Team: CWD - CWD Team South

Family: Supporting – CBG9

Salary: £30,516 - £33,182 per annum - Plus MRS £5,100 per annum

Hours: 37 hours per week 

Location: Working from home and any CBC offices, including Priory House, Shefford. You will be expected to attend a CBC office location on a monthly basis, and as needed to carry out your role

Contract: Permanent - Hybrid

Closing Date: 19th March 2023

Interview Date: To be confirmed 

About us:

Central Bedfordshire is an ambitious authority, determined to be an exemplary one. Our strategic location and high quality of life mean we are one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

As a council we face the same challenges every business does - investing in the right places and delivering great results. Except for us, it’s all about our 289,000 residents. We’re totally focussed on helping to improve their lives and making Central Bedfordshire a great place to live and work.

We have set values and principles to represent the way we work and how we operate as an organisation. You can view a list of these in detail on our website.

This is a great time to join us on our journey.

About the role: 

Central Bedfordshire Council is excited to offer an opportunity for a level 2 social worker role within our Children with Disabilities Team. In Central Bedfordshire we want to assist children and young people with disabilities to grow up safely, achieve more, and be happy and healthy. We know that the only way to protect our most vulnerable children is to value and support our talented Social Workers and we are looking for the finest Social Workers to join our progressive teams and in return to offer you the opportunity to develop, progress your career and find your greatness.

Children’s Services at Central Bedfordshire Council has been awarded social work ‘employer of the year’ alongside having been graded a ‘Good’ at our last OFSTED inspection.

This is an exciting opportunity for any social worker to develop their social work career and experience the front end of helping families and safeguarding. You will have relevant experience in understanding the best way of applying different social work theories and come up with ideas and knowledge to deliver imaginative ambitious interventions that improve outcomes for all involved. You will also have the communication skills to work with other agencies and present high-quality reports.  This is an exciting opportunity for a Social Worker to develop their social work career. 

We are proud that in the Children With Disabilities Team we enable workers to gain a vast amount of experience and opportunities in working with families who are subject to CWD Early Help Short Breaks, CWD Short Breaks, Child in Need, Child Protection and Public Law Outline Processes and Court Work.  As part of our work we are embracing MI and systemic models of social work practice which we hope to develop further over the next coming months. The Social Worker will be key in supporting these developments and the development of the Locality Model.

What we can offer you 

As well as joining a friendly, dedicated, and hardworking team you will have access to numerous benefits, including:

• A hybrid working arrangement giving you the option to work from home and access any CBC office location. We recognise and value the importance of supporting our employees to balance their home and work life and to be able to work in the most efficient way.
• A £250 one-off hybrid worker payment to help you adapt your home for safe and suitable working conditions
• A comprehensive IT package to support you to work safely and effectively
• The ability to work abroad for up to a month a year
• Annually paid social work fees for qualified social workers in adults and children’s (including senior practitioners) and Team Managers where required
• Generous family friendly policies and practices
• A welcoming and inclusive environment that empowers differences
• Friendly and supportive staff networks
• Annual leave allowance 24 days + statutory holidays rising to 31 days with length of service.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This is a valuable part of our rewards package for employees and includes Life Assurance. You can find out more on the Bedfordshire Pension Fund website.
• An exceptional Employee Assistance Programme which helps support employees with workplace changes as well as other work, family and personal issues
• A huge variety of courses and role-specific training and learning to help you succeed and develop
• Access to discounts on top UK retailers and local retailers

Central Bedfordshire Council has its own vision and values that are integral to everything we do. Our area vision is to make Central Bedfordshire 'A great place to live and work’.

Sustainability matters to us. We aim to lead by example in tackling climate change. Read more about the action we’re taking on our website: Climate change – tackling it and our strategy

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.

You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies detailed within this Recruitment Pack; Social Worker Children with Disabilities

 For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Julia Overton at Julia.overton@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk 

For queries related to the recruitment of this vacancy, please contact: The Recruitment Team at recruitment@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Safeguarding:

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.  

Central Bedfordshire Council is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to improving the diversity of our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve.  Therefore we welcome applications from everyone. In addition we are a  Disability Confident employer, we are working to become a Disability Confident leader in our community.

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.

If you require assistance to apply for our roles, help with writing your CV, interview techniques or careers advice please contact our team of careers advisors at ncs@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk Our service is confidential, impartial and free for all.