Senior Social Worker - MASH (permanent)

Are you passionate about promoting and safeguarding the wellbeing and interest of the child? Then we have a Senior Social Worker role available for you in the MASH team in our Referral & Assessment service.

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is the first point of contact for all potential safeguarding concerns in relation to children. MASH is a co-located team which brings together agencies and their information, in order to identify risks to and needs of children at the earliest possible point and respond with the most effective and joined up actions. The purpose of MASH is to make the right decisions for the right families at the right time. This in turn will ensure timely and necessary actions to improve the outcomes for vulnerable children.

We work on a hybrid basis, with a minimum of 3 days per week based in the office.

If you're looking for a new challenge and want to be part of an exciting time for children's services in Slough, then come and join us.

Main Accountabilities

• Promote and safeguard the wellbeing and interests of the child/young person at all times and throughout all aspects of work.
• Be responsible for managing an independent workload, ensuring legislative requirements are met to a high standard and within required timescales.
• Act as a senior professional, using knowledge and experience in a specialist area and from own professional experience to provide advice, support and ‘critical friend’ challenge on cases to colleagues to support them in their work.
• Take responsibility for a student working in Slough Children First, carrying out their supervision alongside the Assistant Team Manager
• Be willing to work towards the Practice Educator Professional Standards for social work, especially stage 2.
• Management of the team duty rota.
• Take a strong role in team meetings so that they are efficient and effective, leading team meetings as required in place of the Assistant Team Manager and Team Manager.
• Thoroughly assess, critically analyse, plan and implement suitable interventions for complex cases that fulfil statutory regulations, instigating proceedings and taking cases to court as required whilst effectively managing risk at all time and seeking support from senior team members when required.
• Produce concise, well-structured assessments, plans and reports, clearly recording and reporting analysis and judgements and ensuring that all recommendations are followed.
• Where cases are to be transferred to another service or partners, ensure that there is a clearly recorded transfer plan.
• Maintain accurate, up to date, evidence-based records safely and confidentially, in line with statutory requirements.
• Work with children, young people and families/carers to develop effective relationships through meaningful and purposeful direct work, actively seeking and understanding their needs and views to promote their participation in decision making and inform practice in assessment and planning in individual cases.
• Work in partnership with colleagues and other agencies to deliver accessible and effective services, empowering parents and carers to develop and maintain safe parenting practices, leading meetings to achieve outcomes for children.
• Be responsible for own individual performance in line with national standards, service and team specific performance indicators and actions required to address areas for improvement.
• Be responsible for own professional development keeping pace with national, regional and local policy initiatives, attending training to maintain professional development and ensuring the receipt of regular supervision.
• Participate in and learn from routine observation, review and auditing activity conducted by the Team Manager and Assistant Team Manager to secure the highest possible standards of social work practice.
• With the agreement of the Assistant Team Manager, identify resources where required and available to promote child/family well being.
• Develop and maintain effective internal and external working relationships to achieve optimal outcomes for children and young people, ensuring a joined-up approach to relationships to other team members and managers.
• Represent Slough Children First’s values and be part of setting a positive culture within your team, service and Slough Children First; challenge behaviour when it is not aligned with our values and take appropriate action; support a professional in a respectful and child-focused environment which supports Slough Children First’s vision.
• Ensure all interventions are conducted within an anti-discriminatory framework, and take into account issues such as race, gender, sexuality, disability etc, and deliver appropriate services to the diverse communities of Slough.
• Provide cover for the work of other team members and take on other additional duties, as required.

Person specification

• Professional Social Work Degree or equivalent (Essential)
• Significant post qualifying experience as a social worker with demonstrable experience in complex or specialist casework (Essential)
• Social Work England registered (Essential)
• Knowledge and application of the legal framework and assessment process in Children’s Social Care (Essential)
• Knowledge and understanding of the values and principles underpinning the involvement of children, young people and families/carers, including the right to access independent advocacy and complaints processes (Essential)
• Ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing, to a range of audiences including children, young people, parents and carers and professional colleagues (Essential)
• Knowledge and application of social work interventions in at least one area of practice (Essential)
• Ability to gather and assess information to inform judgement in complex situations and in response to challenge, clearly reporting and recording analysis (Essential)
• Ability to use a range of interventions effectively and evaluate them in practice to ensure that the correct outcomes are achieved (Essential)
• Ability to manage and prioritise own workload independently, maintaining professionalism in challenging circumstances and seeking support and suggesting solutions for workload difficulties (Essential)
• Acceptance and commitment to the principles of human rights and equality and how they underpin practice (Essential)
• Computer literate with knowledge of Microsoft Office packages (Essential)
• Evidence of continued professional development to enhance own knowledge and skills (Essential)
• Enhanced electronic case management skills (Essential)
• Current UK driving license and access to a vehicle (Desirable)
• Specialist knowledge of one or more key issues affecting children and their families. E.g. Domestic Abuse, Mental Health, Radicalisation, Neglect, Contextual Safeguarding (Desirable)
• Practice Education Stage 2 module (PEPS2) (Desirable)
• Post Graduate qualification in a relevant discipline or equivalent (Desirable)