This is an exciting opportunity to join Enfield’s Children & Family Services Emergency Duty Team (EDT) as a senior social worker. The team provides a statutory out of hours emergency response to children, young people and their families where their circumstances require immediate intervention. As such, the team plays a vital and essential role in safeguarding and supporting our most vulnerable residents. The team has recently been established in response to a service review, which concluded that a dedicated children & families team would enhance our existing generic service response.
Senior social workers within the EDT will be line managed through the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) - the ‘front door’ team of Children & Family Services. The MASH receive notifications and referrals from a range of sources and makes decisions as to the most appropriate service response through information gathering and analysis. The interface with EDT is critical to ensure that emergencies that arise out of hours are transferred to daytime services as fluidly as possible.
Successful applicants will be committed to provide an effective and responsive service in emergency situations to children, young people and their families in accordance with relevant statutory legislation and guidance, including the Children Act 1989, Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023, the London Safeguarding Procedures, and the Concordat on Children in Custody 2017. Additionally, they will require excellent communication skills, the ability to work autonomously and to respond swiftly to emergencies, as well as the ability to work with a diverse range of agencies and teams. Good IT skills are also essential.
We work in a supportive and friendly environment and are committed to encourage professional and personal development. We aim promote and improve the standing of the social work profession by developing career pathways and professional development opportunities for practitioners at all levels.
If you have vision, creativity, and commitment, can work under pressure and are looking for a new challenge that can make a positive difference to people’s lives, we would like to hear from you.
Join our dynamic team and enjoy a flexible work schedule! We offer evening shifts from 5pm to 2am, Monday to Friday, and two shifts on weekends, public holidays, and the December additional day off: 8am to 5pm and 5pm to 2am. Embrace the opportunity to work in a supportive environment with a diverse team!
1. Extensive knowledge and understanding of legislation and statutory guidance relating to children, young people and their families, as well as the skills to apply this in practice, particularly in the context of out of hours work.
2. Significant experience of statutory work with children, young people and their families.
3. Proven ability to assess risk and need, and to make appropriate plans for vulnerable children and young people, particularly with respect to situations requiring immediate action.
4. Ability to chair child protection strategy discussions and to contribute to multi-agency decision-making in this context.
5. Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy and to prioritise work, assessing risk competently, but also being aware of when it is necessary to consult a manager.
6. Proven ability to develop and sustain effective working relationships and partnerships within own division, other council groups and external agencies.
7. Knowledge of diverse communities and their needs.
8. Competent IT skills and knowledge of IT systems used in social care.
9. Ability to record information clearly and concisely in plain English in a timely fashion.
10. A social work degree or equivalent qualification.
11. Current Social Work England registration.
12. As a regular and intrinsic part of this role requires you to speak to members of the public in English, the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential and consistent with the requirements of this role. This role also requires you to be polite and courteous when conversing with the public.
Enfield is one of the most diverse parts of London, with all the benefits this brings across our communities, culture, heritage and local economy. It also has incredibly diverse landscapes – from the urban centres of Edmonton, Southgate, Palmers Green and Enfield Town, to rural areas and farmland in the north of the borough.
Based in the bubbling heart of Enfield Town, situated in a modern newly designed service hub, the new office is an environment which supports our smart working policy surrounded by small businesses, bars, restaurants, a buzzing high street and shopping centre. Our brand new high-tech multiagency office has good transport links into central London and is easily assessable to the M25, A10 and A406.
We are proud of the services we offer to children and families living in the borough and work with partners to ensure children receive the best start in life. We are passionate about improving outcomes and driving up standards and performance. Ofsted has rated our children’s services as GOOD overall, read the full report here
Our offer to you include:
A rewarding role in an Ofsted rated GOOD children’s services department
Up to 32 days annual leave depending on grade and length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year and an extra day off at Christmas.
A blend of remote and office based working
Health and leisure discounts and tax-free bikes for work.
Modern purposefully designed working environment in Thomas Hardy House located 5 minutes from the station
A clear career progression pathway, supported by a comprehensive training programme
Smart technology assistance including hybrid video conferencing
Employee Assistance Programme to provide advice and counselling services. This is a free and confidential service available to staff and members of their family.
Enthusiastic and proactive staff network groups
1 month paid sabbatical for children’s social workers