Childrens Advanced Social Worker - Children Looked After

We have opportunities to join our Children Looked Teams based across Surrey in Woking and Walton on Thames.

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 our Advanced Social Worker is £41,127 - £45,519 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. Information about qualifying criteria to receive this payment can be found HERE, with further information available in the attached Total Reward Statement about other financial benefits available to you including professional fees, pension contribution and much more.

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? This 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. 

As an Advanced Social Worker, you will mentor less experienced practitioners in the team and support the Team Manager by leading on some areas of practice, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You will undertake more complex work, some of which you will do jointly with less experienced social workers and enable their learning. You will contribute to team plans and support the Team Manager. 

About working with Children Looked After:

As a member in the Looked After Children's Team, your aim and role will be to support children living with relatives, friends or foster families and perspective adopters or older children living in children's homes and semi-independent units. You will build sustainable relationships with them and plan for their permanence. You will be responsible for ensuring their safety and support them towards independence. 

Through regular visits, assessments and reviewing their Care Plan, you will nurture and develop meaningful relationships with these children; understand and interpret their wishes; and champion and support them to reach their full potential. Occasionally, you will be required to prepare reports and attend court. You will be supported in this challenging role with regular supervision and consultations with our Mental Health Focussed Social Worker. You will also find support by working alongside other social workers, family support workers and partnership organisations such as: Health Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (New Leaf), Independent Reviewing officers and carers. You will also be supported in your career development by your management team and also by the Surrey Academy. 

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 creates a sense of purpose and fulfilment with a clear pathway to achieve your future aspirations.   

Wherever you are in your career journey, Surrey is committed to supporting and nurturing you so that you can be the best version of yourself.   

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 to your practice.  

How we will support you:  

Surrey is committed to supporting you both professionally and personally and we offer a number of benefits you can access in your time away from work. A few examples of these include:  

• A competitive relocation package  
• We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee  
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service (plus bank holidays)
• Access to our car lease scheme  
• Opportunity to join our competitive local government pension scheme
• Family and lifestyle discounts via Surrey Extra (discounts on everyday shopping with shopping cards and vouchers for Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, Primark and many more high street retailers. Plus voucher codes, cinema tickets and reward points, holiday offers and weekend breakaways, and lots more!    
• Smart Employee Eyecare - free eye test and if required a free pair of discounted glasses, with no up-front costs to you!    
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme – which offers advice, support and helpful information on personal, family, work, financial, legal and health issues, plus one to one counselling with 6 free counselling sessions.   
• Fostering and adoption support   

Fancy a chat?  
 Our friendly teams could talk your socks off when it comes to all things Social Work. We’d love to hear from you and find out more about what you’re looking for so if you’d like to talk to us please just drop a quick message to cflworkforceteam@surreycc.gov.uk and we’ll get a call arranged.  

We look forward to hearing from you!

The job advert closes at 23:59 on the 19th December 2022.

Following the closing date, if your application is shortlisted you will be contacted by our CFL Workforce Team within 5 working days. They will be able to advise on interview arrangements and can support in answering any questions you may have.

You will need to be registered with Social Work England and have the willingness and ability to travel around the county to meet the demands of the role.