Consultant Social Workers (All Children's Teams)

Job Title: Consultant Social Workers (All Children's Teams) Starting Salary: £49,817 per annum + £7,146 market enhanced payment, progressing to £55,224 per annum + £6,984 market enhanced payment PLUS £1k one off welcome payment* - pay award pending Hours: 37 Location: Base locations in Stevenage (East) and Apsley, Hemel Hempstead (West). Whilst you will have a base, each team has a geographic area they cover which will require regular access to a vehicle in order to travel to meetings. Contract Type: Permanent Directorate: Childrens Services All roles are full time and permanent unless otherwise stated below under 'about the role' About the service At Hertfordshire County Council, we believe that the children and young people in our care deserve the best. And that means ensuring the social workers who work alongside them are trained, supported, and highly motivated. As an innovative authority, we are committed to developing motivational social work practice and you will be trained to work in this way. You will be working at the forefront of best practice to deliver first class support to vulnerable children and families which will expose you to managing complex and diverse caseloads. By changing our approach to families, they are changing their approach to us and we are managing to keep far more children at home safely with their families. With dedicated Diversity & Inclusion strategy and focus groups, we promote diversity and inclusion across the delivery of services and within our workforce. We will offer a stimulating working environment, regular supervision meetings and training opportunities to help you to reach your full potential with the assistance and guidance of our specialist L&D teams. The pandemic has brought about changes in the way we work and having learnt from this and from feedback from our staff and communities, we are embedding important principles around ‘Our Way Forward’. The overarching vision for Children’s Services is that we work in a ‘flexible and balanced’ way with a focus on ‘continuous improvement’; this is underpinned by a ‘mix and blend’ approach by adopting hybrid ways of working, balancing the need for collaborative workspaces with the right technology for staff to work from home and touchdown areas where this is right for you and for our families. About the role Each Team is made up of; a Team Manager, Consultant Social Worker(s), Senior Practitioners, Social Workers, Children's Practitioners and Family Practitioners. This role will include holding a small caseload of complex work and supports development into a management role in the future. This will include conducting supervision meetings and supporting other members of the team and providing management cover in the Team Manager’s absence. We have vacancies in the following teams: Family Safeguarding West, based in Hemel Hempstead 37 hours | Permanent Specialist Adolescent Service (SASH), based in Hemel Hempstead 37 hours | PermanentAbout you We are pleased to offer sponsorship of eligible roles that met the UKV&I requirements for candidates who currently reside in the UK at the time of application. It is essential that all Consultant Social workers who apply have the following: Qualified and Social Work England Registered Comprehensive knowledge of the challenges associate with working with Children and their FamiliesStrong written and verbal communication skillsKnowledge of legislation, guidance, policy, and proceduresProficient in the use of Microsoft IT packageFull UK Driving LicenceRegular Access to a vehiclePlease note there may be additional specific criteria depending on the team. Family Safeguarding: The role will require you to support social workers, by assisting in court work which will include attending court, therefore a thorough knowledge of care proceedings and court experience is required.SASH: Experience of working with children experiencing extra familial harm.For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Tina.Darko@hertfordshire.gov.uk This job role is within the Health and Social Care, level 12 job profile. Please locate this via: Job profiles - Health and social care To read more about our service and opportunities available visit our Childrens Social Work page Recruitment timeline: we are checking applications regularly and will arrange ad hoc interviews - please check your emails for updates. Benefits of working for us Additional Benefits for Social Work roles include: Monthly Market Enhanced PaymentOne off £1k Welcome Payment* (terms & conditions apply)Lease Car SchemeUp to £6k relocation expenses (terms & conditions apply)Hybrid working model5 Days additional annual leave entitlementSWE Registration Fee paid How to apply As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences. Additional information We are changing Hertfordshire County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). If you are employed by Hertfordshire County on 1 April 2028, it is expected that most roles will transfer to the newly-created unitary councils on existing terms and conditions under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment) principles. LGR is one of the biggest changes we will face in a generation. It will reshape how we work and how services are organised and gives us a real opportunity to build something better. To find out more, visit https://www.hertfordshire-lgr.co.uk/ Disability Confident We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. Safeguarding This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Driving required You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations. English Fluency The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.