Experienced Social Worker, Homefirst and Urgent Response Team

Job specification

Location:
Swindon
Hours:
37
Salary:
£47,420 p.a. plus benefits
Closing date:
17/10/2024
Job reference:
RNR002391-3
Interview date:
TBC
Date posted:
19/09/2024
At Swindon Borough Council, we want our town to be the best it can be. Our ambitious vision in the new Swindon Plan is supported by realistic transformation programmes, with the people of Swindon at their heart. Because that’s who we’re doing it for – the communities and businesses that make our town great. As part of the Council, you’ll support a friendly local authority making decisions with real impact. It’s all for better public services. Better processes and a better quality of life, for everyone. Join us, and Swindon will be better with you.

At Swindon Borough Council, we are bold and ambitious in our plans, with a clear vision and direction for the future. Our status as one of the UK’s fastest growing towns is driving transformational change across our organisation, most significantly within our highly valued Adults’ Services teams.

We’ve already taken huge strides forward with our journey for an integrated approach to children’s health, education support and social care and now we’re ready to move on to the next stage in our development. As we move forward, it is vital that everything we do and every service we provide is delivered in a robust way and is in line with national standards and protocols.

At Swindon Borough Council, we are bold and ambitious in our plans, with a clear vision and direction for the future. Our status as one of the UK’s fastest growing towns is driving transformational change across our organisation, most significantly within our highly valued Adults’ Services teams.

We’ve already taken huge strides forward with our journey for an integrated approach to children’s health, education support and social care and now we’re ready to move on to the next stage in our development. As we move forward, it is vital that everything we do and every service we provide is delivered in a robust way and is in line with national standards and protocols.

Your next role

We have an exciting opportunity for an Experienced Social Worker to join the Adult Social Care team at Swindon Borough Council. The successful candidate will join a friendly, supportive and dynamic team. We are committed to providing good quality supervision and continuing professional development opportunities.

The role offers a challenging and diverse work environment that will extend your existing skills and knowledge, supporting the development of your social work career pathway and practice. 

We are interested in applicants who have experience of, and a passion to work with adults and are committed to providing a person centred and strengths based approach to their work.  The team provide outstanding care planning incorporating the voice of the service user from initial referral, encompassing the views of multidisciplinary professionals, families/carers and external agencies to provide ideal outcomes and safe discharge for service users.  Completing assessments and management of complex case work, providing the highest standards of care alongside safe and timely discharges.  The successful candidates will join a friendly, supportive and dynamic team.  We are committed to providing good quality supervision and continuing professional development opportunities.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a multi-disciplinary team and to be part of how we are re-shaping Adult Social Care to meet the needs of our service users. As are result we are now offering flexible working patterns covering 7 days a week. As a Registered Social Worker you will work as part of a larger team supporting residents of Swindon to maximise their independence. You will demonstrate good communication skills and enjoy working in a fast pace environment.

At Swindon Borough Council we have a clear vision of what we want the future to look like. The success of our vision depends on supporting residents to remain independent in their own homes with access to effective information and advice and services that promote a strength base approach. We also believe that the success of our vision will depend on fostering our talent of the future - that’s why we have these exciting new opportunities.

This is a ‘5 day over 7’ position of which some weekend working is required in order to meet service requirements. 

A valid driving licence and access to a car is essential for this role.

You must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act “for the effective performance of a customer-facing role”).

To be eligible for this role, you will must be a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England registration.

Our transformation journey

Like all other local authorities, we are experiencing an increase in demand. As an organisation we know our Adults’ Services are on a rapid improvement journey which is why last year we started making big changes across the service to provide the best care for children and great conditions for our staff. This started with us recruiting an entirely new leadership team of experienced, forward thinking managers who are driving changes in the service and we aim to be one of the best Adults’ Services in the country.

Our Adult Practitioners’ Induction

A practitioner-specific, Swindon-specific induction programme, aimed at providing you with the information you need regarding the policies and procedures of Adult Social Care at Swindon Borough Council.

The induction programme incorporates a blend of face-to-face activities and e-learning modules aimed at consolidating and reviewing your knowledge of the key areas.

These key areas include:

  • Understanding how to use our case management system
  • Understanding the Safeguarding and Quality Assurance policies and procedures
  • Understanding and using a strength-based approach

Improvements include:

Multi-million pound investment in staff and support

  • Significant restructure creating smaller social worker teams
  • New intuitive IT system to cut down on desk time and make mobile working the norm
  • High standards for management practice, support and supervision for staff
  • Listening to our social workers by holding regular social work forums
  • Implemented Liquid Logic since October 2023.

At the heart of it all is our desire to promote and cultivate a strong learning culture combined with outstanding leadership and supervision. Here is what you can expect to find when you arrive:

  • Early help and community health practitioners co-located with our social workers, providing great working relationships​​
  • Fantastic relationships with partner agencies such as the police and Swindon CCG​​
  • Teams located within communities, providing a closer connection to the people we work with

Our new offer to you

We recognise that getting the best outcomes for our Adults means getting the best from you and we have listened to what our Social Workers and our Managers most value.

Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.

As an employee, you will receive a diverse and exciting environment in which to work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst recognising the need to support ongoing personal development and a flexible work life balance.

For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.

Please see our Vision and Values page for more details

Please see our new Swindon Plan.

Potential applicants are sometimes put off if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We think individual experience, skills and passion make all the difference, so if you are a registered practitioner and meet the majority of the criteria, we’d love to hear from you.

Your next steps:

Read the role profile and select the Apply button where you will be redirected to the Swindon Borough Council website to complete our online application process. Clicking the ‘Apply’ button on this job website is not an application, you must register on the Swindon Borough Council website in order to be considered for the role.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact Rhiannon Hudd, Team Manager, at rhudd@swindon.gov.uk

As an inclusive employer, we welcome applications from a diverse range of communities, and in particular disabled people and people from ethnic minorities. Read our statement of commitment to equality & inclusion.

If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application please email resourcing@swindon.gov.uk