Become a Child Protection Social Worker in Dorset Council, where you’ll be fully supported and appreciated throughout your career. In Dorset, we are dedicated to fostering an environment where every child can thrive, and we want our colleagues to do the same. Our focus is on supporting families to meet the needs of their children and keeping children at home where it is safe to do so. You’ll find a variety of exciting challenges, working with our children, families, and partners, in a workplace that inspires you to grow professionally and personally. Why Child Protection? Child Protection Social Workers play a vital role in ensuring the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable children. This specialty within social work focuses on assessing and managing risks to children's safety, working directly with families in complex situations to prevent harm, and ensuring children grow up in safe, stable environments. As a Child Protection Social Worker, you will: make a direct impact : engage in work that directly influences the lives of children at risk, ensuring their immediate safety and long-term well-being. complex and rewarding work : tackle challenging cases that require a high level of expertise and dedication, offering immense personal and professional satisfaction. specialised training : benefit from advanced training in areas such as motivational interviewing, restorative practice, and strength-based approaches to develop your skills and effectiveness. multi-agency collaboration : work closely with professionals from various agencies, including police, healthcare, and education, to provide comprehensive support to children and families. career progression : gain specialised experience that is highly valued in the field, opening doors to advanced roles and leadership positions. What sets us apart? Innovative practice: Dorset has been recognised for the fantastic work with children, young people and families taking place by being selected to be one of only three initial Families First for Children’s Pathfinder sites nationally, testing the delivery of key reforms across the sector. This is a fantastic opportunity and comes with central government grant funding and support which recognises the scale and ambition of the work we need to carry out. Variety of responsibilities: Child protection social workers will engage in a diverse range of tasks from attending strategy discussions, completing Section 47 enquiries, direct work with children and families, pre-proceedings, care proceedings, through to adoption. Complex and rewarding work : this role provides a challenge, providing an opportunity for skilled practitioners to make significant impacts on children’s lives. Professional development : we have a strong emphasis on training, including motivational interviewing, restorative practice, and strength-based approaches. Supervision is incredibly important to us. Rural authority : the position offers a chance to work in a rural authority, which can be an attractive opportunity for those looking to expand their experience and progress their careers. Not to mention a beautiful place to work Wellbeing support : access to talking therapies, a network of Mental Health Champions, and workshops facilitated by our dedicated Employee Wellbeing Team. Professional growth: encouragement to think creatively, question existing practices, and devise innovative approaches through our ‘Diagonal Slice’ initiative – our Children's Services' employee forum. Join us in Dorset and make a real difference to the lives of children and young people in our beautiful county. Your journey towards meaningful and impactful work starts here. What you will be doing As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner, you will be working in a multi-agency child protection team with families who are subject to complex Child in Need plans, Child Protection plans, pre-proceedings, and court proceedings to: deliver the service in accordance with statutory responsibilities set out in the Children Act 1989 and other relevant legislation undertake assessments of children’s needs in accordance with Directorate policies and procedures create effective plans which are reviewed in a timely manner promote and safeguard the welfare of children provide support, information, and advice to families to help parents become more self-reliant prepare reports for courts and various meetings, presenting to a variety of professionals in different settings, and attend to give evidence in legal proceedings as required chair multi-agency meetings that support the development and review of plans maintain essential records, input, and maintain records on the core computer system as required work alongside the Lead Family Help Practitioner, providing child protection expertise and leading on statutory work undertake direct work with children and families to progress the plan undertake specialist assessments once training has been provided. About you You will have a Social Work qualification, be registered with Social Work England, and be able to fulfil the travel requirements of the post. You will need to have completed your ASYE and have a minimum of 2 years post-qualification experience in Children’s Services. You will be able to demonstrate a high level of post-qualification knowledge of statutory social care services, with experience of delivering complex court proceedings in a variety of court settings. We would love to hear from you. Due to the current need, applications can only be accepted from candidates who already have the right to work in the UK. Further Information This role is full time at 37 hours but flexible working will be considered. We have four localities - East Dorset & Purbeck, West Dorset & Dorchester, Chesil (Weymouth & Portland) and North Dorset. Each locality offers a slightly different geographical landscape however you can expect the same warm welcome wherever you are based. The North Dorset Locality covers the area of Dorset that fits roughly between Blandford, Sherborne and Shaftesbury, with Sturminster Newton in the middle. We have office bases in Blandford and Sturminster Newton. North Dorset has beautiful countryside and there is often a farm shop, bakery or coffee shop which you can pop into as you drive between visits. Our offices in Blandford and Sturminster Newton are easy walking distance into town, and in Blandford you can take a break with a walk along the riverside path. Y ou’ll join a supportive team, working collaboratively with shared values. In Chesil, Weymouth and Portland offer famous landmarks, numerous sporting opportunities in your spare time and an office with a 5 minute walk to the seafront. There is plenty of accommodation for colleagues who are traveling into Dorset who may require overnight stays and the locality team are passionate about piloting innovative ways to support children, young people and families. Our reflective and supportive Dorchester and West locality team is co-located at County Hall in Dorchester. We have access to parking and easy access to local shopping within our historic county town when taking lunch breaks. There is also a staff canteen onsite at County Hall serving hot and cold food and drinks. Our locality covers the west of the county including, Dorchester, Bridport, Beaminster, Lyme Regis, and the surrounding villages. There are other touchdown offices nestled across this stunning landscape where the team can work from. In East Dorset and Purbeck we have two offices, one in Ferndown covering the East of the county including, Ferndown, Wimborne, Verwood, West Moors and surrounding villages as well as parts of Upton. The Purbeck office is in Wareham (nr Swanage) and covers Wareham, Swanage, Wool, Bovington and surrounding villages. This is a lovely area of Dorset offering a wonderful mix of bustling high streets, picturesque villages, beautiful countryside and stunning coastline. Our colleagues in East Dorset and Purbeck are proud to have opened the first two family hubs in these localities, with more now planned or open across the rest of the county. If you do have a preference, please indicate which area you would like to be based on your application. For an informal discussion about the role, please contact us at [email protected] This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed. This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders. See our policy on safeguarding children and young people. See the children’s social worker framework. You must: have a degree in social work/Occupational Therapy or equivalent be able to fulfil the travel requirements of the post have the right to work in the UK Friends and Family Referral Scheme The friends and family referral scheme applies to this post. If an employee recommended this post to you mention them when asked on your application form. They'll give you all the information you need. Employees can share this advert by using the button links alongside the job title. Relocation expenses package A generous relocation package is payable, of which up to £8,000 (of HMRC eligible elements) are free of tax. We can offer you help to move whether you are looking to buy or rent, depending on your circumstances. Our package includes: an initial advance of up to £2,500 payable when you start help towards fees associated with buying/selling (up to £6,500) an option to receive help towards your rent or mortgage in the first two years About Us We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception. At Dorset Council we: provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents have ambitious aspirations are excited about our future care about Dorset and all the people who live here know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success You will: have access to a range of employee benefits be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role. We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments. We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process. If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn. This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant. Find out more about how to apply .