Children's Assessment Advanced Social Worker

We have opportunities to join our Assessment Team as an Advanced Social Worker based in Weybridge.

When not working with our residents in the community, we are keen to support agile working with a combination of home and office working. We are keen to get the balance right of providing flexibility but ensuring you feel connected to your team and the service.

The salary range for Advanced Social Workers is £46,399 - £49,588?per annum. We also offer a?financial package of up to £6,000 which is payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post.

Rewards and Benefits

• We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee
• 28?days annual leave, rising to 30?days after 5?years' service (plus bank holidays)
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

We recognise that looking for your next Social Work position is a really important step in your career and we're here to make that transition a positive one. Our commitment to applicants is to remove barriers and to understand more about you, your motivation for working in children's social care and why you're proud to work for such a valuable profession.

Take a read and we hope, you'll be just as excited to speak to us as we are you!

Following our latest Ofsted visit in April, we are pleased to report positive feedback on our service quality for children in need or under child protection plans in Surrey. Ofsted recognised the improved impact of our 'comprehensive improvement programme'. We are committed to continuing our progress and are seeking motivated individuals to help us ensure children in Surrey are effectively safeguarded and receive timely support.

Are you at a point in your career where you want to take on supervisory responsibility whilst utilising your skills as an experienced social worker? Our Advanced Social Worker role enables you to work on complex cases whilst also giving you the opportunity to progress your career through contributing and supporting managers to develop the skills and knowledge within the team, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You will also have the opportunity to join Advanced Social Worker colleagues in county wide learning activities organised by the Surrey Children's Service Academy with a clear professional development pathway.

About Working in Assessment

The first contact any family or professional has with our assessment service sets the tone for our entire working relationship with them. Our practice across the whole service is based upon consent, strong relationships with families and with partners who are also supporting our families. Using motivational approaches the assessment social worker engages with both the family and the network supporting them to understand the presenting worries and work out whether a statutory social work service is required. If not, a plan to support the family at a lower level of need will be put in place to meet the need of the child and family.? ?

One Voice

In Surrey, you will have a sense of belonging within your individual team but also the wider service areas and directorate. You will receive high quality supervision, as there is a firm commitment towards dedicating time that focusses on the work you do with children and families, to enable you to work creatively and holistically in providing support and protection to children whilst also paying attention to your wellbeing and career development. This allows you to feel continuously fulfilled in your role and have a pathway to achieve your future aspirations.

Our Surrey Children's Service Academy currently has over 60 courses available and offers a bespoke learning programme so you can be at the forefront of best practice. Modules such as motivational interviewing and our total respect course allow you to feel empowered in having essential conversations whilst still ensuring a child centred approach.

Our Inclusive Approach

To apply you will need to upload your CV and answer the following questions. (No more than 200 words per question):

• Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?
• Please tell us about the key skills and experience you will be able to bring to this role.
• Working in an Assessment team can be quite fast paced, unpredictable and often requires multi-tasking. Using an example, please tell us how you cope under pressure?

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short first round virtual interview to explore your answers to the above questions (lasting approx. 15- 20 min)

If your Teams call goes well, you will be invited for an in person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment. That's why, if you're invited to a face-to-face interview, we'll share the themes of the questions with you in advance. This way, you can prepare and feel comfortable knowing what topics will be covered during the process, allowing you to focus and confidently discuss your valuable skills and experiences.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 16th September 2024.

You will need to be registered with Social Work England.

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and locality based social care workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.