Senior Social Worker

Are you an experienced Social Worker looking for a new challenge within a dynamic and supportive team? West Berkshire Council is seeking a Senior Social Worker to join our Children and Family Services team, working in the CAAS team in West Berkshire. This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the wellbeing of children and families in our local community while benefiting from flexible working arrangements and a range of employment perks.

As a Senior Social Worker, you will play a crucial role in delivering high-quality social work services to children and families. You will be responsible for:

• Supporting the Assistant Team Manager in the running of CAAS Triage (MASH team)
• Deputising for the Assistant Team Manager where required
• Reviewing new written enquiries and recommending next steps/actions required
• Being responsible for oversighting all new written enquiries into the team and allocating them to other members of staff according to priority need/threshold of risk
• Chairing MASH enquiry meetings where required, to inform the outcome threshold recommendation
• Completing contact and referral records (CRR's) for families presenting with more complex needs or a different complexity for review, for example requests from other local authorities to transfer children subject to child protection planning.

The ideal candidate will possess the following skills and attributes:

• Qualified Social Worker with the required post qualifying experience
• Sound knowledge of social work legislation, policies, and procedures
• Strong risk assessment and decision-making skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team
• Demonstrated leadership qualities and the ability to mentor junior staff

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Steph Coomber on 01635 503190 or email stephanie.coomber1@westberks.gov.uk

West Berkshire Council offer excellent employment benefits such as:

• Flexible working wherever possible between the hours of 07.00-19.00
• Hybrid working wherever possible working 40% in the office
• Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities 
• Generous Local Government pension scheme
• Family friendly policies
• A range of local discounts
• Wellbeing Programme including Employee Assistance Programme and employee benefits
• You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement starting at 29 days per annum (plus public holidays) Rising by an additional 5 days after 5 years’ service.

Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment. 

Join us at West Berkshire Council and make a positive impact in our community while advancing your career.

Explore everything that a career with West Berkshire Council has to offer here:

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment, and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

How to apply

Please now complete a short online application form. You will then be able to upload your CV.

This role has been identified as public facing in accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016; the requirement to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English applies.

West Berkshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all its staff and volunteers to share these values. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. Successful candidates will be offered employment subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks along with other relevant employment checks.

This privacy notice applies to job applicants applying for vacancies with West Berkshire Council

https://info.westberks.gov.uk/pnapplications

Due to West Berkshire Council’s size and scale, and limited number of social work vacancies, we are not currently able to accept applications from overseas social workers.