Our Family Safeguarding teams are dedicated to improving the outcomes of Children and Families within West Berkshire. If you are passionate about supporting families to make sustained change and share our drive to keep more children safely at home with their families then this could be the role for you.

We have exciting opportunities for a Senior Social Worker to join our East and West Family Safeguarding Teams.

We are Ofsted rated ‘Good’ and aspire to work towards an ‘Outstanding’ rating with Ofsted stating that West Berkshire Council has “A strong, stable and child-focused leadership team that has continued to improve services for children and families in West Berkshire”.

Come and join us to be part of our journey of further improvement and dedication to the children of West Berkshire.

The role

• Utilising the Family Safeguarding Model you will work in collaboration with other specialist workers including Domestic Abuse Practitioners, Recovery Workers and Mental Health Practitioners to offer group based interventions to families.
• You will manage a complex caseload appropriate to experience, including assessments of children, families and parenting.
• As lead professional, you will contribute to the provision of good quality services which integrate government and local initiatives and guidance.
• You will take on a relevant lead area across the Service, including delivery of training or dissemination of current research and best practice, and will deputise for the Assistant Team Manager during any periods of absence.
• You will provide leadership and professional wisdom to colleagues and other professionals for work in situations of high complexity.

The ideal candidate would have the following skills and attributes

• You will have a minimum of three years’ social work experience post-ASYE (i.e. four years post qualification)
• You will have experience of conducting all aspects of Care Proceedings from Public Law Outline to Final Hearing.
• You will have the ability to mentor colleagues and develop assessment skills.

Our offer to you

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits, find out more…https://westberkschildrensocialwork.jgp.co.uk/our-offer

All roles are subject to an annual banding pay review until the top of the pay grade is reached (following successfully passing probation) All roles will be eligible for the annual national pay award.

Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment. 

If you interested in working with us and want to know more, we would love to hear from you. Do not hesitate to contact Sonia Harris, Service Manager on 01635 519785 for an informal chat about this role.

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment, and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.