Senior Social Worker

As the Senior Social Worker, you will be required to contribute to the delivery of a highly effective Adult Social Care service in an efficient manner. You will ensure the service is delivered using a strengths based, personalised approach and lead on agreed areas of quality assurance and audit activity – ensuring that multiple and complex sources of information (e.g. complaints, safeguarding adult reviews, audits etc.) are gathered, analysed, and used to direct quality improvement activity. You will be responsible for the professional supervision and oversee a team of social care staff ensuring improvement activity with the service is driven by but not limited to training, coaching and mentoring, peer support workshops. You will provide oversight, professional advice and guidance to the team whilst maintaining your own complex case load. You will be required to work autonomously within the role, demonstrating expert and effective practice in complex situations managing higher levels of risk in a way that ensures the safeguarding and welfare of service users. You will work within organisational policy and legislative requirements including The Care Act, Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act. You will research and develop practice guidance, training materials and best practice toolkits in line with local and national policy and ensure that these are understood and adopted operationally.

You will be required to develop good practice guidance and tools within a specialist area of the service ensuring learning is shared across all professionals to improve practice and achieve better outcome for our service users. You will represent the local authority in a range of key meetings, panels and groups, ensuring follow up on agreed actions and work closely with colleagues within the council and external partners ensuring that person centred outcomes are met in ways which utilise available resources as effectively as possible.

In return we will offer you:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Generous local government pension scheme package
• Access to wider training and development qualifications
• Flexible working scheme
• Travel plan discounts
• Access to CAREFIRST advice & counselling service
• Employee discount scheme for national and local retailers

Career Progression Frameworks (CPF) have been introduced for all roles at Medway Council. These frameworks provide a mechanism for employees to take ownership of their development within their post and be rewarded accordingly. This means that the salary you will be offered will be at level A unless, based on an assessment against the CPF criteria, you demonstrate that you are meeting the criteria of level B or C. There will be further opportunity once in post to progress from level A to B, and B to C.

When writing your application, it is important to ensure you identify your suitability against the requirements of the job profile, as this information will be used for shortlisting and may contribute to the CPF assessment. Your application may be rejected if the minimum required criteria is not met. Further information relating to the requirements for this role can be found in the CPF Guidance document attached.

The person specification of a job profile is split into three levels: Level A details the essential criteria that all applicants must be able to demonstrate through their application and interview.

You can demonstrate knowledge, experience and skills to allow you to perform within this role. You will identify, through application, how you meet the elements detailed within the person specification, at either Level A, B or C. You will be supported to develop in your role through induction, probation and a supportive Performance Appraisal and Career Conversation. Through your induction you will be introduced to the Career Progression Framework (CPF), which will help you to identify your areas of strength and any development needs.

Our organisation:

Medway is a unitary authority in the South East of England, made up of the towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham and more rural areas, including the Hoo Peninsula.

Situated in Kent in the South-East of England, the area has plenty of green spaces, excellent facilities and easy access to the national motorway and rail networks, facilitating superb transport links to London.

We provide all local Government services for a quarter of a million people, looking after education, environment, social care, housing, planning, business and much more - everything from frontline services such as rubbish collection and events like the Dickens Festival to work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure services in Medway run smoothly and cost effectively.

Working at Medway Council means that you get to be part of this journey working alongside talented, professional colleagues to drive forward change to transform the lives of our residents and the communities they live in.

Important Information-

Applicants must be able to demonstrate all essential requirements as listed in the job profile

Equal Opportunities Commitment Statement

Medway Council is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All appropriately qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age

For further information please refer to the Medway information pack available as a download or to view online

Please be advised that if you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted. All recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email.

Please visit for information on how Medway Council put good practices in place to ensure employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy at any time prior to the closing date.

If you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted.

All recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email, if you require documentation/correspondence in different format such as braille or large print, please contact the Resourcing Team on