong problem solving skills and are able to manage unexpected situations in a calm way
• Are able to manage and prioritise your workload and any competing demands.
• Are registered with Social Work England.

What's in it for me?

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

At Somerset Council, we are proud to support our frontline workers with access to innovative AI technology. Our greatest asset is our dedicated workforce, and we need to ensure we evolve with technology and new ways to invest in them. We’re currently utilising Magic Notes, which has proven to help social workers reduce the amount of time spent on administrative work, allowing them to focus on using their skillset and creativity to support our shared vision of improving the life chances and outcomes for children in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more

Anything else I should know?

The salary range for this role is £40,476 to £44,711 per annum

For an informal chat about the role, please contact Sussanah Heywood, on 01823 357429 or [e-mail]

When completing your application/CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button - we can’t wait to hear from you.

DBS information

In this role you will require a criminal background check via Disclosure and Barring Service.

Supporting documents and information

Please read any attached documents before applying for this job