Social Worker - Fostering Recruitment

Job description

Job responsibilities

About Us

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Social Worker to join the Countywide Fostering Recruitment Team.We are looking for a passionate and dedicated Social Worker to be part of a dynamic team, driving the recruitment of foster carers and contributing to the continued development of the service.

The role is based at Ron Groves House, Kidlington, Oxford.

About the Role

Our team is friendly,supportive, hard-working, and dedicated to fostering.This is an excellent opportunity for someone passionate about the recruitment and retention of foster carers to advance their career.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Assessing prospective foster carers, delivering the Skills to Foster programme to prospective foster carerssupporting, and promoting the role of foster carers in Oxfordshire.
• Completing Initial Home Visits.
• Ensuring assessments and visits are completed within expected timescales and are of high quality.
• Contributing to the overall function and management of the Countywide Fostering Recruitment Team.
• Supporting the team with events and training, which will involve some out-of-hours working.
• Participating in monthly group reflective supervisions,individual supervisions, and mentorship.
• Collaborating with Managers in the development, delivery, and review of services for foster carers, children, and young people.

About you

We are seeking a Social Worker with over two years of post-qualifying experience in relevant settings, such as Childrens Services or Family Placement. The ideal candidate will have excellent assessment, analytical, and report writing skills.

The applicant will need to demonstrate that theyunderstand the recruitment and assessment process of prospective foster carers, and that they are keen to develop their knowledge and skills further. The successful applicant also needs to be computer literate.

Rewards and benefits

• Flexible working. We do all we can to ensure that every one of our employees has a healthy work-life balance.Our agile working policy means you can work across council sites or from home to suit your needs and we support flexible working hours.
• You will be provided with a laptop, mobile phone and MS Teams to facilitate agile working.
• Generous annual leave allowance. We know that as a social worker, you do an invaluable job.
• We offer a generous holiday allowance starting at 29 days per year (plus bank holidays) to help demonstrate how much we value the work you do. This includes annual leave purchase scheme.
• A caring and supportive culture. We are passionate about keeping people safe, well and independent, whilst making a positive contribution.
• Other benefits include a cycle to work scheme and staff discount scheme for a range of retailers, holidays, insurance, restaurants, health & leisure activities and rail travel.
• Access to a Local Government Pension Scheme.

Ourcommitment to:Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce.Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peersupport, education and safe spaces for all.

Ourcommitment to:Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a DisabilityConfident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job.We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships.We are alsocommitted to helping andsupporting those transitioning from HM ArmedForces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Ourcommitment to:Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council arecommitted to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers toshare thiscommitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Ourcommitment to:Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, part time working, jobsharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any technical issues with the application system, please contact us at: careers@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Person Specification

General Requirements

Essential

• Please refer to job description above

Desirable

• Please refer to job description above

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Oxfordshire County Council

Address

Kidlington

OX5 2BP

Employer's website

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)