Consultant Social Worker

Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites.

Our Children's Services have been judged 'outstanding' by Ofsted inspectors for the second time in a row.

The Council, its staff and partners, are delighted following an inspection in February 2023, Ofsted judged the overall effectiveness of children’s social care services to be ‘outstanding’! We were especially pleased that our investment in frontline practitioners and managers was recognised. We have been working hard to create an environment where Social Workers can do the work they came into the profession to do - to support and help families to stay together where this is in children’s best interests and it is safe enough for this to happen.
Ofsted judged that we provide strong management oversight of practice, that we have a well – embedded practice framework to enable meaningful family focused help, that we offer clear progress in career pathways, a talent management scheme and a nurturing environment to enable social work to flourish. We believe deeply in relationship based practice and ‘Signs of Safety’ is the vehicle enabling us to do this respectfully and in collaboration with the people we are trying to help.

Do you think you have what it takes to takes to join our team of dedicated professional?

Do you think you have what it takes to join our team of excellent, creative and dedicated social work professionals?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and creative Consultant Social Worker to join our innovative and ambitious Professional Standards & Quality Assurance team. You will specialise in the embedding of the Signs of Safety Practice Model. We are committed to the continuous development of evidence informed social work practice, working alongside families to achieve the best possible outcomes for children.

You will support Social Workers and social care staff in their professional development, offering high quality development opportunities through learning interventions, training, coaching and mentoring. You will draw on your own professional experience and skills to contribute to developing a talented, experienced and well-supported workforce. You will play a significant role in supporting the leadership team to create the conditions for success for social work to thrive in Bexley.

You will model best practice and play an active role in embedding our Quality Assurance and Signs of Safety Framework. You will be an experienced Social Worker, with a sound knowledge of social work theory and relevant legislation and an eagerness to continue with your own development and learning to keep abreast of current research and initiatives. You will have practice experience of using the Signs of Safety model.
For an informal discussion about the role please contact Stephanie Roberts, Academy Manager & PSW on 020 3045 3602, Stefanie.Roberts@bexley.gov.uk.

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attached.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements.

The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.

Use the ‘Apply for vacancy’ button.

Anticipated Interview Date: W/C 15th April

Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload.

If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence.

Additional Information
As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on recruitment@bexley.gov.uk

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees. The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here.