Advanced Social Worker

We have a great opportunity for an Advanced Social Worker to join our Children Looked After Team based in Reigate.

When not working with our residents in the community, we are keen to support agile working with a combination of home and office working. We are keen to get the balance right of providing flexibility but ensuring you feel connected to your team and the service.

The salary range for Advanced Social Workers is £49,464 - £52,864 per annum based on a 36 hour working week.

We also offer a financial package of up to £6,000 which is payable in 3 instalments across your first 18 months in post.

Our Offer to You

We pay your Social Worker England Registration fee
Access to bespoke learning programmes via our dedicated Children's Services Academy to empower and enrich your practice
28 days annual leave, rising to 31 days after 5 years' service (plus bank holidays)
Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
A generous local government salary related pension
Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
2 paid volunteering days per year
Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
Refer a friend payment of £1,000 as a thank you for finding the right Social Worker Our Progress

We are proud of our recent Good Ofsted judgement, which marks a significant milestone for Surrey. The report highlights that "Children in care have trusting and positive relationships with their Social Workers. Social Workers use creative life-story work to help children understand the reasons why they are in care." And "Staff are well-trained and committed, feel highly valued and are proud to work in Surrey."

If you are considering your next professional opportunity and looking for an ambitious and highly motivated employer who is continuously striving for better services for children and young people, then our Surrey Children's Services would love to hear from you.

About working with Children Looked After

As a member in the Looked After Children's Team, your aim and role will be to support children living with relatives, friends or foster families and perspective adopters or older children living in children's homes and semi-independent units. You will build sustainable relationships with them and plan for their permanence. You will be responsible for ensuring their safety and support them towards independence.

Through regular visits, assessments and reviewing their Care Plan, you will nurture and develop meaningful relationships with these children; understand and interpret their wishes; and champion and support them to reach their full potential. Occasionally, you will be required to prepare reports and attend court. You will be supported in this challenging role with regular supervision and consultations with our Mental Health Focussed Social Worker.

You will also find support by working alongside other social workers, family support workers and partnership organisations such as:
Health Services, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (New Leaf), Independent Reviewing officers and carers. You will also be supported in your career development by your management team and also by the Surrey Academy.

Are you at a point in your career where you want to take on supervisory responsibility whilst utilising your skills as an experienced social worker?

This role enables you to work on complex cases whilst also giving you the opportunity to progress your career through contributing and supporting managers to develop the skills and knowledge within the team, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You will also have the opportunity to join Advanced Social Worker colleagues in county wide learning activities organised by the Surrey Children's Service Academy with a clear professional development pathway.

As an Advanced Social Worker, you will mentor less experienced practitioners in the team and support the Team Manager by leading on some areas of practice, whilst occasionally deputising for the Team Manager. You…