Job Description

Team: LAAC - Leaving and After Care

Job Family: Enabling - CBG13 (M)
Salary: \xc2\xa346,660- \xc2\xa350,584 per annum pro rata + MRS \xc2\xa34,600 + Enhanced MRS \xc2\xa38,000 per annum pro rata
Hours: 37 hours per week

Location: Working from home and any CBC offices, including Priory House, Shefford. You will be expected to attend a CBC office location on a monthly basis, and as needed to carry out your role

Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent

Closing Date: 6th August 2023
Interview Date: 9th August 2023

About Us

Central Bedfordshire is an ambitious authority, determined to be an exemplary one. Our strategic location and high quality of life mean we are one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

As a council we face the same challenges every business does - investing in the right places and delivering great results. Except for us, it\'s all about our 289,000 residents. We\'re totally focussed on helping to improve their lives and making Central Bedfordshire a great place to live and work.

We have set values and principles to represent the way we work and how we operate as an organisation. You can view a list of these in detail .

This is a great time to join us on our journey.

More about the role:

You will be a qualified social worker, who holds a social work England registration. You will have post qualifying experience in statutory social work in the child protection arena.

In Central Bedfordshire Children\'s Services, we put our children and young people first in everything we do. We work as one team close to our communities and partners to make a difference in the lives of children and young people, help keep them safe and inspire them to achieve. As one of the managers in our 16+ Leaving and Aftercare Service, you will manage a team of social workers and personal advisors to support care experienced young people and adults aged 16-25 as they transition into adulthood.

You are expected to attend the office base (Priory house) at least monthly and additonally in line with service needs- we encourage the teams to have once weekly in-person contact as a whole team/service.

You will have experience of working in a multi-disciplinary environment. You be confident and competent at making decisions to safeguard and protect young people. You will be able to take a key role in planning, developing, and improving services whilst being empathetic and sensitive to the needs of those reporting to you. You should know how to measure and monitor practice and performance to ensure individuals and the service as a whole operates to a consistently good standard. Diplomatic, fair and robust enough to deal with complaints and challenges are vital to being successful in this role. Experince of supporting Separated Migrant Children would be desirable but not essential.

You will be an influential negotiator when dealing with potential and actual conflict and will have excellent communication skills and be able to convey complex messages in a straightforward way, both verbally and in writing. It is essential you will not be afraid to think creatively to solve problems.

This role requires excellent management and leadership skills and ability to work effectively in partnership with young people, families, and other professionals. You will have significant experience in working in statutory services, safeguarding services and regulated services.

The position holder will report directly to the Practice Manager and will be making day to day safeguarding decisions, HR actions and any other tasks as required. As part of this role you will have regular and \xe2\x80\x9cat point of need\xe2\x80\x9d supervision and support from both the Practice Manager and Head of Service. You will work with a dynamic and motivated management team who are passionate about our children and young people being the best versions of themselves and about supporting and promoting the professional development of our colleagues.

This role is initially offered as a fixed term contract or secondment oppotunity for 6 months to support service needs.

Essential requirment; Social work Degree and Social work england registered

Join our team, and you\'ll have every opportunity to develop your expertise as you are encouraged and supported to undertake post-qualifying training and leadership training. We\'re focused on investing in colleagues to help them develop.

What we can offer you

As well as joining a friendly, dedicated, and hardworking team you will have access to numerous benefits, including:

• A hybrid working arrangement giving you the option to work from home and access any CBC office location. We recognise and value the importance of supporting our employees to balance their home and work life and to be able to work in the most efficient way.
• A \xc2\xa3250 one-off hybrid worker payment to help you adapt your home for safe and suitable working conditions
• A comprehensive IT package to support you to work safely and effectively
• The ability to work abroad for up to a month a year
• Annually paid social work fees for qualified social workers in adults and children\'s (including senior practitioners) and Team Managers where required
• Generous family friendly policies and practices
• A welcoming and inclusive environment that empowers differences
• Friendly and supportive staff networks
• Annual leave allowance 25 days + statutory holidays rising to 32 days with length of service.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This is a valuable part of our rewards package for employees and includes Life Assurance. You can find out more on the

. * An exceptional Employee Assistance Programme which helps support employees with workplace changes as well as other work, family and personal issues

• A huge variety of courses and role-specific training and learning to help you succeed and develop
• Access to discounts on top UK retailers and local retailers

In Children\'s Services, we are dedicated to providing the best possible service to our community, and have won a number of achievements to reflect our hard work. You can view a list of these on .

Central Bedfordshire Council has its own vision and values that are integral to everything we do. Our area vision is to make Central Bedfordshire \'A great place to live and work\'.

Sustainability matters to us. We aim to lead by example in tackling climate change. Read more about the action we\'re taking on our website:

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.



You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies detailed within this

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Emma Mortimer at or 0300 300 8478.

For queries related to the recruitment of this vacancy, please contact: The Recruitment Team at



Safeguarding:

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.

Central Bedfordshire Council is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to improving the diversity of our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve. Therefore we welcome applications from everyone. In addition we are a employer, we are working to become a Disability Confident leader in our community.

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council\'s policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.

If you require assistance to apply for our roles, help with writing your CV, interview techniques or careers advice please contact our team of careers advisors at Our service is confidential, impartial and free for all.

Central Bedfordshire Council