Supervising Social Worker

Would you like the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

Our Fostering Service is looking to recruit social workers to join our committed staff in the Supervision and Support Team. You will be energetic, inspirational, passionate and resilient about achieving positive outcomes for the children and young people that live in Wandsworth foster families.

Our goals and visions

Here in Wandsworth, we are on an exciting journey of transformation. We have developed our Practice Model and are the first Local Authority in London to implement the Family Safeguarding Model.

Our goals and vision are all about keeping families together where it is safe to do so. We work with each family’s strengths to help them meet the challenges they face alongside supporting our practitioners to do the transformational work needed to reduce or prevent the need for children to be looked after by the local authority as a permanent plan. When children do need to live in care, we want them to live in families and stay close to their communities. Supervising social workers in our Supervision and Support Team make this happen.

About the role

As a Supervising Social Worker you will work with a group of Wandsworth foster carers and support them to offer the best care to our children. You will have an understanding of trauma, attachment and child development, and be able to support carers to think about children’s needs and lived experience, so that they can be emotionally attuned and thoughtful in their parenting. You will have experience of building strong networks around families and be able to build relationships with partners across services and agencies.

We will support you through 1:1 personal and case supervision, reflective group supervision and a tailored training offer. We value each staff member in the service and want each and every one to be a leader and champion of exemplary practice.

To be shortlisted your application and personal statement (no longer than 2 sides of A4) will clearly evidence:

• Having a social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England

• A passion for fostering

• Excellent written, verbal communication and analytical skills, as well as an ability to build relationships with practitioners, families and partners.

• Enthusiasm and tenacity to shape and develop our work with foster carers

Contact details

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role, please contact Siobhan Palma by email: Siobhan.Palma@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 40 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Closing Date: 11:59pm on Sunday 12th November 2023

Shortlisting Date: Monday 13th November 2023

Interview Date: Monday 20th November 2023 (competency-based interview and test)

Useful Information:

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible.

We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams, including males.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information:

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).