Community Support Worker - Epping Forest North

Essex County Council; Bishop's Stortford; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

Essex County Council is seeking a Community Support Worker for the Epping Forest North area in a permanent full-time role based in Harlow. Salary ranges from £26,284 to £33,256 per annum.

The role involves working with Social Workers and Occupational Therapists to assess needs, support adults to live independently, and safeguard vulnerable individuals in line with ECC policies. Mobility across the county is required.

Qualifications

• Experience within a social care setting is desirable.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Experience of building strong, effective relationships with adults, their families, and carers.
• Experience of undertaking direct, activity based work with adults.
• Knowledge of legislative and policy guidance applicable within Social Care settings.
• Proven track record of building working relationships with partners and external agencies.
• A certificate in First Aid and/or knowledge of Sign Language is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Assess social care needs and provide support to vulnerable adults to enable them to live healthily and independently; maintaining high standards of professional practice and applying four key principles.
• Contribute to the development of care and support plans.
• Collaborate with placement teams to commission care and support from providers; including developing Direct Payments.
• Work within statutory legal framework and determine when the threshold for statutory intervention has been reached.
• Highlight issues and implement plans to safeguard vulnerable adults.
• Build strong relationships with clients, families and carers and provide practical advice and advocacy.
• Collaborate with internal and external professional partner agencies to deliver joint objectives and improve outcomes for vulnerable adults.
• Provide information and advice relating to involvement/accessing third party agencies (benefits, immigration, housing).
• Attend meetings, reviews, case conferences, and court hearings and provide reports.
• Specific targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Skills

Social care experience

CPD/knowledge

Relationship building

Direct work with adults

Legislation knowledge

Partnership development

First Aid / Sign language (desirable)

Education

NVQ/BTEC Level 3 or equivalent

Job description

Community Support Worker - Epping Forest North

Permanent, Full Time

£26,284 to £33,256 Per Annum

Location: Harlow

Closing Date: Monday 28th September 2026 at 11.59pm.

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Interview date: W/C Monday 12th October

The Role

Epping Forest North is a friendly, supportive and ambitious multidisciplinary team, bringing together Social Workers, Occupational Therapists and Community Support Workers. We are passionate about making a real difference for adults and offer a collaborative environment where staff are valued, supported to develop, and encouraged to do their best work every day.

The Opportunity

ECC Adult Social Care is making a transformational shift from a focus on long-term care support, to a model with four key principles: prevention, early intervention, enablement, and safeguarding. Enabling people, to access information and tools, to live independently and allowing a positive response to growing service demand in a sustainable way, within the financial constraints of ECC.

Working with Social Workers and Occupational Therapists, delivering bespoke intervention work, in accordance with the care plan, to vulnerable adults. The role may be required to manage a caseload, including assessment of risk through direct work, within a quality assurance process. A focus of the role will be to ensure vulnerable people are safeguarded in line with ECC's statutory obligations.

With relevant experience of working with vulnerable adults or educated to Level 3 (RQF). You will be passionate about engaging with and providing support in the community, working with partners as required.

Accountabilities

• Assess social care needs and provide support to vulnerable adults, to enable them to live healthily and independently; maintaining high standards of professional practice which contribute to continuous improvement across the service and delivering the four key principles.
• Contribute to the development of care and support plans that gain commitment to solutions to meet each individual's needs.
• Works collaboratively with others, including placement team, to support the individual to commission care and support from appropriate providers; including developing their own employees through Direct Payments.
• Accountable for working within the statutory legal framework, policy and guidance and determining when the threshold for statutory intervention has been reached in In line with legislative and organisational standards within the Care Act 2015 (e.g., MCA / DoLs / CHC etc.).
• Responsible for highlighting issues and implementing plans to safeguard a vulnerable adult.
• Building strong, effective relationships with clients, families and carers providing practical advice, support and, where necessary, acting as an advocate. Enabling vulnerable adults to live healthily and as independently as possible.
• Work collaboratively across the service, with internal and external professional partner agencies to deliver joint objectives and ensure improved outcomes for vulnerable adults.
• Provides information and advice in relation to involvement/accessing of third party agencies relevant to the needs of the client (e.g., benefits agencies, immigration, and housing).
• Attends meetings, reviews, case conferences, and court hearings to provide information, insight and evidence; providing reports where appropriate.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Experience within a social care setting, an NVQ/BTEC Level 3 or equivalent is desirable.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Experience of building strong, effective relationships with adults, their families, and carers in times of challenge and crisis.
• Experience of undertaking direct, activity based work with adults.
• Knowledge of legislative and policy guidance applicable within Social Care settings.
• Proven track record of building working relationships with partners and external agencies.
• A certificate in First Aid and/or knowledge of Sign Language is desirable in this role.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.