Senior Social Worker

NHS; St Albans; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Leadership training opportunities

5% HCAS allowance (pro rata)

27 days holiday + bank holidays (pro‑r

NHS Pension Scheme

Health & wellbeing services

Special leave for family/personal

NHS Car Lease Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Senior Social Worker for the Adult Community Mental Health Service in North West Hertfordshire. The role is a fixed-term contract for 18 months, focusing on personalised care, complex assessments and leading a social care team.

You will supervise staff, work with partners, and ensure high-quality, outcome‑based interventions while maintaining professional registration and safeguarding responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Registered mental health professional with safeguarding and CPD requirements.
• Experience working in health and social care with adults and/or children.
• Involvement in multi‑agency work and staff supervision.

Responsibilities

• Lead the social care agenda, promote personalisation and choice.
• Carry out complex assessments, plan services and review outcomes.
• Supervise social care staff and provide expert practice guidance.
• Lead safeguarding and risk management within the team.
• Collaborate with community partners to support recovery journeys.

Skills

Exceptional communication & inter

Interpersonal skills

Mentoring & coaching

Team leadership

Analytical interpretation

Self-directed work

Risk assessment

Independent problem solving

Education

Registered mental health professional (nursing/OT/SW)

Continuous professional development

Mentorship/preceptorship or plan to complete

Experience with vulnerable adults/children

Multi‑agency collaboration

Student supervision experience

Health & social care legislation knowledge

Safeguarding processes & investigations

Mental Capacity Act / Mental Health Act / Care Programme Approach knowledge

Staff supervision & development planning

Job description

Site 99 Waverley Road, St. Albans, AL3 5TL Town st albans Salary £51,657 - £58,785 per annum, pro rata (Inclusive of 5% HCAS) Salary period Yearly Closing 19/11/2026 23:59

At Hertfordshire Partnership Foundation Trust we are looking for people to join us who share our values and those of the NHS.

We have a vacancy for an Senior Social Worker to join the Adult Community Mental Health Service (ACMHS) in North West Hertfordshire -Please note this vacancy is a fixed term contract for 18 months only. This contract covers a limited term project to support the implementation of the new Social Care Pathway in North West Adult Community Mental Health Services.

Are you interested in working with an outstanding Trust to develop and deliver community treatment in mental health?

We welcome diversity in our workforce and encourage applicants from people of all ages and backgrounds, such as those with lived experience of mental health difficulties.

This role covers the St. Albans community mental health team.

You must hold a full valid driving license and have access to a car to use regularly for business purposes is essential (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will:

• promote and lead the social care agenda, acting in accordance with the principles of personalisation, working to promote wellbeing, and enabling individual’s rights to choice and control
• carry out complex assessments of need, plan and deliver services and review outcomes with the individual, their personal support networks and support providers
• ensure practice within the team is responsive, inclusive and community based with a clear focus on outcomes and bring your professional expertise to your work with complex cases
• supervise the social care staff within the team and support the wider team with social care
• manage the provision of assessments under the Care Act 2014 and the reviews of packages of care
• work collaboratively with community partners to ensure individuals and families are supported and their needs are met
• act as a champion and leader of social care within the locality/quadrant
• be professionally registered.

In return, we can offer you:

• leadership and management training opportunities
• 5% on top of basic salary high cost allowance supplement (subject to a minimum and a maximum payment pro rata)
• 27 days holiday rising to 33 days (depending on NHS Trust service) plus bank holidays (pro rata where applicable)
• One of the UK's best pension schemes
• Comprehensive health and wellbeing services
• Special leave for family and personal reasons
• NHS Car Lease Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme

Working for our organisation

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) is an outstanding organisation with ambitions to match. We are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of ‘Outstanding’ from the Care Quality Commission, and our aim is to be the leading provider of mental health and specialist learning disability services in the country.

Our family of over 4000 members of staff provide health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. We also deliver a range of nationally commissioned specialist services including Tier 4 services for children and young people, perinatal services, plus medium and low secure learning disabilities services.

The care we provide makes a fantastic difference to the lives of our service users, their families and carers - everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout:

Our Trust values are:

Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a more extensive Job Description please read documents attached

Job Summary:
Senior Social Workers are a key part of the senior management team and the focus of the role is to promote, lead and act in accordance with the principles of personalisation, ensuring the team are working to promote wellbeing, and enabling individual’s rights to choice and control. In doing so they will carry out complex assessments of need, plan and deliver services and review outcomes with the individual, their personal support networks and support providers.

Senior Social Workers will lead the Team's social care agenda and will supervise the social care staff within the Team. As a Senior Social Worker you will act as a champion and leader of social care within a locality/quadrant to ensure a focus on outcome based interventions. You will be expected to give robust, consistent expert social care practice advice in partnership with other specialist senior social care colleagues. You will reinforce the need to deliver high quality, cost effective social care services to service users and their carers focused on the principles of choice, control and independence, as well as ensuring their safety. You will have a small caseload of the most complex cases and you will manage the provision of assessments and reviews of social care intervention.

Partnership working is a key component of this post both within and outside the Trust and you will need to be innovative in ensuring that there is a range of appropriate services locally to support individual recovery journeys. You will work with community partners to address complex social issues and will be encouraged to think innovatively about how to address local concerns with our community partners.

You will be expected to work in partnership with service users and carers so that they can be empowered, and services can be improved as a result of feedback of their experiences.

All Senior Social Workers must be registered with Social Work England.

For a more detailed description, please see attached Job Description and Personal Specification.

ct as the lead manager in safeguarding concerns / enquiries including assessment and management of risk, knowing how to intervene proportionately and ensuring people are protected from harm, while protecting their human rights.

Act as the lead professional when an adult is at risk of social exclusion and assist people to deal with adverse circumstance such as poor health, poverty, inadequate living conditions; as well as maximising the strength of individuals, their families and their communities.

Act as the lead professional where a person is severely constrained by social or family circumstance and provides support to achieve a reasonable degree to independence and autonomy.

Act as the lead professional when a person’s health or capacity is deteriorating or likely to deteriorate (without intervention) and the alternative may be premature admission to institutional forms of care or a legal intervention by the state.

Qualifications and Knowledge

• Registered mental health professional appropriate to the job role (nursing, OT, SW)
• Evidence of continuous professional development
• Completion of mentorship /preceptorship Course/ENB equivalent, or intention to complete
• Works with vulnerable adults and or children within a health and social care setting
• Involvement in multi-agency work
• Experience of student supervision
• Applied use of Social Care & Health Care legislation
• Safeguarding processes and investigations
• Applied use of at least one of the following of Mental capacity Act; Mental Health Act; care Management; Continuing Health Care, Care Programme Approach
• Experience of Staff supervision & development planning

Skills and Abilities

• Exceptional communication & interpersonal skills with individuals, families, groups, staff
• Strong IT skills; reporting, recording, written
• Ability to assess and record eligible and non-eligible needs, drawing on evidence based practice to inform your response
• Acts in a self-directed, proactive way to identify / develop opportunities ideas & innovation
• Keeps calm and focussed under pressurised and challenging circumstances
• Mentors, coaches, supports and supervises other social work staff to be accountable, proactive, innovative, autonomous and to enhance performance
• Analytically interprets research, audits, case law and present to colleagues in an accessible way to inform practice
• Actively and creatively develops team members’ capabilities in line with service objectives and professional standards
• Adult Social care and legislation, strategies and guidance relevant to the post
• Safeguarding statutory responsibilities, including Making Safeguarding Personal
• Risk management and positive risk taking
• Human rights legislation and how these laws protect the rights of adults
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary /multi-agency team
• The personalisation agenda and applying creative problem solving to maximise independence
• Working within a scheme of delegated authority

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.