Social Workers (Family Safeguarding East & West) - RA 04498/01327

West Berkshire Council; Newbury; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in the UK is seeking dedicated Social Workers to enhance the wellbeing of families in Newbury. Candidates should hold a recognised Social Work qualification and possess effective stakeholder management abilities. Responsibilities include working collaboratively with other professionals and directly with children. The position offers attractive benefits such as a golden hello payment and remote working options. This is a fantastic opportunity for those passionate about making a difference in the community.

Benefits

Golden hello payment of £3k

Retention payments after 2 and 3 years

Flexible working options

Social Work England registration fees reimbursed

Wellbeing services

Annual pay review

Generous leave allowance

Relocation package available

Qualifications

• Registered with Social Work England.
• Current driving licence and access to a car.
• Experience managing complex caseloads.
• Knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with specialists to provide group interventions.
• Apply motivational interviewing techniques.
• Work directly with children to understand their needs.
• Access high-quality supervision in a multi-disciplinary context.

Skills

Social Work qualification

Organizational skills

Stakeholder management

Conflict management

Education

Social Work degree

Job description

Our Family Safeguarding teams are dedicated to improving the outcomes of Children and Families within West Berkshire. If you are passionate about supporting families to make sustained change and share our drive to keep more children safely at home with their families then this could be the role for you.

We have exciting opportunities for Social Workers to join our East and West Family Safeguarding Teams. We are Ofsted rated Good and aspire to work towards an Outstanding rating with Ofsted stating that West Berkshire Council has 'strong, stable and child-focused leadership team that has continued to improve services for children and families in West Berkshire'.

The role

• Utilising the Family Safeguarding Model you will work in collaboration with other specialist workers including Domestic Abuse Practitioners, Recovery Workers and Mental Health Practitioners to offer group based interventions to families.
• Adopting a strengths based approach and applying motivational interviewing techniques you will work with our families to identify what changes need to be made in their daily life and support them to achieve these.
• You will have the opportunity to work directly with children to understand what's important to them.
• Your work will take a holistic view of the individual across both their immediate and extended social circles, having full regard to their overall development needs.
• You will access high quality reflective supervision within a multi-disciplinary forum to strengthen information sharing and decision making.

The ideal candidate would have the following skills and attributes

• You will hold a recognised Social Work qualification and registration with Social Work England.
• You will hold a current driving licence and have use of a car.
• You will need good organisational and planning skills.
• You will have experience of managing levels of risk within a caseload of complex cases.
• You will be able to demonstrate knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations, guidance and policies.
• You will have excellent stakeholder management skills, being able to build effective relationships with colleagues, individuals and external organisations.
• You will have effective skills in managing conflict and disagreement.

Our offer to you

• A golden hello payment of £3k after one year in post
• A retention payment of £2k after two years of service
• A further retention payment of £3k, plus a four week paid sabbatical after three years’ service
• Flexible Working: West Berkshire has adopted a Hybrid Working Policy, which allows employees to split their time between attending the workplace and working remotely
• Social Work England registration fees reimbursed
• Dedicated employee wellbeing service with Employee Assistance Programme offering a great range of discounts at a variety of retailers, services and everyday spending.
• Regular and high quality reflective supervision.
• Approachable and visible senior leadership
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Generous annual leave allowance, plus an additional 5 days leave after 5 years continuous local authority service
• Relocation package for individuals moving from outside a 30 mile radius (subject to eligibility)
• Blue Light card fees reimbursed
• We use the PeopleSafe App, a reliable tool offering real-time monitoring, emergency assistance, and peace of mind when lone working

All roles are subject to an annual banding pay review until the top of the pay grade is reached (following successfully passing probation). All roles will be eligible for the annual national pay award.

Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

If you are interested in working with us and want to know more, we would love to hear from you. Do not hesitate to contact Sonia Harris, Service Manager on 01635 519785 for an informal chat about this role.

Due to West Berkshire Council’s size and scale, and limited number of social work vacancies, we are not currently able to accept applications from overseas social workers.

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment, and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

How To Apply

Please now complete a short online application form. You will then be able to upload your CV.

This role has been identified as public facing in accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016; the requirement to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English applies.

West Berkshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all its staff and volunteers to share these values. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. Successful candidates will be offered employment subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks along with other relevant employment checks.

This privacy notice applies to job applicants applying for vacancies with West Berkshire Council https://info.westberks.gov.uk/pnapplications.