Horsham (On-Site)
Permanent, Full time
No DBS check required
£33945 - £36648 per annum
37 hours per week
About Us
West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.
Our Sensory Services team have a unique focus, supporting adults born with sensory impairments, including those present since birth or acquired at any age. We work with adults with sensory impairments acquired at any age (people who are Deaf, hearing impaired, Deafblind, or who are visually impaired). Many of the people the team work with also have lifelong physical disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, and brain injuries acquired at an early age. The team offers a dedicated, strengths-based approach to supporting people with disability that we know makes a positive difference. Whether we are engaging with people seeking advice, providing equipment or skills training, or starting a journey with people that may lead to a personal budget to meet complex needs, we are always looking to deliver the best outcomes.
We believe the best staff get the best outcomes. This is a rare opportunity for you to join our supportive and friendly Sensory Services Team as a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist - hear from one of our current team members about what working here is really like:
"I joined the Sensory Services Team as a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist nearly a year and a half ago. After working for my last place for 21 years, it was a big change, which luckily worked out very well. I have found the ROVI/VRS Team to all be very friendly, very supportive and have a lot of expertise. It is a great team to work with, and I also feel West Sussex value their staff and value what we do as Vision Rehabilitation Specialists" Alex, Vision Rehabilitation Specialist
About The Job
Salary: £33,945 to £36,648 per annum
Working pattern: 37 hours per week
Contract type: Permanent
Locations: Horsham office base but role covers Horsham, Crawley and Mid Sussex. Hybrid working opportunities will be discusses at interview
Our Vision Rehabilitation Specialists are an integral part of the countywide team also made up of Social Workers for deaf people, and Assistant Care Managers for deaf and hard and hearing and visually impaired people. The Vision Rehabilitation Specialists work directly with people with a visual impairment from the office base is in Horsham however you will be regularly traveling to clients in Crawley and Mid Sussex including areas that are not easily accessible by public transport. Due to the amount of equipment (of a moderate weight) you are required to transport to appointments, including mobility aids and equipment for independent living, you will need to be a car driver.
As a Vision Rehabilitation Specialists you'll be utilising your skills and knowledge to develop and implement a plan of support aimed at improving wellbeing and delivering positive outcomes for people who are blind (severely sight impaired) or partially sighted (sight impaired), deaf and deafblind. You will manage a busy and varied caseload by providing a statutory accountable social care service to those people who access or need the service. You will be undertaking high quality assessments and reviews as well as contribute to mental capacity act assessments and to safeguarding enquiries. A great part of this role is working alongside local voluntary organisations and building up good working relationships with them. The team have great links with the local eye clinic liaison officers and work together to benefit the people we work with, good relationship management skills will help you to succeed as a Vision Rehabilitation Specialist.
Please note that we can only consider people who have a relevant qualification for this role e.g., foundation degree in Rehabilitation Work (Visual Impairment) / Certificate of Orientation and Mobility/ Technical Officer: Visual Impairment.
Experience and Skills
Key Skills (these are the short listing criteria please cover in your application):
- Good assessment skills, including the ability to ensure regular reviews and risk management with a variety of individuals, carers or families.
- Able to effectively prioritise work and meet deadlines.
- Able to analyse and interpret complex information and data, prioritise needs and formulate plans for intervention and service provision.
- Able to work in partnership with carers, colleagues and external agencies to deliver an effective service.
- Able to communicate clearly and effectively in both written and oral format, including the ability to explain complicated information to others and use
- negotiation and persuasion skills to encourage others to adopt a course of action.
- Able to recognise limits of own accountability and responsibility and seek appropriate support, advice and supervision.
- Degree in relevant subject or Equivalent relevant qualification e.g., foundation degree in Rehabilitation Work (Visual Impairment) / Certificate of Orientation and Mobility/ Technical Officer: Visual Impairment.
- British Sign Language (BSL) - Level 1 or above, or a willingness to undertake training to achieve this.
- Valid, full driving licence.
Rewards and BenefiFor a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our application help page.
Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!