Experienced Social Worker

Salary: Band 10, £41,510 to £45,718 per annum 

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time (37 hours per week); part time will be considered and can be discussed at interview

Closing date: Sunday 5 January 2025, 23:59

Interviews week commencing Monday 13 January 2025

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children. 

DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. 

Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.

Why come to live and work in Portsmouth?

Portsmouth is a great waterfront city and a vibrant place to live and work. It is an island city with an “inner city” feel, a seaside location packed with attractions and events, and the advantage of fantastic countryside on its doorstep. With fast road and rail links to London, Brighton and major airports, and ferry links to Europe, it is the perfect place to live and work. Portsmouth has a strong history of partnership working and has successfully integrated several local services. 

The Service:

Portsmouth City Council's new Homes and Families for Children Service is committed to high standards and a culture of restorative practice. We are continuing to increase foster carer numbers and the menu of support to carers year on year. This is an exciting time to join us as we strive to further enhance outcomes for the children we care for. We are a small team with close working relationships with Social Workers across Children's Social care. We are committed to professional development and the provision of training to staff and all our carers. We have a trauma informed approach - for example we are trained in Dyadic Developmental Practice (DDP) and Motivational Interviewing.

Your New Role:

There are opportunities in our Fostering Support Team and our Kinship Care Team.

You will manage and support a caseload of foster carers to provide excellent care to ensure the best outcomes for children we care for, and supporting carers to apply a trauma-informed approach in their care of children. You will have a critical role in supporting the carer to develop good relationships with children and their families, providing stable nurturing family homes for as long as the children need to be with them. You will be part of a team around the child developing good working relationships with a range of professionals involved with children and their families. You will be involved with a range of care types within the fostering service, including the Mockingbird Model of Care.

Please read the job profile for the full details of this role. 

What our team say about us:

We have a strong and stable team and opportunities to join us do not come up frequently. Those who join us enjoy supporting and developing foster carers to enhance the lives of children we care for. As members of the team around our children team member welcomed the opportunity to use their transferable skills and knowledge as a children's social worker to work with foster carers.

“I thought I knew what fostering was but joining the team has made opened up a new area of work in children's services - the pivotal role foster carers have in children's lives - the challenges they face and the depth of their knowledge they hold in caring for children.”

“I really enjoy my job - the carers are stars and I love seeing the difference they make to children they care for. My carers enjoy our reflective sessions, I think of them as my team.”

“I worked for Portsmouth previously in children's services including fostering - and I was excited to return - my experience of Portsmouth is a very supportive, 'family' working environment with good management support.”

What you'll need to succeed:

You are a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England, with suitable post-qualifying experience in children and families work, including experience of working with children we care for and/or foster carers. You understand models of therapeutic parenting that enable you to support carers to meet the needs of traumatised children and promote placement stability and are motivated to achieve excellent outcomes for children. You understand legislation and care standards relating to children, fostering and safeguarding. You have strong communication, presentation and written skills, and are solution focused. You enjoy a busy atmosphere, and are a resilient, supportive and flexible team member.

Please read the job profile for the full details of this role. 

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

What you'll get in return:

We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:

• Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave.
• A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return.
• Flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview.
• Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships.
• Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme 
• Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme
• Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more.

Staff rewards: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/working-for-the-council/

Additional Information:

The full job profile is attached here.

Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:

Michael Cooper, Team Manager, Michael.Cooper@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 688 078, and Jackie Clark, Homes and Families for Children Service Leader, jackie.clark2@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 841 261

A commitment to our values:

We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.

Application process:

How to complete your application: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/how-to-apply/

We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.

Please submit both a CV and a cover letter/personal statement. Remember to demons