Social Work Assistant

In Adult Social Care we passionately believe that putting relationship-based practice at the centre of everything we do enables us to provide consistent and quality support to citizens so that they can lead independent and fulfilled lives. Brighton & Hove has a unique demographic which makes it a challenging yet rewarding place to work.

Working closely with our partner agencies, our services continue to be at the forefront of making a positive difference in challenging times. But we can’t realise our ambition to become a centre of excellence and best practice without dedicated, creative and motivated workers. Does this sound like you?

The Social Work Assistant (SWA) post plays a key role in making a positive difference to people’s lives. You’ll be completing assessments under the Care Act as well as assisting social workers with more complex situations. You’ll receive regular supervision and training to help you fulfil your role.

Interviews to be held: TBA

There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact holly.croydon@brighton-hove.gov.uk

About the role

Working alongside social workers and other staff, this role provides real opportunities to gain experience of a professional multidisciplinary context, to ensure timely assessment and practical support to promote people’s safety and independence. We are looking for people who:

• Have experience of working with vulnerable people who might use social care services
• Have experience of applying law and policy relevant to the care of adults
• Are able to identity and assess risk of harm to people, including in the context of safeguarding adults legislation
• Have an understanding of the importance of information, advice and re-ablement in supporting people to maintain their independence and wellbeing.

The post involves working directly with people who may be in need of care and support, and their carers in the:

The Enhanced Support Team (EST) which provides enhanced Adult Social Care support to adults experiencing overlapping challenges such as homelessness, mental health difficulties, substance use, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system. This role plays a key part in leading practice, supporting staff, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe and effective services for residents whose needs require coordinated, multi-agency responses.

Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
• be connected
• be confident
• be innovative and creative
• be diverse and inclusive
• be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.

We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.

All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.

Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

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