Social Worker or Advanced Social Worker - Family Safeguarding

About the Role

Salary: £43,454 - £55,984 (inclusive of 12.5% Market Rate Supplement)
Contract: Permanent
Working Pattern: Full time - 37 hours per week with hybrid working
Location: Burgess Hill

• Are you passionate about creating lasting change for vulnerable children and families?
• Are you a registered Social Worker with specialist knowledge on the Family Safeguarding Model?
• Are you looking for a supportive and resilient team environment? Then join us!

Join our Family Safeguarding East Team as a Social Worker or Advanced Social Worker and you will be undertaking meaningful evidence-based interventions that contribute to improved levels of engagement and safeguarding with parents and children.

We are looking for a passionate, skilled, and motivated social worker who is excited by a different way of delivering support to children and families to enable lasting change. You will have specialist knowledge of social work practice and expertise to take the lead in complex situations, with the support of our fantastic small practice teams. You will work within a positive, nurturing environment where successes are celebrated, and individuals within the team are supported to grow and develop.

Family Safeguarding is a whole family strengths-based approach to safeguarding children who may be in need of support or at risk of harm. We work with families with children aged 0-18 years to help them identify and make real changes, so that they can stay together, and children can remain safely at home. Our teams are co-located multi-disciplinary teams that include specialist adult practitioners from domestic abuse, substance use/recovery, and mental health services to ensure that families are getting support at the right time.

How We Support You

At West Sussex County Council, we aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where you can achieve your full potential, gain a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work you do with clear pathways to achieve your future aspirations. A few examples of these include:

• Flexible and hybrid working options within your small practice teams, managed by a Team Manager and supported by Child & Family Workers as well as additional flexible administrative support from Coordinators embedded within the service.
• Regular group supervision and peer learning alongside specialist roles within the team to focus on the most vulnerable children.
• We pay your Social Worker England registration fee.
• Excellent learning and development provisions with 5 CPD and training days per year and access to Research in Practice and Community Care Inform.
• An excellent local government pension scheme.
• Generous holiday entitlement of up to 29 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave).
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders, and Voluntary Health Cash Plans.

Experience and Skills

Just some of the experience and skills you will need to succeed include:

• Analyse and interpret complex information and data, being able to prioritise needs and devise plans for intervention and provision.
• Proactively work as a member of the team to make accurate assessments of needs and negotiate and implement effective outcomes.
• Develop strong relationships, working alongside carers, colleagues, and external agencies to deliver an effective service.
• Communicate clearly and effectively in both written and oral format, including the ability to explain complicated information to a variety of people and use negotiation and persuasion skills to encourage others to adopt a course of action they may not wish to take.

• A recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
• Completion of relevant post-qualifying training.
• Registration with the relevant professional registration body and maintaining registration with that body.
• Knowledge of theoretical Social Work concepts and practices, with demonstrable examples of dealing with a breadth of complex issues and situations, for example, attachment, impact of developmental trauma and child development, motivational interviewing, relational practice, solution-focused interventions, and systemic working. A good understanding of anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory, and anti-racist practice in social work.
• You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars are available.

For a full list of key skills and experience for the Advanced Social Worker or Social Worker role, please refer to the appropriate job description attached.

About Us

Here at West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We have made great improvements in our service for the children and families in West Sussex over 5 years. You will join us at a key time in our continuous improvement journey; the service you would be joining has a stable workforce with manageable caseloads and a fully permanent management team. We are proud of the work we do and we are proud to be a supportive and inclusive employer.

That's why we need professionals, like you, who really want to be part of the positive change that is happening for children. Be part of an ambitious ongoing improvement plan and make a significant difference to children and families in West Sussex. There has never been a more rewarding time to join.

For further information about us and about working in Children's Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children's social work in West Sussex.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05620.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and complete our application form. In your application, please outline your motivations for applying and explain the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download it again.

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.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility are very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran, or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.