Job Title: Experienced Childrens Social Worker
Salary: £38,220 per annum + £5,673 market enhanced payment progressing to £41,771 per annum + £5,242 market enhanced payment* PLUS £1k one off welcome payment* please note this is a non-contractual payment subject to a 3 yearly review
Hours: 37 full time
Location: Base locations in Stevenage (East) and Apsley (West). Whilst you will have a base, each team has a geographic area they cover which will require regular access to a vehicle in order to travel to meetings
Contract Type: Permanent / 12 Mth FTC/Secondment
Directorate: Childrens Services

All roles are full time and permanent unless otherwise stated below under ‘about the role’

At Hertfordshire County Council, we believe that the children and young people in our care deserve the best. And that means ensuring the social workers who work alongside them are trained, supported, and highly motivated.

As an innovative authority, we are committed to developing motivational social work practice and you will be trained to work in this way. You will be working at the forefront of best practice to deliver first class support to vulnerable children and families which will expose you to managing complex and diverse caseloads.

By changing our approach to families, they are changing their approach to us and we are managing to keep far more children at home safely with their families.

With dedicated Diversity & Inclusion strategy and focus groups, we promote diversity and inclusion across the delivery of services and within our workforce.

We will offer a stimulating working environment, regular supervision meetings and training opportunities to help you to reach your full potential with the assistance and guidance of our specialist L&D teams.

The pandemic has brought about changes in the way we work and having learnt from this and from feedback from our staff and communities, we are embedding important principles around ‘Our Way Forward’. The overarching vision for Children’s Services is that we work in a ‘flexible and balanced’ way with a focus on ‘continuous improvement’; this is underpinned by a ‘mix and blend’ approach by adopting hybrid ways of working, balancing the need for collaborative workspaces with the right technology for staff to work from home and touchdown areas where this is right for you and for our families.

Each Team is made up of; a Team Manager, Consultant Social Worker(s), Senior Practitioners, Social Workers, Children’s Practitioners and Family Practitioners.

We are looking for experienced Social Workers to join one of the following teams:

• Family Safeguarding (West)
• 0-25 Childrens Disability (West)
• SASH (Perm – East; and up to 12 Mth FTC/Secondment – West)
• Children Looked After (East)
• Separated Migrant Children (East)
• Assessment (West)

It is essential that all Social Workers who apply have the following:

• Qualified and Social Work England Registered
• At least 2 years post qualifying experience
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Knowledge of legislation, guidance, policy, and procedures
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft IT package
• Full UK Driving Licence
• Regular Access to a vehicle

In addition to the above, below outlines team specific essential criteria:

Family Safeguarding:

• Experience of care planning, assessments and reviews.
• Deliver welfare reports to conferences and court hearings

SASH:

• An understating of partnership working
• Report writing Skills
• An understanding of child development

0-25 Disability Service:

• Ability to complete robust assessments & to assess risk
• Ability to work in a relationship-based way

CLA:

• Experience of care planning, assessments and reviews.
• Track record of working alongside challenging families

SMC:

• Ability to complete robust assessments & to assess risk.
• Knowledge/experience of working with Separated Migrant Children and of relevant legislation, guidance, policy and procedure specific to Separated Migrant Children.
• Knowledge/experience of working with children and young people subject to or at risk of exploitation including modern day slavery and trafficking.

Assessment:

• Experience of conducting assessments and reviews.
• Presenting care plans to conferences

This job role is within the Health and Social Care, level 10 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles – Health and social care

To read more about our service and opportunities available visit our Childrens Social Work page

Recruitment timeline: We review all applications on a regular basis with interviews arranged on an ad hoc basis – please check your emails for updates.

Benefits of working for us

Additional Benefits for Social Work roles include:

• Monthly Market Enhanced Payment
• One off £1k Welcome Payment* (terms & conditions apply)
• Lease Car Scheme
• Up to £6k relocation expenses (terms & conditions apply)
• Hybrid working model
• 5 Days additional annual leave entitlement
• SWE Registration Fee paid

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Secondments
This position is open to secondments. If you work for HCC or any other Local Authority and would like to be considered as a Secondment contract, please ensure you complete the Secondment Form as part of your application. If you do not, your application will be considered as a Fixed Term Contract only.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.