Family Development Worker
About us
Hillingdon is London's second-largest borough. Our staff live across Hillingdon and beyond, with our main council offices at the Civic Centre in the heart of vibrant Uxbridge town centre. Our borough offers fantastic transport links with the A40, M25, the Metropolitan, Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines all local to us, so you can travel to work with ease, with free parking within our own car park. We also offer a hybrid working arrangements, with time balanced between the office and home.
Putting our residents first is at the heart of everything we do, and we are embarking on an ambitious plan to modernise our service offering while sustaining high-quality delivery. Our employees play a pivotal role in supporting Hillingdon Council as we continue to deliver our core functions and achieve positive outcomes via a collaborative approach.
About the role
Do you want to make a difference in the lives of families with young children? Then this role could be for you...
There is a well-established and growing international consensus on the importance of the 1,001 days from pregnancy to the age of two which sets the foundations for a person's development. The vision of Hillingdon Children's Centres is: empowering families to give their young children the best start in life, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged families, in order to reduce inequalities in child development and school readiness.
About you
We are looking for highly motivated Family Development Workers to be responsible for providing group and 1-2-1 family support services, including outreach to local groups. We are recruiting for three permanent positions and four 6-month contract posts.
You will have a recognised qualification at NVQ level 3 or above in a related profession e.g. social work, education, youth work, child and family development. Experience of working directly with families and children is essential, alongside an understanding of safeguarding and protecting families. You will have a knowledge of the educational, developmental and health needs of children under five, and an ability to assess and make appropriate recommendations about children and families in casework.
Good written and IT skills to enable accurate record keeping for family case files. Excellent communication skills are essential, along with the ability to build a quick rapport with families, working in a non-judgemental, supportive manner.
You will have experience of multi-agency working with partners from health, education, social care and the voluntary sector and be able to form and maintain professional relationships and boundaries with young children and families to ensure effective engagement in services.
What we offer
- local government average salary pension scheme
- free parking (4 days a week) if based at the Civic Centre
- a 36-hour week for all full-time staff
- generous holiday entitlement: a minimum 25 days a year (plus bank holidays), rising to 28 days after five years' service. For more senior positions holiday entitlements can rise to a maximum of 36 days
- career breaks
- flexible working hours
- season ticket loan
- access to a Credit Union
- access to a wide range of training and courses
- discount on a variety of Adult Education courses run by the Council
- payment of professional fees where these are required
- discounts at council-owned leisure centres and swimming pools at Hillingdon (Uxbridge), Queensmead (South Ruislip), Highgrove (Ruislip) and Botwell Green (Hayes)
- cycle purchase scheme
- car sharing scheme
- 30% discount on green fees at council-owned golf courses
Additional information
Our Children's Centres provide services to a diverse range of people. We welcome applications from men and those from Black, Asian or other ethnic backgrounds.
