Advanced Social Worker - Corporate Parenting (Children in Our Care) - Ref.5259
- Multiple Locations
- Full Time
- £40,478 - £44,539 per annum (pending 2023/24 pay award)
MORE THAN JUST A JOB, WE OFFER AN OPPORTUNITY TO GROW
Opportunities in Exeter and Mid/East Devon
Bring your skills and passion to our team and join us as an Advanced Social Worker in our Children in Care Teams within our Corporate Parenting Service. This is a great opportunity to grow your social work career with an ambitious authority at a time of exciting change. We’ve embedded our restorative practice approach across our teams and have invested in training our all practitioners and managers to build and maintain positive relationships with our children, young people and families/carers.
About the role
Working closely with your Team Manager, you will provide professional leadership and supervision to colleagues within your team, supporting your manager with the day-to-day operations of your team and contributing to an effective and efficient service to children and families.
This is a hands-on role, where you have a smaller but more complex caseload, working with children and young people with a complexity of needs (including undertaking in-depth assessments) and where, through supervision and mentoring, you will share your knowledge and experience with colleagues and students to continually improve practice standards within your team.
You will champion high standards of professional social work practice, by encouraging and supporting opportunities for reflection and learning and delivering on-the-job training, coaching, and mentoring to unqualified/alternatively qualified staff, students, and less experienced social workers.
One of our Advanced Social Workers has progressed to Team Manager says;
The role of an Advanced Social Worker is extremely rewarding.
I was able to continue doing what I love, working with families and continuing to support children in Devon whilst taking on more responsibility within in the wider context of the organisation.
The new challenge of being able to mentor, develop and support others particularly about complex safeguarding and child protection cases combined with keeping up to date with the most recent research allowed me to further grow my professional judgment and decision-making skills.
In addition to this I gained a real understanding of the importance of a strategic role within a team. From a career progression perspective, it also gave me a great foundation in management and leadership, and I have now progressed to a Team Manager position.
I could have never dreamt of having such a fantastic career pathway and whilst my ambition right now is to be as good a Team Manager as I can be, it’s amazing to know that I can continue to grow in my dream career’.
Kasia M.
About you
Advanced Social Workers provide a lead social work role within each team, supporting the development of good evidence-based practice. With substantial post-qualifying experience and the ability to demonstrate that you’re working at the Experienced Social Worker level in line with the BASW PCF framework, you will:
- Demonstrate the ability to work with families with complex needs within a multi-agency environment
- Be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience of social work mentoring, coaching, and training professional colleagues
- Have evidence of substantial post-qualifying training and development
- Be able to lead improvement and challenge the quality of social care practice in a constructive manner
You will also need to either be a Practice Educator or willing to undertake the relevant training at the earliest opportunity.
What we can offer you
In recognition of the vital contribution you make, we offer an attractive package of benefits including:
- Up to £2,000 retention payment per year, paid in two 6 monthly instalments for those who have been working for a period of 6 months (pro rata for part time employees).
- Ongoing learning and development opportunities through our Social Work Academy with dedicated support from our Restorative Practice Leads, as well as Research in Practice membership and full access to Devon Children and Families Safeguarding training programme.
- Dedicated support with regular supervision from line management so you can critically reflect on your practice on a regular basis. Group supervisions are also offered, allowing you to learn from your colleagues and grow the strength of your social work practice together.
- 26 days paid annual leave per year, rising to 31 days with 5 years’ continuous service, plus bank holidays.
- Access to our confidential Devon Wellbeing Hub and Employee Assistance Programme to support you to balance the demands of everyday life – available 24/7.
- Flexible working opportunities, including flexitime and a degree of remote working (subject to the needs of the role - please discuss at interview).
- Excellent Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
- Links to staff networks and forums such as our LGBTQ+, BAME and Staff Diversity support networks.
- Cycle to Work Scheme.
- Devon Discounts Scheme which offers a variety of great savings.
- Free onsite parking available.
If you’re looking to move to Devon, subject to qualifying conditions, we offer a generous relocation allowance. There’s never been a better time to make the move!
Click HERE to find out more about all our benefits.
Presence in the office is vital to embed positive relationships from the outset. This is complimented by our hybrid working model, whilst still delivering the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
Click HERE to hear from our workforce about working for us and why you should join our Children’s Services. Click HERE to find out what our children and young people want to see from our workforce. #TogetherWeCan
Please indicate which locality you prefer on your supporting statement.
Visit our factsheet to find out more about living and working in Devon.
To arrange an informal discussion, please email childsc.recruitmentchildrenssocialwork-mailbox@devon.gov.uk
Please be aware that interviews will take place throughout this period, therefore we encourage you to apply early to avoid disappointment as we may close the advert early.
Join us and make a difference in the lives of our children - click apply now!
- DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
- We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
- This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
- Personal data we collect from you will be processed in accordance with the Applicant privacy notice.
- Happy to Talk Flexible Working.
- For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.
- This role requires a DBS disclosure.
Job Details
- OrganisationDevon County Council
- Work LocationEast DevonMid DevonDevon
- Work Postcode
Devon
- Reference
REQ005259
- Occupational GroupSocial Care & Health
- Salary Details
£40,478 - £44,539 per annum (pending 2023/24 pay award)
- Job TermPermanent
- Appointment TypeFull Time
- Hours
37 Hours Per Week
- Closing Date
21/10/2023
- DBS Check Required
Yes