Children’s Services Senior Social Worker: £48,738 - £53,052 (Plus Market Supplement) 1 x Permanent Full time position 

Be part of what we are achieving 

Here in Southampton City Council Children and Learning Service we are proud to be compassionate and kind, to each other and to the families we are here to help. We are constantly learning, flexing and growing. The energy in the service to be better and do better on behalf of children, young people families and our diverse communities is invigorating and inspiring. 

Following the promotion of the previous post-holder, we need 1 Senior Social Worker to support the Team Manager and Team on the improvement journey and as we continue to embrace the national social care reforms. 

Relational Practice, systemic pathways 

Relationships are everything. Permanence matters. This is why we have established an almost fully permanent workforce, and we are building systemic, reflective practice and leadership right across the service. We celebrate relational practice and we are investing in motivational interviewing.

Children, young people and families feel and know that they are held in mind. We are here to ensure they are safe and loved, and that we understand what they have been through. 

Partnerships matter immeasurably. So, we are building these relationships creatively, with co-located domestic abuse workers in our family help teams, and substance use workers and mental health practitioners alongside social workers supporting families where children have suffered harm. We are learning so much from each other and this is good for families. 

The time and space to do your best work

A tight focus on caseloads and permanent skilled team managers enables our social workers to practice at their best. We care about our children and we will care about you.

We offer strong developmental opportunities for social workers, who thrive on helping children be the best they can be. We have career development routes through to management roles via ATM.

If you join us we will help you to build meaningful and influential relationships with children, families and partners. We hope this is why you came into social work! You will have a voice in a service that is hungry to learn from your experiences. 

An aspirational service

We know we are not perfect, and we always strive to do better for children. But, we are proud of our achievements. In June 2023, Ofsted found that we were, ‘Good’ overall with ‘Outstanding’ leadership. We are working hard to be consistently good while always aiming higher. 

In Southampton we are strongly invested in development of our workforce family. Our career development and talent management pathways will enable you to be part of our future. 

Our practitioners and managers feel equipped to do what can be a really tough job through genuine support and meaningful challenge. Our excellent practice development team has huge energy for providing a vibrant learning offer. 

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a Social Worker with proven experience (two years qualified) of statutory social work with children, including Child in Need, Child Protection and Children in the care of the Local Authority. We are looking for a practitioner who is reflective and assured in their own practice, and who has significant experience of complex statutory social work with children. You will be able to support families in a way that is trauma informed, compassionate, and built on a strong grounding in national good practice, legislation and evidence-based approaches.

You will believe in the strength of families to care for their own children with our help, and in children's right to family life. You will understand the need for safety and permanence and you will be confident in achieving this for children.

You will nurture and develop meaningful relationships with your colleagues, families and partners. You will enjoy working in an ethnically diverse work environment and a vibrant, diverse local community, You will be culturally competent, inclusive, respectful and kind, with a strong commitment to anti racist practice. 

We also want you, as a Senior Social Worker, to play a key role in building skills, knowledge and learning across the team. You will use reflective discussions, audits and feedback from families to strengthen practice, celebrate what we do well and identify opportunities for continued improvement.

You will have a Diploma or Degree in social work and be registered with Social Work England. 

Please refer to the attached job description for the essential and desirable elements to apply for these roles.

What we can offer you:

Salary: The salary band for this role is £48,738 - £53,052. The starting salary is £48,738 with annual progression through the salary bands.  

Here at SCC we have a range of different benefits, a few examples can be found below.

• Excellent Local Government Pension Scheme (15.2% employer contribution)
• Generous annual leave entitlement (25-34 days depending on service)
• Flexible working options where the role allows
• Family-friendly policies and support for carers
• Learning, development, coaching and mentoring opportunities
• Health and wellbeing support, including Employee Assistance Programme
• Staff discounts and savings through our benefits platform
• Sustainable travel schemes, including cycle to work and season ticket loans
• Death in service benefit and salary sacrifice schemes
• Two paid volunteering days each year

 For further information on our benefits package please visit:  Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the advertised closing date if we receive a high volume of applications. To avoid disappointment, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Our Location:

You will be based within Southampton city centre in the East Locality and will be working from the civic centre and local hubs. Flexible/remote/home working is available.

Our Organisation:

Southampton City Council is a unitary authority, you will have access to a permanent, visible, responsive senior leadership team which is supportive at all management levels.

We are committed to the development of all our staff, whilst working in a highly supportive and highly challenging culture. All of which is at the ethos of our ambition to become a child friendly city.

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information and details regarding the position please contact Team Manager Kayla Styles kayla.styles@southampton.gov.uk           

Recruitment contact details:

Email: recruitment@southampton.gov.uk  

Tel: 023 8083 4033

For more information about SCC please visit Southampton City Council
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