Personal Advisors

We are seeking a dynamic and dedicated person to join our Care Experienced team within the Exeter & East locality as a Personal Advisor. The successful candidate must have a natural ability to develop trusting and supportive relationships with young people between the ages of 16-25 years who are living in care or leaving care. Personal Advisors provide high quality and effective social care support to young people and young adults to promote, support and improve their life chances, safety, accommodation needs, education and employment, finance and independence skills.

You will be required to manage and monitor a workload of cases as directed and organise work activities, taking into account the need to prioritise tasks and responsibilities and ensure that statutory and service responsibilities are undertaken within timescales. You will also be responsible for writing timely reports for young people, including plans, risk assessments and referrals.

We are committed to assisting Care Leavers to develop their independence and to help them become confident, successful and contributing citizens in their community.

• This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
• This role requires a DBS disclosure.
• Previous experience of working directly with young people, families and carers, to identify needs alongside experience of implementing service plans on the basis of the assessed needs.
• Knowledge of applicable legislation including the Children Act (1989), The Children Leaving Care Act (2000) and the Children and Social Work Act (2017).
• A sound understanding of child and adolescent development and the particular difficulties and disadvantages associated with transition to adulthood for children in care.
• The ability to negotiate, challenge and manage conflict whilst exercising individual judgement. It is important that you can be empathetic and understanding, as well as persistent and tenacious.
• A non-judgemental and unbiased approach.
• Excellent interpersonal skills for listening and offering practical, honest solutions to support and enable positive changes.
• A flexible approach to working hours. You will need to travel around the county and to other parts of the country when required.

This is a fantastic opportunity to expand and further your career in Social Care. If you feel that you have the relevant experience, knowledge and skills necessary to make a real difference, we would love to hear from you.

Devon County Council is committed to supporting and improving the life chances of young people living in and leaving local authority care, in accordance with the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000. DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon.

The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.

There are many benefits to joining Devon County Council and in exchange for your dedication, skills and experience we can offer a number of employee benefits including:

• Generous annual leave.
• Free onsite parking.
• Flexible working opportunities and promotion of a healthy work-life balance, including working from home where possible.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee well-being services.
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Discounts at over 900 national & local high street retailers through our benefits platform.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.