We are looking for talented and motivated social workers who share our values to join our Contact and Assessment service.
Whether you are a newly qualified worker or a seasoned practitioner we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to grow, develop and progress whatever stage of their careers they are at. Hammersmith & Fulham offer a range of opportunities to grow your career and develop your expertise.
We are currently looking for experienced senior social workers or those who are looking to step into a senior role to join our Contact and Assessment team. In January 2023, we introduced an additional team to increase capacity and to lengthen the duty cycle from 3 to 4 weeks. Following our last focused visit, OFSTED reported that "exemplary practice was seen" with "strong, aspirational leaders creating a culture of continuous learning where staff report they feel highly valued."
Our ambition is to further increase the quality of our practice and work with children, young people, and families in order to sustain positive change. As a department, we promote a highly supportive culture that allows you to do what you do best, encompassing individual mentoring, having manageable workloads and clear developmental opportunities.
We appreciate and value our employees and recognise the importance of a motivated and supported workforce who have a good work life balance. We will support your development through a variety of opportunities across the council which include:
High quality regular reflective supervision.
Training opportunities, including training in systemic practice.
Clinical family therapist allocated to each service.
Hybrid working and flexible working options.
2 wellbeing days a month in addition to generous annual leave.
Very competitive pay rates with well established social work career progression scheme.
Our mission is to be the best council. To do this we need the best people to help build our vision. If you are a social worker committed to relational practice and improving lives, looking to develop your career in a fast-paced, professional environment whilst making a difference, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Appointments of social workers with some experience but not yet ready to apply for the senior role will be in line with their experience. If you apply early and are successfully shortlisted, you may be contacted prior to the closing date for an interview.
Role Responsibilities:
Work closely with children, young people and their families, other staff within the service function and partner agencies to provide support and protection for children and young people in need and at risk.
Promote a range of services which carry out statutory duties as required by legislation and guidance.
Assess the needs of children, young people and families to plan and implement suitable multi-agency interventions and service provisions to meet need and review outcomes.
Manage a caseload with high level of complexity and risk.
Social Work degree or equivalent and two years post-qualifying experience in childcare including legal proceedings, section 47 and direct work with children. ‘Social Work England’ registration.
A commitment to the Council’s Equal Opportunities policies and the ability to understand and implement the policies in relation to job responsibilities.
The ability to write coherent, comprehensive and up to date records and demonstrates file management skills in line with all policy requirements. The ability and willingness to use a computerised client database and word processing package (including e-mail).
An understanding of the needs of children ‘in need’ or ‘at risk’ and those who are ‘looked after’ in relation to their age and development and the ability to implement and review effective plans in partnership with families and other professionals.
The ability to work autonomously and maintain accountability while using line management supervision appropriately.
Ability to carry out comprehensive assessments of risk and need of children and families within agreed time-scales and implement and review written care plans, successfully demonstrating clear knowledge and understanding of legislative, policy and practice issues.
Demonstrate the ability to manage and prioritise a complex workload, to work under pressure, and the ability and willingness to take on additional responsibilities.
Demonstrate knowledge of key policy and research issues in the field of childcare.
Demonstrate an understanding of the organisational context on which the service is delivered i.e., the health authority, independent sectors, legal and corporate structures within the borough.
Demonstrate the potential to develop mentoring and supervisory skills and contribute to the development of the team.
Demonstrate the liaison, communication, and presentation skills necessary to represent the service/department in multi-agency forums.
Please refer to the Role Profile for more information
Hammersmith & Fulham is a vibrant and exciting London Borough to live, work and socialise in. Our borough is home to over 195,000 people from communities all over the world, all benefitting from some of the best public services and amenities in the country.
We strive to be a place where every child has the best possible start in life, grows up feeling cherished, loved and realises their full potential as young citizens. We offer our children's social workers:
An opportunity to work for an Ofsted ‘GOOD’ local authority with ‘Outstanding’ Youth Justice Service
Supportive, nurturing and friendly environment with a commitment to EDI initiatives
Manageable caseloads
Very competitive pay rates with well established social work career progression scheme
Access to the Local Government Pensions Scheme
Annual leave entitlement of up to 34 days
Cycle to work scheme
Season ticket loan scheme
Flexible and hybrid working
Employee wellbeing and assistance programme
Excellent learning & development opportunities
Staff benefits portal that gives you access to a wide range of local and national offers and discounts
People Values:
How we act defines who we are. At the heart of our organisation is a common approach to defining ‘who we are’. We are looking for people who can build this into everything they do.
We are fair
We treat everyone with compassion, dignity and fairness. We value the views and opinion of others, and promote benefits and opportunities for all.
We are caring
We care about our borough and doing things well. We focus on standards and continuous improvement; learning from our mistakes and celebrating success.
We are collaborators
We work together for a better society. We work with our residents, businesses, schools, third sector and others for better outcomes for everyone.
We are driven
We will only settle for the very best. We seek to continually improve and put our residents, customers and businesses at the heart of everything we do.
Recruiting for Attitude:
Your skills and ability are important however, we recruit as much for attitude as we do experience. We are looking for people who have the following attributes:
Complex problem-solving
The ability to work within a complex system and find simple solutions and outcomes that deliver real change.
Critical thinking
The ability to challenge the norms through evidence-based approaches using both numerical and critical reasoning and thinking. You can rationalise decision-making and form views quickly and soundly from a range of sources.
Creativity
You take approaches that demonstrate how doing things differently and creatively changes the dynamic in situations. You can apply creative solutions that deliver hard outcomes.
People management
You can get the best out of people. You have a coaching-style and drive through a commitment to personal and professional development. You are clear in your expectations and have exceptional feedback from your team about their working environment. You recognise and support people as individuals.
Coordinating with others
You have the knack of working well with others. You have an appreciation of your own presence and approach and can demonstrate how you have developed and continue to develop how you work with others. You can also recognise how others work, think, and feel to get the most out of collaboration.
Emotional intelligence
You have a high degree of self-awareness and self-regulation in a wide range of situations from one-to-one conversations to team and group dynamics. You can recognise motivating factors and demonstrate empathy appropriately applying a wide range of adaptive social skills.
Judgement and decision making
You can take rational and evidence-based decisions and take responsibility for your decisions and actions. Where there is ambiguity or a lack of evidence you can demonstrate the ability to understand the environment and show flexibility in applying your judgement.
Negotiation
You can demonstrate an understanding of the range of skills and techniques required to successfully negotiate with a range of other partners. This includes understanding how to structure and undertake successful negotiation on an organisational-wide level.
Service orientation
You must be unequivocal in your commitment and drive for outstanding service delivery. Both in terms of the quality of products and work delivered as well as the achievement of objectives. You and your team can demonstrate how your overall contribution to the organisation and service delivers to our organisational aims and objectives.
Cognitive flexibility
The ability to recognise the environment in which you work and adapt and shift to this environment to maximise your own personal achievement and lead others in the same approach. Applying cognitive flexibility to situations of significant change and transformation.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment.
Corporate Equalities Employment Policy: In order to combat discrimination, no unnecessary conditions or requirements will be applied which could have a disproportionately adverse effect on any one group. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ) applies.
We are a Disability Confident Employer – committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.
If you have any questions about applying for roles within H&F Children’s Services, please contact via email CYPSrecruitment@lbhf.gov.uk