Senior Social Worker/Advanced Practitioner - Assessment

• The team are based in Yeovil and we offer flexible hybrid working, combining time spent with the teams in the office along with home working.
• 30 days annual leave, plus bank holidays
• A commitment to your CPD through a bespoke learning and development programme
• Great opportunities for career progression in Somerset
• Permanent 37 per week, finishing at 4:30 pm on Fridays.

We are able to offer Skilled Worker sponsorship for this role if you are already residing in the UK. We can also proceed with candidates who already have sponsorship and wish to transfer it. To be eligible, applicants must hold a recognised social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England. Sponsorship will be assessed as part of the recruitment process.

Your day-to-day work will involve:

• Work with children and families to complete assessments to reflect individual circumstances including assessment of needs and risk, alongside strengths and protective factors, to develop meaningful plans to ensure that children are protected from significant harm and receive the appropriate multi-agency support.
• Be responsible for a caseload of varying complexity, commensurate with experience, ability and qualification; receive and respond to referrals from various sources.
• Assess the needs of children and families under the appropriate statutory frameworks, liaising and working with partner agencies, and other Children’s Services teams, as require
• Participate in a duty rota responding to crisis situations and supporting children to remain safely within their families
• Enable and empower individuals, families and carers to address issues which affect their health, financial, emotional and social wellbeing and to achieve and sustain positive change.

As a Senior Social Worker/Advanced Practitioner in the team, you will hold a caseload of complex work, but also support the team in other ways, including practice educating students, co-working, and mentoring less experienced colleagues, and chairing planning meetings and Strategy Discussions.

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be.

You will:

• need to be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England and have significant experience working with children and families in social work .
• have post Social Work qualification experience in Assessment.
• be able to develop and grow strong and supportive working relationships with children and young people, parents and carers and professional agencies
• have strong problem solving skills and are able to manage unexpected situations in a calm way
• be able to manage and prioritise your workload and any competing demands.
• be passionate about relationship-based social work, proud of your profession, and able to reflect and think creatively about how you can build relationships to make a difference to children and families.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

At Somerset Council, we are proud to support our frontline workers with access to innovative AI technology. Our greatest asset is our dedicated workforce, and we need to ensure we evolve with technology and new ways to invest in them. We’re currently utilising Magic Notes, which has proven to help social workers reduce the amount of time spent on administrative work, allowing them to focus on using their skillset and creativity to support our shared vision of improving the life chances and outcomes for children in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more.

The salary range for this role is £41,771 to £46,142 per annum

You will need to hold a full driving licence and have access to your own vehicle as travel is required.

For an informal chat about the role, please contact Anna Miall, Operations Manager on 01749 822979 / 07890 581158 or anna.miall@somerset.gov.uk

When completing your application/CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button - we can’t wait to hear from you.

In this role you will require a criminal background check via Disclosure and Barring Service.