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What will you be doing?

We are recruiting Community Social Care Officers with a range of different skills and experience.

About Us

This is an exciting opportunity to join our Safeguarding Team across West Kent. Our work focuses on safeguarding adults who may be at risk of abuse or neglect, ensuring that their safety, rights and wellbeing are central to all decision-making. You will work with adults with a wide range of care and support needs, placing individuals at the centre of safeguarding processes and outcomes.

In this role, you will undertake safeguarding enquiries under Section 42 of the Care Act with guidance from a Designated Safeguarding Officer, contribute to risk assessments, and work closely with individuals, their carers, and a wide range of partner agencies. You will support timely and proportionate responses to safeguarding concerns, including crisis intervention where required, and undertake Mental Capacity Act assessments as part of safeguarding activity. You will be supervised by an experienced registered practitioner and supported to develop your safeguarding practice.

Our safeguarding interventions are underpinned by the three pillars of excellent practice, exceptional innovation, and meaningful measures. We prioritise relationship-based practice, working collaboratively with individuals, families, carers and partners. We engage early with communities and professionals to promote prevention, empowerment and strengths-based safeguarding approaches, helping people to access trusted support and protection locally.

About You

You will have experience of working with adults with social care needs and of undertaking initial assessments, ideally within a safeguarding or statutory context. You will demonstrate a clear understanding of safeguarding principles, Making Safeguarding Personal, and proportionate risk management.

A willingness to undertake an NVQ in Care Level 2 and 3 alongside Mathematics and English is required.

You must also possess:

• Experience of working within a multi-agency safeguarding environment.
• Knowledge of relevant social care and safeguarding legislation, including the Care Act 2014 and the Mental Capacity Act.
• An understanding of risk, protection planning and defensible decision-making.
• Financial awareness relevant to care and support planning.
• Good computer literacy and report writing skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, mediation and negotiation skills.
• The ability to work in partnership with individuals and partner agencies to identify services and community resources that promote safety and wellbeing.

We are looking for future employees who demonstrate a positive, forward-thinking approach, can work collaboratively as part of a safeguarding team, and are committed to promoting safe, person-centred outcomes.

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.

Our Support Offer

In return, we offer an attractive benefits package and a commitment to ensuring that you achieve a healthy work life balance and opportunities for flexible working arrangements that meet business need.

You will have excellent opportunities for professional development with access to our social care academy, progression routes that include opportunities to undertake the social work apprenticeship, and our newly launched practice framework.

We are increasingly accessible to the public outside of traditional office hours, as we move towards an 8 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week service to ensure service needs are met.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service.

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.

About you

For more information about the role, please contact:

Charley Melville charley.melville@kent.gov.uk

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.