Salary Details: Spinal point 35-42 - £33,282 - £39,930
Job Term: Permanent  
Appointment Type: Full-time  
Hours: 36  
Location: Kingston 

About the Role
Experienced and qualified social workers required

• Are you an experienced children's social worker looking for your next challenge?
• Does the idea of working in SPA, MASH or R and A teams excite you?
• Does regularly changing your place of work appeal to you?
• Would you like to work in different parts of England?
• Wherever you work are you always looking to improve how services are delivered? 
• Do you want to work for an employer where CPD is an expectation?

If you answer yes to all the above questions Prime might be just what you are looking for.

We are looking to employ, on permanent contracts, a small number of highly experienced and motivated social workers who can be deployed throughout England on temporary secondments to improve performance in the host teams. Throughout will remain an employee usually under the direction of senior management as part of an improvement plan.

About us  
Working for Achieving for Children, you will have the opportunity to operate at the cutting edge of children’s services delivery. We are an award-winning social enterprise created by Kingston and Richmond Councils in 2014, joined in 2017 by Windsor and Maidenhead, and responsible for delivering the boroughs’ children’s services.    

We have been up and running for four years, and in that time we have established a reputation as one of the leading children’s services providers in the country. We are one of the Department for Education’s eight ‘Partners in Practice’, tasked with leading improvement across the sector.   

Prime was established to provide Social Workers and Managers to children's social work teams throughout England where Achieving for Children is already doing improvement work. Prime provides the managers and staff that support the improvement that these children’s services are making over 6 months and 12-month secondments.

About you
To be effective in this role you must be experienced, resolute and ambitious to improve the practice of social workers you will be working alongside. This is a role for a social worker confident about their practice. Tact, patience and resilience will be key characteristics that you possess. 

As most of the secondments will be within Referral and Assessment, MASH, or SPA, teams you will be passionate about making a positive difference to the lives of children and young people and their families. You will be able to demonstrate your knowledge of gathering evidence through the use of direct tools to help determine to children and which will inform assessments. 
In addition to the above, you may have to live away from your home for 6 or 12-month secondments and/or travel extensively to your place of work. 

In return, we will offer you high-quality support and development opportunities, including Signs of Safety training, Systemic Family Therapy support and much, much more. 

Benefits of working for Achieving for Children  
As a social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Kingston, Richmond and Windsor & Maidenhead), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. We offer a range of excellent staff benefits, including generous annual leave entitlements, cycle to work scheme, annual season ticket loan, childcare vouchers, and discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres and much more.

The successful candidate will have access to:

• Excellent learning and development opportunities and schemes of support
• A competitive and desirable retention package (to include a generous local government pension scheme)
• Retention of continuous service benefits, for those moving from a local government post
• A clear progression path when key qualification milestones are reached
• Tools and models to including Signs of Safety
• Reflective supervision from an experienced management team 

In return, we will offer you high-quality support and development opportunities. Our learning and development offer was highlighted as a key strength by the judging panel when they named us Social Work Employer of the Year in 2016. 

If you would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity, please contact Kuhan Valleekanthan,kuhan.valleekanthan@achievingforchildren.org.uk for an informal discussion. 

You will find out more about our organisation at https://www.achievingforchildren.org.uk

How to apply
Before applying please refer to the role profile and ensure you meet the essential criteria. You will then need to complete the online application, adding a supporting statement addressing how you meet the criteria outlined the role profile. Some of our positions require CV only.

Achieving for Children is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

All candidates will be required to undertake a Criminal Record Check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. However, should you not declare an offence that is subsequently revealed, e.g. through the DBS check, then this may place your appointment in jeopardy.