Job Opportunity with FFP Member, Barnardo's: Social Worker - Fostering & Adoption

Location: Halesowen and Bristol 
​Salary: £35,360 - £39,743 Plus Office at Home Allowance of £312 Per Annum
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 37 and 29.6
Number of Positions: 2
​Closing Date: 25 June 2023
Interview Date: 05/07/2023

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Barnardo's Adoption Midlands and South West has two exciting vacancies for Social Workers (qualified or qualifying in July/August 2023) to join its expanding Service which currently works predominantly in adoption but is looking to grow into fostering as well.  You will be joining an experienced and stable staff group who embrace working in a creative, open and transparent manner with carers, to provide children with permanence in a family who understand the impact of issues such as developmental trauma, attachment and neuroscience.

As a Social Worker you have the chance to make a real difference in the lives of Children, Young People and Families by:

• Recruiting, assessing and approving a diverse range of adoptive and foster families to meet the needs of waiting children
• Matching the needs of children nationwide with the skills of appropriate adopters or foster carers
• Ensuring excellent training, guidance and support, including managing ongoing contact with birth family
• Working directly with families promoting a trauma informed approach and helping build and maintain family relationships
• Being part of Barnardo's undertaking to children, young people and adopters and foster families to continuously learn and improve

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If you have a passion and drive to make a positive difference to children we would like to hear from you.

The service covers East and West Midlands; the South West and Thames Valley areas.  There are two office bases, one in Halesowen and one in Bristol - you may be asked to attend either but work is allocated as much as possible to the area where you live.

The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving license that enables them to drive in the UK and have use of a car and business use insurance, travel is expected.  

The applicant will need to be able to participate in an "Helpline" rota Out of Office hours. There is additional remuneration for providing this service.

There are two positions available:

• 1 Full Time Role - 37 hours
• 1 Part Time Role - 29.6 hours

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work life balance we therefore offer flexible working arrangements as the role involves some evening/weekend working and travel with occasional overnight stays.

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.

When completing the application please refer to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document. This should be done with an understanding of the context of the Service described. 

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values.  We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out 1st April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a key pillar of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to grow and develop in their career at Barnardo's as it will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues to progress through the pay band of their role.
 
Benefits

Workplace Offer: What it means for you
The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.

• Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing after 5 years service
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
• Service related sick pay from day 1
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
• Cycle2work scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
• Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer

*T&C's apply based on contract

About Barnardo's
At Barnardo's we believe in children – no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through. Please read about our basis and values following the link below. You will be asked questions relating to them as part of the recruitment process for this role.

Barnardo's is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce for staff and volunteers. We actively encourage applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within Barnardo's.

Full details and application documents here