Coordinator - Family Safeguarding

**About Us**
Here at West Sussex County Council we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We are committed to improving our services for the children and families in West Sussex we support. You will join us as at a key time on our improvement journey. The work we have started includes establishing a new and experienced leadership team driving forward our ‘Children First’ improvement plan.

We don’t underestimate the work that still needs to be done and the challenge ahead. That’s why we need professionals, like you, who really want to be part of the positive change that is happening. Be part of an ambitious improvement plan and make a significant difference to children and families in West Sussex. There’s never been a more rewarding time to join.

For further information about us and about working in Children’s Social Care at West Sussex County Council, please visit **Careers in children's social work in West Sussex**.
**About The Job**
Salary**: £20,903 - £22,183 (entitled to Crawley Weighting Allowance)
**Working Pattern**: Full-time, 37 hours per week
**Location**: Crawley

We’re looking for a permanent Coordinator to deliver and provide high-quality, fast-paced administrative support to teams of Social Workers in Family Safeguarding in Crawley. You will work alongside and support colleagues managing complex and demanding workloads to ensure that all children, young people and families we work with receive a high-quality service.

Family Safeguarding is a new way of working with families and offering the right support at the right time in order to reduce the risks to children so that they can stay together, and children can remain safely at home. In West Sussex, the Family Safeguarding Model is being delivered through a redesign of our Assessment and Intervention (A&I) teams and our former Family Support and Protection (FSP) teams.

As a Coordinator, you will have a genuine passion for wanting to make a difference and an understanding of the positive impact that your highly skilled administrative support could have on Social Workers and the work they do to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families.

To thrive in this role, you will need to be confident in your ability to work independently and using your own initiative where appropriate, flexible and organised to be able to balance priorities and deadlines, as well as responding to or redirecting enquiries, and resilient as the work will involve regular intense exposure to people or situations which may place additional emotional demand on yourself.
**Experience and Skills**
Key Skills**:

- Ability to build strong working relationships to negotiate and influence across the organisation.
- Ability to demonstrate an understanding of risk and recommend appropriate course of action.
- Ability to communicate, both orally and in writing, complicated or sensitive information to a range of audiences to achieve positive outcomes.
- Highly accurate IT and keyboard skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint and be adept and proactive at picking up new technologies quickly.
- Good time management to manage short deadlines and conflicting priorities.

**Qualifications and/or experience**:

- GCSE English and Maths, or equivalent qualification or experience operating at this level of literacy and numeracy.
- Experience of providing business support, advice and/or guidance to others.
- Experience of forming effective working relationships.
- Experience of administrative tasks and processes.
- Experience of inputting data and using databases.
- Experience of working in a fast paced, innovative work environment, whilst remaining calm.
- Good, up-to-date working knowledge of legislation relevant to the specialist area of the post e.g. West Sussex Continuum of Need, working together 2015 and Children’s Act 1989 (Desirable)

**Rewards and Benefits**
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do. As well as a generous pension scheme, you’ll be entitled to 24 days annual leave with the option to buy up to 3 additional days. For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, please visit our **Rewards and Benefits** page.
**Further Information**
The reference number for this role is **CAFHE03588 **.

To apply, upload your CV and cover letter 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.

RMS

Job Reference: CAFHE03588