Principal Social Worker - Learning Disabilities Team

About the role

Learning Disability Team – Principal Social Worker

About Us

We are committed to the development of the Social Care workforce. You will benefit from the support of motivated and committed colleagues, receive regular professional supervision, and be able to benefit from training and career development opportunities.

Learning Disability Team

North Northants Council have developed accessible hubs within the heart of our communities. The Learning Disability Team reaches across North Northamptonshire. The teams provide support to adults with a learning disability from the age of 18 upwards to achieve their goals, utilising the 3 conversations model. This means engaging people in a conversational model which allows them to tell us what is important and really matters to them, and then taking timely action to support them to connect with resources that help them continue with their chosen life – either with support or independently. The emphasis is on promoting the person’s strengths and maximising their independence and opportunities to achieve their identified outcomes through a focus on progression. The hubs work closely with a range of agencies and local community resources, connecting people and communities, to promote and maximise independence and community integration.

What will you be doing?

We are looking for a highly motivated, organised and creative operational Principal Social Worker or Principal Care Manager with proven leadership skills. You will have experience of social work practice, performance management and proven experience of effectively supporting and managing staff. You will have a commitment to strengths based person-centred values and have good communication and IT skills.

We know that our staff are key to our success, and we are seeking people with ambition, creativity and commitment to our values to help us to achieve the best possible outcomes for our customers by supporting your supervisees and the team to promote our values.

About you

Candidate key requirements:

• The position requires a minimum of 3 years post-qualification experience in an Adult Social Care or Health Care environment, including completion of the ASYE. If you are an internal applicant from NNC, you may apply if you have at least three years’ experience as a Social Worker, or in a Senior Assessment and Enablement Worker (SAEW).

• Professional degree level Social Work qualification
• Current registration with Social Work England
• Good working knowledge of the statutory framework for the relevant care group and of an appropriate range of professional interventions
• Demonstrable ability to lead, motivate, supervise and performance manage staff.

Do your skills set and values match our ambitions?

• You are a qualified Social Worker, registered with Social Work England.
• You have experience of working with people with a Learning Disability and are passionate about identifying their strengths and supporting them to achieve their outcomes.
• You have experience managing staff, supporting their development and reviewing performance.
• You are proactive, and have the ability to think creatively.
• You exercise professional curiosity rather than accept things at face value or make decisions based on assumptions.
• You demonstrate problem solving abilities, working alongside team members to enable them to find their own solutions and develop their confidence.
• You are a great team player, willing to share knowledge and expertise with colleagues in your team.
• You love a challenge, and have an openness to learn and change.
• You put your ability to analyse and take action in challenging situations to good use, and are able to evidence positive risk taking skills – knowing how to balance individual rights against risks.
• You have a real commitment to identifying and promoting people’s strengths, hopes and aspirations.
• You are willing and able to work collaboratively with a wide range of partners, including community groups and the voluntary sector as well as colleagues in health and other sectors.
• You understand the legislative frameworks which govern the work we do as adult social care workers

For more information, please contact - Katie Farrington 07739437432

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)