Children Looked After Advanced Social Worker

Surrey County Council; Reigate; Hybrid; GBP 46,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking passionate Advanced Social Workers to join their Children Looked After Team. This role involves supporting vulnerable children, mentoring less experienced colleagues, and contributing to a positive community impact. With a focus on professional development and a commitment to safeguarding, this position offers a unique opportunity to make a real difference in children's lives. The organization values flexibility, providing a blend of home and office working to ensure staff feel connected and supported. If you're dedicated to improving the lives of children and families, this could be the perfect role for you.

Benefits

Social Worker England Registration fee paid

28 days annual leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Carer's leave

Generous pension scheme

Lifestyle discounts

Paid volunteering days

Learning and development resources

Refer a friend payment

Qualifications

• Must be registered with Social Work England.
• Experience in working with children and families is essential.

Responsibilities

• Support children living with relatives or foster families.
• Mentor less experienced practitioners and lead on practice areas.

Skills

Social Work

Mentoring

Relationship Building

Assessment Skills

Education

Social Work Qualification

Registration with Social Work England

Job description

Children Looked After Advanced Social Worker

Details

• Reference: SCC/TP/287912/2580
• Positions: 3
• Salary: £46,399 - £49,588 per annum plus an additional payment of up to £6,000 payable across your first 18 months in post
• Category: Qualified Social Work - Children's
• Contract type: Permanent
• Working hours: 36 hours per week
• Posted on: 14 April 2025
• Location: Reigate, Surrey, RH2 8EF

Description

We are committed to the development of our workforce. This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council.

We have permanent opportunities for Advanced Social Workers to join our Children Looked After Team and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children LAC Team, based in Reigate.

When not working with our residents in the community, we are keen to support agile working with a combination of home and office working. We are keen to get the balance right of providing flexibility but ensuring you feel connected to your team and the service.

The salary range is £46,399 - £49,588 per annum. We also offer a financial package of up to £6,000 which is payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post.

Following our latest Ofsted visit in April, we are pleased to report positive feedback on our service quality for children in need or under child protection plans in Surrey. Ofsted recognized the improved impact of our 'comprehensive improvement programme'. We are committed to continuing our progress and are seeking motivated individuals to help us ensure children in Surrey are effectively safeguarded and receive timely support.

Rewards and Benefits

• We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years' service (plus bank holidays)
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Refer a friend payment of £1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social Worker

As an Advanced Social Worker, you will mentor less experienced practitioners in the team and support the Team Manager by leading on some areas of practice, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You will undertake more complex work, some of which you will do jointly with less experienced social workers and enable their learning. You will contribute to team plans and support the Team Manager.

About working with Children Looked After

As a member of the Looked After Children's Team, your aim and role will be to support children living with relatives, friends or foster families and perspective adopters or older children living in children's homes and semi-independent units. You will build sustainable relationships with them and plan for their permanence. You will be responsible for ensuring their safety and support them towards independence.

Through regular visits, assessments and reviewing their Care Plan, you will nurture and develop meaningful relationships with these children; understand and interpret their wishes; and champion and support them to reach their full potential. Occasionally, you will be required to prepare reports and attend court. You will be supported in this challenging role with regular supervision and consultations with our Mental Health Focussed Social Worker. You will also find support by working alongside other social workers, family support workers and partnership organisations such as Health Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (New Leaf), Independent Reviewing officers and carers. You will also be supported in your career development by your management team and also by the Surrey Academy.

In Surrey, you will have a sense of belonging within your individual team but also the wider service areas and directorate. You will receive high quality supervision, as there is a firm commitment towards dedicating time that focuses on the work you do with children and families, to enable you to work creatively and holistically in providing support and protection to children whilst also paying attention to your wellbeing and career development.

Wherever you are in your career journey, Surrey is committed to supporting and nurturing you so that you can be the best version of yourself.

Our Surrey Children's Service Academy currently has over 60 courses available and offers a bespoke learning programme so you can be at the forefront of best practice.

Our Inclusive Approach

To apply you will need to upload your CV and answer the following questions. (no more than 200 words per question):

• Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?
• Please tell us about the key skills and experience you will be able to bring to this role.
• Please tell us about an example that demonstrates how you have built long-lasting relationships with children.

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short first round virtual interview to explore your answers to the above questions (lasting approx. 15-20 min).

If your Teams call goes well, you will be invited for an in-person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment. That's why, if you're invited to a face-to-face interview, we'll share the themes of the questions with you in advance. This way, you can prepare and feel comfortable knowing what topics will be covered during the process.

Fancy a chat?

Our friendly teams could talk your socks off when it comes to all things Social Work. We'd love to hear from you and find out more about what you're looking for so if you'd like to talk to us please just drop a quick message to [e-mail] and we'll get a call arranged.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on the 5th May 2025.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

You will need to be registered with Social Work England.

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and locality-based social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long-term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

Our Values

Our values are as important as our abilities and shape who we are as an organisation. Discover more about our values.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups. We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.