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What will you be doing?

We have an exciting opportunity within Sevenoaks North, Tonbridge and Malling for a Senior Practitioner. The successful candidate will be welcomed into one of our five teams based at Worrall House in Kingshill. You will be responsible to the Team Manager and will work closely with other Senior Practitioners, Social Workers and Social Work Assistant Lead Practitioners in your team to ensure the highest quality support is offered to children and their families.

For this role, you will need to meet the conditions of the Job Description and Person Specification but will also be highly organised, flexible, and able to work in a fast paced and child focused environment. This role will also require you to be mobile throughout a wide operational area including travelling around Kent and beyond to support our children and young people. The majority of your day-to-day work will be within Sevenoaks North, Tonbridge and Malling however you will at times be required to travel beyond this area for children in specific circumstances, such as residing with extended family and/or becoming children in care.

You will model high quality social work practice and have an extensive understanding social work knowledge in line with our practice framework. You will work with our most complex families alongside providing coaching and mentoring to social workers within the service. You will champion social work values and be committed to supporting the service in delivering high quality social work to children and young people. You will have leadership skills in order to deputise in the absence of the Team Manager.

The Team

Join SNTM’s Children’s Social Work Service – Where Your Expertise Makes a Difference

Sevenoaks North, Tonbridge and Malling Social Work Service is a dynamic and supportive frontline service compromising of 5 dedicated teams led by experienced Team Managers and our workforce includes Social Workers, Senior Practitioners and Social Work Assistants – all are committed to delivering high-quality support to children and families. The benefit to our district having 5 teams means that your duty-weeks for urgent referrals will be every fifth week.

We work with families from the point of referral, conducting thorough Child and Family Assessments and Section 47 Investigations to identify the most effective ways to safeguard and support children. Our service continues to work alongside families requiring ongoing Child in Need and Child Protection plans, supporting them through to resolution – whether that be stepping down to Early Help, case closure, private law proceedings or progression through the Public Law Outline to initial court proceedings. In Kent we have a dedicated Child In Care Team, whom take over case responsibility for children and young people following them becoming looked-after.

In Sevenoaks North, Tonbridge and Malling, we are also part of the pilot programme for Social Work Assistant Lead Practitioners (SWA LPs), meaning our SWA LP’s hold some Child In Need cases following the Child and Family Assessment being completed by a qualified Social Worker. This relieves some of the pressures from our qualified Social Worker’s by them not needing to case hold our lower risk Child In Need plans.

About you

Your Social Work degree or equivalent will be supported by professional registration and extensive post-qualifying experience. This experience should include, working with complex families, including experience of Care Proceedings, working with agencies to support positive outcomes for children and supporting other Social Workers within your team to deliver outstanding social work practice. You will have an in-depth knowledge of safeguarding procedures and legislative frameworks and social work theories relating to children’s services.

In return, we offer an attractive benefits package, a competitive salary and a range of professional development opportunities.

About us
We are proud of our strong and often exceptional services in Kent, and we are continuing to ensure 'Children are at the centre of Kent County Council's culture and practice.' Following our most recent Ofsted inspection, we remain committed to delivering high-quality support that makes a positive difference to the lives of children and families across the county. As one of the largest Children's Social Work Services in the country, we offer a comprehensive learning and development framework to support your career journey.

We want the best for the children of Kent, and this can only be delivered as a team effort with everyone playing their part, so we’re creating a culture that fosters excellence and collaboration – a place where social workers are empowered to be creative and share ideas and advice.

Our Offer

• Base Salary: £47,990 - £53,446
• Car Market Premium: £2,000
• Annual Retention Premium: £3,000
• Golden Hello: £3000 one off payment for new joiners
• Relocation: Up to £8,000 (if applicable)
• Annual Leave: 30 days

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence – The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

About you

For further information, please contact:

Sorina Mirt, Service Manager - 03000 417 851

About us

Work that works for you and us - let's talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note - if you are interested, please apply soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.