Senior Social Work Practitioner

About Us

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. If you're wondering why you should join us, it's because we offer a truly supportive culture—one that's second to none. Our employees are genuinely valued and respected, and we place a strong emphasis on work-life balance.

Working with the hospital team in this rewarding role, you will work with both Health & Social Care colleagues to provide an excellent Social Work service. In West Sussex, we have a real focus on strengths-based approaches and community-led support; both yourself and the team will be working hard to support people to regain their skills and independence following their hospital admission wherever possible.

This is a great opportunity to join us as an Senior Social Work Practitioner in our friendly Hospital Social Work Team that prides itself on their supportive culture. But don't take our word for it hear from the people who work in the team:

"From my experience of working in St Richards Hospital Social Work team, management are extremely supportive and approachable, joint working with our health colleagues works well and all in all it's a great team to be a part of" – Leah

"After spending the majority of my social work career in community teams, I was excited, but also apprehensive to try Hospital Social Work. I knew the pace of work would be different and different pressures. I can honestly say that it has been a really positive experience for me. I have learnt so much in the last 18 months and really enjoy working closely with my health colleagues. The work is varied and interesting and no day is the same My colleagues are supportive and always on hand and our seniors and manager also work 'on the ground' alongside us which aids their understanding in the daily work pressures." – Aimee

"This team has the best positive culture in any social work environment that I have ever worked in. The managers prioritise staff wellbeing and ensure that staff always feel valued, listened to, and contained. It is a busy team, but you never feel isolated or overburdened as the whole team helps each other and the manager is always available to offer direction and reflection on cases." – Liz

About The Job

Salary: Grade 12 £48,226 to £51,356 per annum

Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: St Richard's Hospital, Chichester

Interview Date: 8th, 11th or 12th December

Are you interested in working within a supportive environment, applying your social work skills to develop and implement support plans, and ensuring that eligible needs are met?

Please note that although the office base is at St Richard's Hospital this is a community role carrying out home assessments, and some hospital based work

In the hospitals, we are looking for a candidate who can work collaboratively with individuals and effectively into the future, building on good partnership working with health colleagues. You will need to work inclusively with a diverse range of stakeholders and promote equality of opportunity. As a senior member of the team you will need to support and deputise for the Team Manager in their absence.

What You'll Be Doing

• Supporting the Team Manager in day-to-day operations
• Supervising and mentoring team members
• Chairing Best Interest Meetings
• Quality assuring assessments and reviews with a strengths-based focus
• Promoting and supporting staff wellbeing
• Contributing to complaint resolution and continuous service improvement
• Holding your own case load

You will be a confident and empathetic communicator—capable of managing expectations, delivering difficult messages sensitively, and finding alternative solutions in line with our approach. Experience in a supervisory role (or strong foundations and training in supervision) is essential.

You'll also be committed to upholding strong social work values and supporting both qualified and unqualified staff.

Experience and Skills

Please be advised you with be shortlisted on your response explaining how you meet the key skills listed.

Key Skills:

• Solution focussed with the ability to analyse complex situations and provide forward thinking strategies and solutions that consider a variety of possible strength-based solutions, balancing risks, resources and desired outcomes.

• Highly developed communication skills in order to influence in a multi-disciplinary setting and communicate clearly and effectively to explain complicated information to a wide range of people and negotiate and persuade others to adopt a particular course of action that they may not otherwise wish to take.

• Ability to diagnose, research best practice development, analyse and interpret complex or technical information to make effective and robust judgements, and write reports which consider business implications and make articulate recommendations considering the broader impacts on the business.

• Ability to think creatively, innovatively and laterally and to adapt to changing situations in a measured and flexible manner in order to tailor the advice.

• Ability to work proactively as a member of the team to make an accurate assessment of needs and negotiate and implement effective plans and outcomes, whilst prioritising workload and meeting deadlines.

• Ability to be proactive in having up-to-date knowledge and understanding of changes in legislation and effectively lead and supervise others and to provide coaching and mentoring when appropriate.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• A recognised social work qualification e.g. Degree in Social Work, Certificate of Qualification in Social Work or Diploma in Social Work.
• Completion of relevant post-qualifying training - Desirable
• Registration with Social Work England and responsible for maintaining registration.
• Practice Teachers Award / Practice Education (PEPS 2 level), Best Interest Assessor (BIA) - Desirable
• Expectation to undertake post-qualifying training in one or more specialised roles, i.e. AMHP, BIA and/or Practice Educator.
• Knowledge of advanced theoretical social work concepts and practices, with demonstrable examples of dealing with a range of complex issues.
• Experience of managing levels of risk within a caseload of safeguarding cases.
• Experience of effectively coaching and supervising others, acting as practice role model and promoting exemplary practice.
• Valid, full driving licence - Desirable

Rewards and Benefits

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CAFHE06066.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Coral Stokes (Team Manager) at For issues or queries regarding your application please contact

To apply, upload your CV and complete the application explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to Social Work England registration, an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme (if you meet all the essential criteria), this can be found on our application help page.

Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you

Job Reference: CAFHE06066