Senior Social Worker - Children's Disability Service

Are you a Social Worker looking for a new challenge? Our Children’s Disability Service is seeking a Senior Social Worker to join our supportive and experienced Family Support Team.

You will work closely with families to develop bespoke care plans, undertake a range of assessments, planning and interventions for disabled children, including those with complex needs. The role offers opportunities to develop skills in areas such as continuing care, integrated education, health and care planning, mental capacity assessments and safeguarding. We offer regular supervision and access to excellent training such as Makaton and positive behaviour support, ensuring you feel valued, supported and able to make a positive impact.

Children’s Disability Service (CDS) is a small, dedicated service supporting the most vulnerable children and young people in the county. Our dedicated social workers are trained to consider the specific vulnerabilities and risks faced by children with disabilities. If you have a social work qualification but don’t have specific experience working with children with disabilities, we can offer bespoke training and help you develop in this area of specialism. At ESCC we provide extensive support to our social workers. We have high aspirations for the children and young people we work with and we want to deliver an ambitious and creative service which meets the complex needs of our children.

We possess clear vision, strong leadership and help to create an environment of stability and security for families. We prioritise and focus on the quality of social work practice rather than processes and procedures.

We are looking for candidates who:

• Holds a recognised Social Work qualification and current registration with the professional regulatory body
• Are able to engage effectively using creativity, compassion and authority to overcome resistance and build relationships
• Can undertake assessment and analysis to a high standard on complex cases informed by research and theory and linking to child’s plan
• Are able to promote and provide guidance and challenge on positive approaches to diversity in the organisation addressing discrimination
• Can demonstrate knowledge of legal and policy frameworks, case law and the application to social work practice. Seek appropriate legal advice and apply legal reasoning, using professional expertise

Please download the Job Description and Person Specification for more information.

We all know that writing job applications can be challenging and time consuming, so we have streamlined the process as much as possible. Please click the apply now button and upload your CV with a Supporting Statement. The main areas we want you to tell us about are:

• Your work with children and young people
• How you communicate with others
• Your application or research in theory in practice

Brief and to the point and with some examples is the way to go!

For guidance on how to write an application see our how to apply page and our statement on the use of AI.

Interviews will take place in Eastbourne on Thursday 13 August. At Interview the main areas we’d like you to tell us about include:

• Your work with children and young people
• How you communicate with others
• Your application of research or theory in practice
• Your strong social work leadership skills

Candidates who meet certain criteria are given priority when we shortlist. See our priority status page for details.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Charlotte Mantel, Practice Manager – Email: [email protected]

A workforce for the community, from the community

We warmly welcome applications from all sections of the community. We but particularly encourage those from group that are underrepresented in our current workforce:

Black and ethnic minority backgrounds, those who are disabled, men and those who identify as LGBTQ+. We are working towards recruiting a workforce that reflects our community because we recognise the unique skills, experience and perspective that each individual brings.

We offer a diverse range of benefits to help and support you during your employment. More information can be found on our benefits page.

For flexible working, choose East Sussex!

“East Sussex is a very good employer. You’re able to work flexibly around childcare and caring responsibilities and that’s really helpful.” Charlotte, Social Worker

Additional Information

This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS check or Enhanced check for Regulated Activity with the Disclosure & Barring Services (previously the Criminal Records Bureau). For further information about what is required in this process please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-applicant-criminal-record. Please note that we require evidence of an overseas police check if you have lived or worked abroad.

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is part-time or term-time only.

If you require sponsorship to work in the UK please let the hiring manager know this in your application so we can check eligibility for sponsorship for the role. For further information please go to https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

If you require any reasonable adjustments, due to disability, to enable you to participate fully in the process please contact the hiring manager on the contact details above.