We are looking for 2 curious, courageous and kind Independent Reviewing Officers. You will be skilled in understanding children’s lived experience, conducting creative looked after children reviews and challenging and supporting good practice. This role is critical in demonstrating the best of practice to support social workers developing into the role. You will act with integrity and always in the child’s best interest.
Brent is a tremendously vibrant London borough where the iconic arch of Wembley Stadium dominates the skyline. Spanning both inner and outer London, it is a borough of huge contrasts in terms of its economic, environmental, ethnic and social make up. Brent’s diversity is evident to all who visit our borough and our long history of ethnic and cultural diversity has created a place that is truly unique and valued by those who live and work here. The council is pursuing a far-reaching transformation agenda that better meets the needs of our community so it is an exciting time to join us.
You will develop relationships with children who are looked after and chair (in a creative ways) reviews for looked after children.
You will write letters to a child following the review as a record of what was discussed.
You will complete mid-way reviews to ensure everything is on track.
You will work as part of a team to understand the quality of practice children receive and develop improvement initiatives.
You will follow the Independent Reviewing Officer Handbook and escalate concerns in a transparent and fair manner – always in children’s best interest.
You are a experienced social worker with looked after children and have team manager level experience.
You hold and active registration with Social Work England.
You enjoy building relationships with children and finding creative ways for them to express their views as part of the review processes.
You are organised, flexible and have good record keeping skills.
You are able to write letters to children to capture the complex content of a review in an age-appropriate manager.
You are curious, courageous and kind in how you work with children, their families, their carers, professional networks and your colleagues.
Brent is a tremendously vibrant London borough where the iconic arch of Wembley Stadium dominates the skyline. Spanning both inner and outer London, it is a borough of huge contrasts in terms of its economic, environmental, ethnic and social make up. Learn more about Brent and our communities by watching this video:
Brent Children and Young People Services boasts a bright and buzzy atmosphere where colleagues are friendly, supportive and get stuck in. Brent is the 2020 London Borough of Culture(s) where people are proud of their culture and background – and we are proud of our diverse workforce. Working in a well-connected borough, in state-of-the-art buildings, you’ll be surrounded by restaurants, coffee shops and facilities if you to choose to work in Brent.
We have a great rewards packages for social workers up to senior team managers. We provide a welcome and retention payment when you join, which includes:
Key worker rental housing in Wembley for permanent social workers (subject to availability)
Golden hello and relocation packages (for hard to recruit to roles)
Annual retention payment for all social work qualified staff.
You will also receive:
A commitment to manageable caseloads across all teams.
The Social Work progression framework, enabling you to move to senior social worker and beyond when you’re ready. We are committed to retaining the best staff and providing you with the support and opportunities to achieve that.
Group and 1-2-1 supervision.
A small team model, supported by practice consultants with training in systemic and reflective practice.
A culture of highly effective flexible working, supported with some of the best IT in local government.
A very generous Local Government Pension Scheme.
A host of other rewards and benefits such as reduced cost gym membership, London Designer Outlet privilege card, Wembley Boxpark privilege card plus many more.
If you’d like to know more about Brent and working in children and young people’s services, please visit our website. If you are interested in having an informal discussion about working in children's social care in Brent please contact:
Palvinder Kudhail, Director, Integration and Improved Outcomes: Palvinder.Kudhail@brent.gov.uk
Rashida Forbes, Principal Social Worker: Rashida.Forbes@brent.gov.uk