Senior Social Work Practitioner - Chichester

West Sussex County Council; England; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job description

About Us

West Sussex County Council is a diverse and inclusive organisation serving more than 850,000 residents. If you're wondering why you should join us, it's because we offer a truly supportive culture-one that's second to none. Our employees are genuinely valued and respected, and we place a strong emphasis on work-life balance.

Our Adults' Community Teams offer an exciting and rewarding area of practice, giving social workers the opportunity to make a real difference in people's lives. We work with adults aged 25 and over who have cognitive and/or physical disabilities, with a particular focus on older people.

We're proud to embed a strengths-based approach in our practice-supporting individuals to explore their networks, maximise independence, and access local community resources. We also maintain strong partnerships with health colleagues through proactive care initiatives, including regular multidisciplinary meetings at local GP surgeries.

Our community teams play a central role in fulfilling the statutory duties of Adults' Services. A solid understanding of the Care Act 2014 is key, and our practitioners are skilled in safeguarding enquiries, person-centred assessments, and multi-agency working.

"I love being a part of a supportive and friendly team and the close connections I have with my colleagues."
- Senior Social Work Practitioner

About The Job

Salary: £46,731 to £49,764 per annum

Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: Chichester

Interview Date: 12th May 2025

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Social Work Practitioner (SSWP) to join our Chichester Community Team. This is a permanent, full-time role offering variety, supervision support, and the chance to work within a genuinely collaborative team.

As a Senior Social Work Practitioner, you'll support the Team Manager in delivering high-quality, strengths-based practice. You'll play a key role in mentoring and supervising colleagues, managing complex cases, and ensuring high standards across assessments and care planning.

You'll need a strong working knowledge of the Care Act 2014, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and experience in applying these in practice. You should also bring a commitment to the strengths-based model-empowering people to meet their outcomes using their own capabilities, family support, and local community assets, alongside funded care where appropriate.

What You'll Be Doing

1. Supporting the Team Manager in day-to-day operations
2. Supervising and mentoring team members
3. Chairing Best Interest Meetings
4. Quality assuring assessments and reviews with a strengths-based focus
5. Promoting and supporting staff wellbeing
6. Contributing to complaint resolution and continuous service improvement

You will be a confident and empathetic communicator-capable of managing expectations, delivering difficult messages sensitively, and finding alternative solutions in line with our approach. Experience in a supervisory role (or strong foundations and training in supervision) is essential.

You'll also be committed to upholding strong social work values and supporting both qualified and unqualified staff.

Experience and Skills

Please ensure you cover how you meet the following qualifications and experience within your application:

1. A Degree in Social Work or a recognised equivalent Social Work qualification e.g., Diploma in Social Work.
2. A recognised post qualifying award in Social Work (e.g., Practice Educator, Best Interest Assessor and/or Approved Mental Health Professional) or demonstrable evidence of continuous professional development at a similar level.
3. Registered with Social Work England.
4. Experience of undertaking assessments in complex situations and social work intervention planning, implementation, and review by means of creative and pragmatic solutions.
5. Extensive experience of working in partnership with those who access the service and maintaining a focus on the needs and strengths of the people, and the outcomes they want to achieve, whilst handling conflict and disagreement.
6. Experience of managing risk within a risk enablement approach.
7. Excellent, up-to-date working knowledge of relevant legislation e.g., Care Act (2014), Mental Capacity Act (2005) etc.
8. Requirement for BIA qualified practitioners to contribute to BIA service delivery, AMHP qualified practitioners to contribute to AMHP service delivery.
9. Valid, full driving licence. Desirable.

*Please read the role profile for the required key skills for this role as they also need to be covered within your application.

Further Information

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to Social Work England registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme (if you meet the essential criteria), this can be found on our application help page.