About the role
Are you an experienced qualified social worker who thrives on being at the forefront of innovative practice and new ways of working?
Are you passionate about working with young people moving into adulthood, who have a range of additional needs and complex conditions?
Are you an advocate for strengths based practice, positive risk taking and outcome focused support planning, which places the young person in control of their life and desired outcomes as they move into adulthood?
If the answer is yes to all the above, this is an exciting time to join West Northamptonshire Council. We’re a new local authority, created in April 2021, and we have embarked on our journey to revise and continue developing our approach to supporting young people who are moving into adulthood.
We recognise the challenges faced by young people and their families as they transition from children’s services into adult services, and are committed to ensuring that we have the right conversations with them at the right time to ensure a smooth and consistent transition into adulthood.
Moving into Adulthood is therefore a key area of development for Adult Social Care, and this is an exciting time to join us on our journey. You will be pivotal in supporting the continued development of our pathway.
You will be working as part of the Moving into Adulthood Service, and will be aligned to adult social care teams which support adults with Learning Disabilities, Physical Disabilities and Mental Health conditions.
What will you be doing?
You will have oversight of a range of young people with complex needs, who may also be in specialist children’s provisions, hospital settings or out of county children’s placements. They will largely range from age 16 upwards, although you may have a more discreet involvement with young people from an earlier age.
You will be responsible for undertaking timely assessments, support planning and implementation of support under the Care Act 2014, working at the right pace and timescale to allow young people and their families to be fully prepared for the move into adult social care services.
Alongside the great relationships you will develop with a range of partner agencies, including education, children’s and health colleagues, you will also support other colleagues within the adult social care teams who are working with young people moving into adulthood with advice and guidance. You will also be a key source of management data, providing information to help inform future sufficiency planning.
For a further discussion or information about the role, please email: liz.sagi@westnorthants.gov.uk
About you
You don’t need experience across all aspects of the job as that will form part of your development journey, but you will need to be an experienced qualified social worker with a minimum of at least 1 year’s post qualifying experience and be registered with Social Work England. In addition, you will need to have an good, applied understanding of statutory adult social work.
You’ll also need to have a solution driven and adaptable approach, thrive in a busy environment and have a positive approach to challenges!
Confident to use your own initiative and creativity and able to 'think outside of the box’; you have great analytical skills, and can weigh up information from different perspectives, but equally will know when to seek support to help find solutions. You love a challenge and have an openness to continuous learning and development, sharing knowledge, and learning from others.
Above all, you are passionate about supporting young people as they begin their journey as adults, enabling them to achieve their full potential and live their best life, and are committed to sound values based social work practice.
A driving license and transport is a requirement.
Our benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:
The option of relocation and/or sponsorship support, maybe available.
- Subscription fully paid - Community care inform adults.
- Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
- Cycle to Work scheme.
- Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
- Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
- Car Lease scheme
- Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
- Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
- Ongoing training and development opportunities.
- A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
- Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
- Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.
About us
At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.
Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.
Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU
We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner
The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.
If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.
West Northants Council, where careers thrive.
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