Social Worker - Family Support Team x 2 in Keynsham

At Bath & North East Somerset Council we have one overriding purpose to improve people’s lives.

This role is eligible for a £2,000 Retention Payment (prorata for part‑time roles). To recognise and reward commitment, a £2,000 retention payment is available. This will be paid in two instalments: £1,000 after completing 12 months of service, £500 after completing 18 months of service, and £500 after completing 24 months of service.

If your passion is around collaborative work with families, centred on building relationships in order to help families develop resilience and make changes for their children, then we are the Local Authority for you. Working with families to keep children at home wherever possible, our dynamic teams work with families from point of contact through to long‑term support and intervention. Our practice model is underpinned by relationship‑based, systemic approaches to facilitate change, alongside trauma‑informed practice.

Bath and North East Somerset Children’s Social Care are an innovative small Local Authority focused on therapeutic assessment and support. Rated Good by OFSTED, with continued vision and drive to improve further. An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced qualified Social Worker to join one of our Family Support Teams, within the Safeguarding Outcomes Service. We are committed to being a dynamic and creative Local Authority, working hard to think differently about how we approach our work with families. We are deeply committed to providing tailored high‑quality services and well‑thought‑out interventions to families to keep children safe. Our practice is values‑driven with a strong ethos of child‑focused interventions.

You will work in partnership with an enthusiastic hub consisting of a Team Manager, Deputy Team Managers, Senior Social Work Practitioners, qualified professional Social Workers, Family Support Practitioners and Administrative staff. This rewarding role will see you responding to, co‑ordinating and delivering a range of social care services to children, young people and families in the Bath and North East Somerset area for children subject to Child in Need Plans, Child Protection Plans, Children in Care, and children subject to legal proceedings. The role will include undertaking single assessments and section 47 child protection investigations.

We work closely with our colleagues across the service and have established partnerships with agencies across health, education, support services and adult services to ensure we can respond as effectively as possible to the needs of children, young people, and their families. We work closely with our Family Support Plus team who deliver extensive Family Group Conferences to utilise resources and support within families to keep children safe, as well as tailored interventions including the New Way domestic abuse service.

The post holder will manage their own caseload, which will include children and families with complex needs. You will have evidence of a strong ability to analyse information and formulate outcome‑focused plans for children and families. Applicants must be confident in writing professional assessments/reports as well as presenting their evidence verbally. Applicants need to have very strong organisational skills to manage and prioritise their work effectively and in a timely way and will be committed to working as part of a team to support colleagues in delivering optimum services to children and families. We are seeking applications from workers who have relevant experience and a specific interest in this area of work and are looking to enhance and further develop their skills and contribute to service development for vulnerable children.

You can expect:

• A comprehensive induction
• Managed caseload; supporting children in need, children subject to child protection plans, and children protected through legal proceedings
• Regular supervision at a minimum of monthly one‑to‑one
• Weekly group reflective supervision to promote thoughtful and creative practice, supported by your peers and managers
• Monthly Peer Circles to ensure strong relationships and support between Social Workers across the teams, and opportunities to share good practice
• Extensive training opportunities, including SARI workshops around culturally sensitive practice, opportunities to join a 6‑month long training in Systemic Practice delivered by the Centre for Systemic Social Work, attachment‑based workshops, and trauma‑informed workshops
• Excellent administrative support with 3 admin staff supporting each team
• Tri‑annual Social Work Conferences with guest speakers who are experts in the field
• Paid Social Work England renewal membership
• Access to Research in Practice
• Laptop and iPhone to promote flexible working, to enhance your work‑life balance
• Relocation Payments are available
• A stable leadership team
• Good practice to be recognised and celebrated through a quarterly newsletter

To apply you will have:

• A relevant social work qualification with post‑qualifying experience
• Knowledge of the legislative framework and legal proceedings that govern children’s services
• Knowledge of theory and practice applicable to social work
• IT skills to enable operation of standard electronic systems
• Passion, commitment, and motivation to support the most vulnerable families in our area
• Ideally you will have experience of safeguarding children, and/or working with children in care

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join us. We are a Disability Confident Employer. The Council is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce. Applications for job‑share, part‑time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs. Please note that this role is subject to an Enhanced DBS Check.

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable groups and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of this commitment anyone working in a post with children or vulnerable groups will be expected to undertake an Enhanced DBS check with/without barred list checks.