Salary: Band 10, £41,510 to £45,718 per annum
Hours: Full time (37 hours per week)
Contract: Permanent
Closing date: Sunday 24 November 2024, 23:59
Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children.
DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children’s Board safer recruitment procedures.
Why come to live and work in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth is a great waterfront city and a vibrant place to live and work. It is an island city with an “inner city” feel, a seaside location packed with attractions and events, and the advantage of fantastic countryside on its doorstep. With fast road and rail links to London, Brighton and major airports, and ferry links to Europe, it is the perfect place to live and work. Portsmouth has a strong history of partnership working and has successfully integrated several local services.
The Service:
The Early Help and Prevention Service in Portsmouth is a new way of doing things – providing extra practical help with families early on, to stop problems getting worse. We talk with families about the things that are most important to them, what might help and what we can do differently to help them. This is how we start working together with the whole family to help get things back on track. In Portsmouth we believe social work matters. We continue to invest in our front-line staff and services drawing on a wide range of skills, sharing expertise with our partner agencies and valuing development and improving practice.
Your New Role:
The role involves working within the 0-19 Early Help team to strengthen plans and support families to make change without statutory intervention. The role requires sensitive support and challenge to families and staff. The role includes line management responsibilities as part of a Locality based team. This will include data monitoring and other Quality Assurance activities.
We are committed to professional development and will provide training for the successful candidate. If successful you will be joining lively, challenging and supportive teams whose priority is in improving outcomes for Portsmouth’s children and young people.
Please read the job profile for the full details of this role.
What our team says:
"I like my job because of the diversity of work it brings and the supportive teams in which we work."
"What I love about the early help social worker role is the ability to gain management experience and promote intervention at an earlier point while maintaining a good work life balance."
"I would add that the team are very supportive of each other, and we really support each other's wellbeing."
What you'll need to succeed:
You have a Diploma or Degree in social work and are registered with Social Work England. You have considerable experience of direct family work and can support the team with threshold decisions, and you understand how families can be supported outside of statutory intervention through restorative practice and early help. You are imaginative and creative, coming up with inspirational ideas and at times amazing solutions to the toughest of problems. You have experience of supervising/mentoring individuals, and are an excellent communicator, both spoken and written. You are analytical, tactful, computer literate and a good team worker. You understand anti-oppressive practice and enjoy a busy atmosphere.
Please read the job profile for the full details of this role.
You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.
What you'll get in return:
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
* Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave.
* A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return.
* Flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview.
* Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships.
* Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme
* Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme
* Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more.
Staff rewards:
Additional Information:
The full job profile is attached here.
Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:
Gill Noble, Early Help and Prevention Service Lead, gill.noble@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 437 832
A commitment to our values:
We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.
Application process:
How to complete your application:
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
Please submit both a CV and a cover letter/personal statement. Remember to demonstrate in your cover letter/personal statement why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' section of the full Job Profile, using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.
If you upload a CV without a cover letter/personal statement, it is unlikely that your application will be successful.
Please ensure you provide your full education history from secondary school, include name/address of establishment, details of relevant qualifications & awarding body. Please explain any gaps - this is essential for all safeguarding children's roles.
We will email applicants from time to time; please ensure you check e-mail folders as sometimes our e-mails may go into spam/junk folders.
We look forward to speaking with you soon.
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk .