Are you a qualified social worker with experience of working with foster carers and children we care for?
The Opportunity
Salary: £52,572 to £55,984 per annum inclusive of market rate supplement
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (occasional evening working)
Location: Based at County Hall North (flexibility on base location) but role is countywide
Interviews: Week Commencing 24/03/2025
An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Fostering Hub for a full time Advanced Social Worker Trainer. In this position, you will have a key role in embedding our amazing Therapeutic Parenting with PACE project, which has been very well received by our Foster Carers and Special Guardians.
You will also have a central role in shaping and developing our training offer to carers, which is an essential part of supporting the children we care for and our carer retention and recruitment strategy. This will involve innovative opportunities to bring in new training options, work with VR tools, joint ventures with neighbouring authorities and much more.
We are looking for a qualified social worker with experience of working with foster carers and children we care for, who has a passion for, and established skills in, therapeutic practice, and ideally, a good understanding of PACE.
You will be a practitioner who works on their own initiative but enjoys working collaboratively, using an innovative, creative approach. Keeping the child in mind, you will have a keen interest in improving the learning opportunities for our carers with a view to achieving positive outcomes for our children and young people.
About You
Some of the key skills and experience required for this role include:
* Analysis and interpretation of complex information and data to enable prioritisation and support in planning next steps.
* Ability to role model, promote exemplary practice and provide expertise in specialist assessment and intervention. Acting as a subject matter expert, coach and supervisor to others within the organisation, enabling social workers to develop.
* Communicate effectively to all audiences but especially the children and families you are supporting, both verbally and in written form and negotiated and persuade where necessary.
* Recognised Social Work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Post Graduate Certificate in Social Work, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent as recognised by the relevant professional body.
* A recognised post qualifying award in Social Work or demonstrable evidence of continuous professional development at a similar level.
* Relevant advanced knowledge of theoretical Social Work concepts equivalent concepts and practices and detailed organisational knowledge relating to the provision of a professional Social Work service dealing with very complex issues.
* Demonstrable evidence of providing focused, timely, sound and accurate advice and guidance and working through very complex casework, including managing levels of risk within a caseload of complex safeguarding cases.
* You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes are available.
For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
About Us
We are committed to improving our services for the children and families we support in West Sussex. In May 2023 Ofsted Inspectors praised West Sussex County Council's Children's Services for its 'relentless approach to improving practice,' giving the service an overall rating of 'requires improvement', with 'good' judgements for children in care and leadership and management. The judgements on children needing help and protection and children leaving care are they 'require improvement to be good'.
Inspectors recognised the 'strong, determined and cohesive leadership team' who have made significant improvements since 2019 and their commitment and focus to make further improvements.
For further information about us and about working in Children's Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit Careers in children's social work in West Sussex .
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.
For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further Information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE05645 .
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Jill Seeney (Team Manager Training and Development) on
For issues or queries regarding your application please contact .
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to Social Work England registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
Available documents
* G12 Advanced Social Worker.pdf