Children's Senior Social Worker Family Safeguarding - The Guardian : Job Details

We have opportunities for Senior Social Workers to join our Family Safeguarding Teams based across East Surrey covering the Reigate and Weybridge areas and West Surrey covering the Woking and Guildford areas.

The salary range for Senior Social Workers is £51,399 - £54,588 per annum. This is inclusive of a newly created market supplement of £5,000.

We also offer a financial package of up to £6,000 which is payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post.

Our other rewards and benefits include:

• A competitive relocation package of up to £8,000
• Refer a friend payment of £1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social Worker
• We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 30 days after 5 years' service (plus bank holidays)
• Access to our car lease scheme
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme to support health and wellbeing
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave

About Surrey

Our Surrey Children's Services are actively working towards becoming a high-performing local authority, evidenced by the fact we are now starting to realise the positive impacts of the Family Safeguarding practice model in action with reductions in the number of children subject to child protection plans. We are working hard to sustain and develop our progress and this is driven by the efforts of every member of our social care workforce from our business support and family support workers to our frontline practitioners through to leadership- all working together to create and sustain the right conditions for a positive culture and well-supported workforce equipped to deliver consistent and good quality social work practice for our children and families.

About our Family Safeguarding Service

Our Family Safeguarding service are overseen by Assistant Directors- Catherine Watkins and Fiona Wraith who have co- responsibility for our Family Safeguarding Model, Child In Need, as well as pre and court proceedings.

Within Family Safeguarding we use motivational interviewing, multi-agency approach under the Family Safeguarding model, where Social Workers, Family Support Workers, Domestic Abuse Practitioners, Recovery Workers, Mental Health Practitioners, and Psychologists collaborate closely to address family issues efficiently, reducing the need for referrals to other agencies.

To help us achieve our ambitions for children and families we are looking for dedicated, and compassionate practitioners who are child focused and committed to relationship-based social work to join us.

We strive to provide a supportive and dynamic work environment for our employees, that fosters growth, maintains work-life balance, and rewards efforts. We guarantee 5 days of CPD and have access to excellent research and development tools such as Community Care Inform, Care Knowledge and Research In Practice.

Why choose Surrey?

Surrey is a large and ambitious local authority meaning we can draw from a range of available resources to support the delivery of our services to children and their families, but that's just part of it. It's our staff that truly make the difference day in day out and we'd like to share with you some of their insights as to why they choose to be part of Surrey Children's social care workforce.

Our staff highlighted that you can expect…

• Positive team and colleague relationships - You'll have the opportunity to be part of a team that thrives on positive working relationships
• Flexibility and work-life balance - We are committed to agile working and trust you to adapt your schedule to suit your needs, balancing this against the need to visit your children and families
• Opportunities and support for professional development - You can benefit from a structured environment that encourages growth and development
• A sense of belonging and familiarity - You'll be part of our welcoming and approachable social work family where you'll be able to draw on the knowledge of established team members to support your understanding
• A focus on wellbeing - We recognise that you are a valuable asset and key to unlocking the positive changes we aspire for with our children and families

Our Inclusive Approach

To apply you will need to upload your CV and answer the following questions:

• Please tell us what has motivated you to apply for this role?
• Please tell us about the key skills and experience you will be able to bring to this role.
• What is your understanding of Surrey's Practice Model for family safeguarding? Can you describe the strengths and challenges of this model.

Next Steps

If your application is shortlisted, you will be invited to a short first round virtual interview to explore your answers to the above questions. If successful following this, you will be invited for an in person interview, allowing you to meet the team, check out your potential office and get a feel for what your journey might look like.

We are committed to inclusive recruitment. That's why, if you're invited to a face-to-face interview, we'll share the themes of the questions with you in advance. This way, you can prepare and feel comfortable, allowing you to confidently discuss your skills and experiences.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on the 3rd March 2025.

You will need to be registered with Social Work England.

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and locality based social workers will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area.