Part Time Senior Social Worker - Fostering
- Employer
- Essex County Council
- Location
- England, Essex, Chelmsford
- Salary
- £39168 - £47405 per annum + Pro Rata + Free Parking
- Closing date
- 5 Apr 2021
View more categoriesView less categories
- Sector
- Health and Social Care, Children's Services, Social Care
- Job role
- Social Worker
- Contract Type
- Part Time
Job Details

Part Time Senior Practitioner - Fostering
Permanent, Part Time
£39,168 to £47,405 per annum, pro rata
Location: Chelmsford
Closing Date: 18th March 2021
Please note that this is a permanent, part time position offering 18.5 hours per week
Job Purpose
Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.
The Senior Practitioner manages a complex caseload and provides expert supervision and coaching for colleagues, to achieve positive change for children, young people and families. The role deputises for the Team Manager, leading the team and management of duty services.
The role requires an experienced social work practitioner, able to manage higher levels of risk, mentor and advise staff, manage performance and deliver improvements. Building strong working relationships with key partners and stakeholders is essential
Service/Functional Accountabilities
- Responsible for providing a source of expert advice and professional supervision for social workers and contributing to the development of practice standards.
- Accountable for assessment of complex social care needs and development of support for vulnerable people, children and families.
- Accountable for working within the statutory legal framework, policy and guidance and determining when the threshold for statutory intervention has been reached.
- Responsible for managing a complex caseload, maintaining accurate and timely data, reports and presentations as required.
- Participates in a range of case conferences, court attendance, meetings and statutory reviews, pro-actively taking the lead when a social care perspective is required.
- Accountable for conducting assessments and plan responses to safeguard and promote a child's welfare including appropriate intervention as determined by need.
- Builds strong effective working relationships across the Council, with partners and members of voluntary agencies to help people get the best start in life and age well.
- Delivers a high level of expertise in particular areas of practice and leads on those areas, contributing to the development.
Skills, Knowledge and Experience
- A recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or Masters in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.
- Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.
- Significant experience of social work, demonstrating a comprehensive and up to date understanding of all relevant legislation, regulation and guidance.
- Experience of mentoring both Social Work students and newly qualified and experienced Social Work staff, being a subject matter expert in professional social work practice.
- Experience of chairing meetings involving clients, family members and/or carers and other multi-agency professionals.
- Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies and the local community to achieve joint objectives and offer a supportive framework for children, young people and families.
- In depth understanding of delivery of value for money interventions balanced against need.
- Proven track record of clear decision making in order to highlight and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.
The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.
Company
Why Essex?
Essex County Council covers 1,300 square miles from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary. From the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career.
We celebrate difference and work to ensure that no one is disadvantaged when accessing services, employment or public life in Essex. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interviewing all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. We’re also committed to interviewing all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.
Free to deliver big
We recruit creative, ambitious, talented people, and free them up to think – and deliver – big.
We’ve made substantial changes in recent years, reorganising how we’re structured and how we work, so we can protect the most vulnerable and enable our economy to grow. Join us and you’ll be trusted to take control, manage change and make a lasting impact. You’ll be able to call upon external partners and suppliers to help you deliver. More importantly, talented, trailblazing colleagues – including many industry-leaders – will be right by your side to share ideas, knowledge and experience.
Find out how Essex County Council is changing, and how you’ll fit in.
Employee Recognition & Engagement
Here are some of the things we have in place to give our employees a sense of belonging, involvement and recognition.
Employee Networks:
- Ethnically Diverse Employee Network (EDEN)
- Carers Forum
- Christian Network
- Disabled Employees Network
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Network
- Parents Network
- Women’s Network
- Men’s Network
- Young People and Apprentice Network.
You Make The Difference’ Awards - giving employees the opportunity to nominate individuals or teams who go above and beyond for our residents.
Employee Surveys – where we listen to the voices of our people and take action on what we hear.
Employee Panels – giving you the opportunity to feed back on a range of policies and initiatives, network with colleagues and influence far-reaching changes.
Learning and Development
We have developed diverse learning opportunities to support our people to grow both personally and professionally. This includes:
- A large suite of online training and tools
- Dedicated learning events such as ‘LearnFest’ – our flagship annual celebration of learning
- Apprenticeships for both new and existing colleagues
- Financial support to achieve professional qualifications
- Support from subject matter experts
- The opportunity to share your own expertise to up-skill colleagues
- Leadership and executive coaching
- Learning on demand
- Career pathways
Rewards and Benefits
- Family Friendly flexible Working
- Generous holiday and special leave allowances (including the option to purchase extra holiday)
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Life Assurance of three times annual salary
- Volunteering leave (up to 4 days per year)
- Employee wellbeing and counselling
- Travel discounts & season ticket loans
- Learning and Development opportunities/coaching & mentoring
- Payment of professional fees for approved professions
- Eye care vouchers
- Lease car scheme (dependent on business needs)
- Up to £8,000 relocation package (subject to terms and conditions)
You’ll also have access to MyReward, a unique platform for Essex County Council employees to gain various discounts and savings.
Your Wellbeing
At Essex County Council we are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our people. We work closely with our employees to provide wellbeing support based on their needs. We strive to enable the right environment, conditions, and behaviours so individual and organisational wellbeing is embedded in everything we do.
Join us and get Inspired to do More.
- Website
- https://workingforessex.com/
- Telephone
- 0845 743 0430
- Location
-
County Hall
Market Road
Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 1QH
United Kingdom
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