Senior Social Worker – Lifelong services – Worthing

Job Description

Job Title : Senior Social Worker – Lifelong services – Worthing
Job Category : Social Care – Qualified
Location : Chanctonbury Building, West Sussex County Council
Hours Per Week : 37.00
Start Date : Immediate Start
Start Time : 09:00
End Time : 17:30
Salary: £27.81

Pay : £38 per hour or £35 per hour plus £150 expenses per week
Location – Worthing
Working arrangements – Mixture of working from home and 1 – 2 days in the office – Visits locally

As a Senior Social Worker within a busy community team, your role will involve working with young people and/or adults from 16 years and upwards (depending on which team you are part of) with lifelong disabilities, including physical and learning disability and autism. You will be responsible for achieving positive change and improved outcomes, managing a busy and varied caseload by providing a statutory accountable social care service to those people who access or need the service. You will be undertaking high quality assessments and reviews including mental capacity act assessments, responding to safeguarding enquiries, working as part of a team and providing support to less experienced staff. You will be expected to work within organisational, policy and legislative requirements. For this role you will be expected to demonstrate a high level of relevant theoretical Social Work concepts, practices and organisational knowledge relating to the provision of a professional Social Work service dealing with complex issues. With the ability to organise your own workload and the ability to support less experienced staff, you will be able to respond independently and creatively to unexpected problems and situations (with support of line manager for advice and guidance on serious problems). You will be able to take a person-centred approach, working with families whilst ensuring the voice, views and aspirations of the individuals are heard in assessments and support planning. Using an evidence based, challenging and objective professional approach, you will have the ability and willingness to work flexibly and plan creatively to assist individuals and families ensuring best use is made of family and community resources whilst empathising and building up good and honest relationships with individuals, families and other partners, e.g. health and support providers, whilst following agreed processes accurately and in a timely way. You will be able to evidence Continuing Professional Development and maintain records of training in line with HCPC requirements and be able to meet the travel requirements of the post.
Key Skills:
1. Evidence of good assessment skills, including the ability to ensure regular reviews and risk management and to negotiate and implement effective plans and outcomes with a variety of individuals, carers or families.
2. Evidence of effectively prioritising work and meeting deadlines.
3. Ability to analyse and interpret complex people related information and data in order to prioritise needs and formulate plans for intervention and service provision. Solution focussed with the ability to analyse complex situations and provide forward thinking strategies and solutions that consider a variety of possible solutions and balance risks / resources and desired outcomes.
4. Ability to undertake direct work with those who access or need the service in order to support individuals. Ability to work in partnership with carers, colleagues and a variety of external agencies in order to deliver the most effective service.
5. Highly developed communication skills in order to communicate clearly and effectively in both written and verbal format including the ability to explain complicated information to a wide range of people and negotiate and persuade others to adopt a particular course of action that they may not otherwise wish to take.
6. Sound and accurate IT skills.

Qualifications and/or experience:
⦁ Degree in relevant professional or equivalent qualification e.g. Certificate of Qualification in Social Work or Diploma in Social Work.
⦁ Completion of relevant post qualifying training.
⦁ Registration with the relevant professional registration body and responsibility
⦁ for maintaining registration with that body.
⦁ Experience of effective partnership working with those who access or need the service and maintaining a focus on the needs of the individual whilst handling conflict and disagreement.
⦁ Experience of forming effective working relationships within a multiagency/multidisciplinary setting.
⦁ Advanced theoretical, practical and procedural knowledge of social work. Knowledge of current social work research, legislation, white papers and developments in best practice. Good, up-to-date working knowledge of legislation relevant to the specialist area of the post e.g. the Care Act, Mental Capacity Act.
⦁ Advanced knowledge of risk management and safeguarding.
⦁ Breadth of understanding of the therapeutic interventions that can be used and an excellent understanding of the partnership agencies including health, housing, learning, statutory, voluntary and independent sector.
⦁ Full, valid driving licence.