Job Description
Senior Social Worker - Intensive Outreach Team
Stranraer
£50,811 - £54,735
Dumfries & Galloway Children and Families Social Work Service has an opening for a senior social worker to join and lead a new intensive outreach service, alongside another fulltime permanent senior social worker. This position is permanent and fulltime (36 hours per week), and will be based in the East of the region but will support a region wide team of Senior Family Support Workers across Dumfries and Galloway.
The intensive outreach team will help children identified as being on the edges of care, to stay at home with their families/carers. This team will also support our young people who have been placed out of region to return to their family/community.
This is an exciting opportunity to join Children and Families Social Work and be part of developing a new service. This team will work collaboratively across children’s services to achieve positive outcomes and support children and young people to remain, or return, to live within their families, and community.
The nature of the role will require flexible working, which will include some mornings, evenings and weekends, however the person appointed will be involved in the development of the service and planning any hours out-with core hours. As a Senior Social Worker, you will be expected to partake in the delivery of training, chair meetings, supervise staff, ongoing service development, share learning with peers, work with a range of partner agencies and be committed to quality assurance and improvement activity.
The ideal candidate will be proactive team player and have the ability to work flexibly, collaboratively and independently. You must have a good working knowledge of child protection procedures, legislation and regulations in relation to looked after children, and young people. You must also have a good working knowledge and understanding of the challenges facing looked after children, their birth parents and carers, as well as excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, the ability to analyse, identify, and interpret data, and lead a team through change, demonstrating excellent leadership skills.
If you are enthusiastic, motivated, and committed to leading a team to support children and young people, their families and carers, and can manage the challenges this can pose, we would love to hear from you. A minimum of 5 years practice experience within children and families social work is desirable, alongside a post qualifying award.
Requirements
We can offer you a commitment to your own learning and professional development, and ensure regular reflective one-to-one supervision, group supervision, peer support and regular team meetings and development sessions.
A current driving licence is an essential requirement of this post.
This post is considered as Regulated Work with Vulnerable Children and Protected Adults, under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. From 28 February 2011, preferred candidates will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG scheme update check prior to formal offer of employment being made by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
Applicants who have been resident outside the UK within the last 5 years, if offered a position, in addition to a Disclosure Scotland Check, will be required to provide a completed police record check from the police authority in the country or countries in which they were resident.
A Social Work Degree/DipSW/CQSW/CSS qualification or equivalent is essential as is registration with the Scottish Social Services Council.
With an exciting benefits package, working for Dumfries and Galloway Council supports you to invest in your own health and wellbeing. Employees have access to our bespoke Vivup platform with over 800 discounts on everyday essentials from top UK retailers, restaurants, utility providers and more. Employees also get access to exclusive discounts from local businesses, a Cycle-to-Work scheme, financial support from My Money Matters, and guidance from our trained Wellbeing Champions.
Here at Dumfries and Galloway Council we are committed to equality, diversity and equal opportunity with our values, which include treating everyone with dignity, fairness and respect, driving us to tackle inequality. We are looking for people that can bring different perspectives and experiences and especially welcome applications from those who are underrepresented in our organisation.
For further information please contact Kath Priest, Team Manager, Kath.Priest@dumgal.gov.uk or Leanne Young, Locality Manager, Leanne.Young@dumgal.gov.uk