Member Job Opportunity: St Christopher's - Senior Supervising Social Worker

​​Location: Fostering Chelmsford
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 21 February 2021
Salary: Salary £30,000 - £41,000 per annum depending on experience
Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Remote home working

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Due to current situation, this role will be home based. Any face to face work with carers or children only occurs in relation to safeguarding and under government guidance.

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our friendly team and a growing fostering service in Chelmsford where your skills will flourish, and you will be able to contribute to achieving positive results for young people.  

About Us
St Christopher's is an established children’s charity that has provided care and support for vulnerable children and young people for 150 years.  Our focus and commitment is all about our children and young people. We provide fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative housing and support services across London, Essex, West Midlands and the Isle of Man.

We really care about children and young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We ask children and young people what they think and involve them in decision making, from helping to shape new services to interviewing new members of staff.  Our social pedagogic approach is our core philosophy of care.  Put simply this is a holistic approach for building positive relationships with children and young people to bring out their inner “diamond”.

We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong.  We hope to attract application’s from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities.

About the Role
As a Senior Practitioner, you will deputise for the Fostering Manager where required, and be responsible for supervising professional staff.  You will develop high quality learning and development activities both for employees and foster carers. You will hold a reduced caseload.

Applicants should have:

• CQSW, DipSW, BA Social Work or equivalent professional qualification, and registration with the Health and Care Professions Care Council (HCPC).
• Significant experience of working in fostering or adoption, including direct experience of carrying out Form F Assessments.
• Knowledge of relevant child care legislation.
• Ability to manage your caseload effectively and to plan and priorities work to meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication, motivation and team work skills.
• Ability to travel independently to all areas required by job responsibilities.
• Passion for building brighter futures for vulnerable young people and delivering the highest quality services possible.

In return we offer:

• Salary £30,000 - £41,000 depending on experience.
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry Leading training programme including children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and Social Pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, Enhanced Maternity and Company Sick Scheme.
• BUPA Employee Assistance Programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Interest-free season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, childcare vouchers.
• Discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary Funding Training Programs.
• Employee Awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

This role is in a developing team which will provide you with an opportunity to develop positive links and relationships across the Easter Region and the organization. If you’re ready for the challenge and think you have the skills to drive St Christopher’s forward we would love to hear from you.

Recruitment Process
At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

To be considered, your online application must include a full supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. 

For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact [email protected]

Closing Date: 21 Feb 2021

(Applications will be reviewed as received)

Interview Date: 01 March 2021

Full details and application documents here