The Role

Do you see yourself as a leader of inclusive, relationship-based social work practice?

Are you passionate about improving outcomes for children?

Would you like to join a service committed to innovation and transformation of the way we work with children and families?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

Our Family Safeguarding Service is looking to recruit x2 full time Consultant Social Workers (one permanent and one fixed term for a year) to head up a new Frontline unit - join our amazing team and help play a central role in achieving positive outcomes for children in Wandsworth!

Our Offer:

For a role within our Referral & Assessment (RAS) and Child in Need (CIN) teams ONLY.

£42,015 to £50,910 per annum (subject to experience) plus, the following:

• £5,000 welcome bonus. (Paid in two instalments. The first £2,500 after 6 months on successful completion of your probation period and the second £2,500 after 12 months of employment) and a retention bonus.

Our vision

Here in Wandsworth we are on an exciting journey of transformation. We have developed our Outstanding Practice Framework and are the first borough in London to implement Family Safeguarding.  

Family Safeguarding is a 'think family’, strengths-based approach, focussed on addressing not only children's needs, but whole family need by working together with children and the adults around them.  A new practice approach using motivational interviewing, a new electronic workbook and the co-location and embedding of specialist adult workers in domestic abuse, substance misuse and mental health into children in need and child protection teams have been delivered to help us better support children and families.

We are investing massively in all our staff, our leaders as well as partners to enable us to make our engagement with families and communities in Wandsworth a success. We passionately believe that if we invest in new ways of thinking and working, you'll have everything you need to do the job you trained for. We have strong leadership in our Director Ana Popovici and Deputy Director Nick Pendry, who have an exciting vision to transform our approaches to the most vulnerable in society.

About the service

The Family Safeguarding Service has recently launched. We work in three clusters, covering different parts of the borough. These clusters mirror our Early Help clusters to aid continuity for families, a holistic approach, and seamless transitions between different parts of our service. The service also includes specialist teams for children with disabilities, and a Case and Court Progression Manager to oversee the Court and PLO work in the service.

We now have a vacancy for a Consultant Social Worker to head up a Frontline unit in the service. You will be working collaboratively with your colleagues across the department and with partners, to deliver high-quality and responsive social work to some of the most vulnerable children and families in Wandsworth. We value each staff member in the service and want each and every one to be a leader and champion of exemplary practice, able to work with families to make changes through child in need and child protection plans, care proceedings, and to achieve early permanence for children when they cannot remain at home.

About you

Frontline develops outstanding social workers to transform the lives of the most vulnerable children and families. We recruit graduates and career changers into children’s social work and offer them excellent academic and on-the-job training with a focus on quality of practice.

Frontline draws on a unit-based delivery model, based on systemic practice and other evidence-based social work approaches. The Consultant Social Worker plays a pivotal role in this pioneering approach to developing the next generation of outstanding social workers. The Consultant Social Worker’s role is to lead four ‘participants’, supervising and developing these individuals to give them a rich practice learning experience. The Consultant Social Worker must therefore be first and foremost an outstanding child and family social worker themselves, with the knowledge and skills to build purposeful and productive relationships and to use effective social work approaches to help families change. In addition, they must possess the leadership qualities required to tackle the challenges of exposing four participants to the realities of practice in a way that makes them highly effective professionals.

We are looking for those individuals who understand good practice and who want to see social work transformed to achieve the best outcomes for children and families. Whilst candidates must have experience of frontline child protection social work, commitment to and confidence in their own practice is more important than length of experience. Candidates that apply for this role do not need to be trained in the evidence-based approaches that form the basis of Frontline’s approach. The successful candidate will undertake the Consultant Social Worker Practice Leadership training, which is a bespoke training programme devised for this role

Contact details

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Louise Jones, Principal Social Worker by email louise.jones@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working where possible. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.

We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities. In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: 11:59pm on Sunday 5th June 2022
• Shortlisting dates: Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th June 2022
• Interview dates:  Friday 10th June 2022

Useful Information: The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible. Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are pleased to be Disability Confident employer.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

How to apply?

Please click link below to apply

https://thefrontline.tfaforms.net/4767892

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils