Social Worker - Leaving Care and Children Looked After

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

The Leaving Care and Children Looked After Service is dedicated to providing exceptional support and care for children in the local authority's guardianship. Our focus is on ensuring the safety, well-being, and developmental needs of each child are met through personalised care plans and stable placements. We are committed to creating nurturing environments that address each child’s unique needs and ensure their voices are heard in all decisions affecting their lives

We are growing a diverse and inclusive environment for staff to learn, develop and grow their career. We provide specialist support on challenging cases, regular structured supervision, and an environment that encourages all those to take part and ensure their voices are heard. We understand the value that our staff bring to our service, and the needs of the residents in our community.

In addition:

• Sutton works with Kingston University and regional partners as part of the Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership (SWTP) to provide staff with a wide range of pre- and post-qualifying education opportunities to promote continuous learning and development.
• Staff are given the opportunity to attend conferences, and workshops and have access to research and practice resources to support their ongoing professional development.
• We encourage staff to support the practice education of Social Work students and those in the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE).

Sutton Council also has a number of staff network groups such as the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic +A Network, LGBTQ +A Network and Women’s +A Network to ensure staff have a voice to drive positive change in the organisation.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Join Children Social Care as a Social Worker on a starting salary of £40,833 and receive a Golden Hello and a Recruitment and Retention Bonus as follows:

• £1000 paid in your first month's salary
• £1000 paid for your first completed year in service
• £2000 paid for your second completed year in service
• £3000 paid for your third completed year in service and every year thereafter

We've got an exciting opportunity for you to work as a Social Worker within our Leaving Care and Children Looked After Service within Children’s Social Care. Our mission is to empower children to live independently as possible and provide the necessary support in safeguarding their well-being. We need your expertise to make it happen.

In this role, your responsibility will include:

• Assess the needs and situations of children in care to develop specialised individual care plans that address their well-being and development.
• Advocate for children and young people in care, making sure their voices are heard and their rights are protected in meetings, court hearings, and other discussions.
• Collaborate with professionals like teachers, healthcare providers, and community groups to provide coordinated support and review the well-being of children in care

As a Social Worker, your role is vital to promoting stability, supporting transitions to independence, and working towards long-term, positive outcomes for each child. Your knowledge and expertise will help to provide a stable and safe environment, advocating for children’s voices to be heard and ensuring their rights are upheld in all aspects of their care. You will collaborate with foster carers, families, and a range of professionals to provide consistent and effective support. If you are an experienced social worker, empowered by making a meaningful impact on the lives of children and young people, we would like to hear from you. We are dedicated to ensuring the safety, well-being, and development of children in care.

This position offers an excellent opportunity for individuals with outstanding communication skills and a compassionate manner capable of effectively managing high levels of emotional distress. We encourage applications from candidates with experience in childcare and those passionate about delivering person-centred care. You'll join a welcoming, supportive, and energetic team dedicated to providing first class supervision and ongoing professional development opportunities.

In addition, we would expect the following from all suitable candidates:

• To be registered with Social Work England and hold a degree in Social Care or similar.
• Have experience of working in a multidisciplinary team setting.
• Have sound knowledge and ability to deliver social work support to service users and their families.
• Ability to communicate complex social issues clearly to both patients and professionals.
• Ability to plan and coordinate social care plans and aspects of patient discharge.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-31 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

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, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.