Consultant Social Worker

Fixed Term: 12 months

There are 2 positions available, one covering Maidstone and Dartford area and one covering the Ashford and Canterbury area, please indicate in your application your area of preference, to be discussed at interview.

Progress your career as a Consultant Social Worker

We are partnering with Think Ahead – a charity that works with NHS and Local Authority mental health services to strengthen the contribution of social work. We’ll be taking on eight trainee social workers (participants) who will join the organisation in August 2022 in two units of four. This is a great opportunity for at least two experienced social workers to take on the role of Consultant Social Workers /Associate Consultant Social Workers.

In This Role You Will

• Join a network of leaders across the country promoting and strengthening mental health social work.
• Lead and develop four talented participants, who are passionate about mental health and social work.
• Develop your skills in practice, supervision, and education.
• Get fully funded CPD training, including a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Social Work from Middlesex University.

Role

In this full-time fixed term position, you’ll manage a “unit” of four participants who are placed in an adult mental health service. This role is open to job share. You retain a frontline role, share a service user caseload, and act as their leader and role model. You will provide practice education of outstanding quality. You’ll work with an academic tutor and assess participants’ ability to put social work theories, interventions, and legislation into practice. There may be an option to be an Associate CSW and supervise one or two participants whilst undertaking PEPS training.

Benefits

You will join a group of Consultant Social Workers delivering a prestigious, high-profile initiative across the country (to date, Think Ahead has worked with more than half of NHS Trusts and over a third of Local Authorities). You’ll receive CPD training to consolidate and develop your expertise in evidence-based interventions. You do not need to be a qualified practice educator as you will receive Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS) training stages 1 and 2. If you have PEPS 2, you will do refresher training.

Requirements

You will be a registered social worker with significant experience of working with service users with complex mental health needs from a range of community mental health services. You will also need the enthusiasm, confidence, and authority to inspire others.

Interviews

Interviews will be held on 29th April 2022. Please ensure you are able to undertake training (see job description).

More information

Please see the job description for more details.You can also read about the experiences of some of Think Ahead’s current Consultant Social Workers on Community Care and Think Ahead’s website. The “Introduction to Think Ahead and the Consultant Social Worker role” document also provides an overview of the organisation and the role for those not familiar with Think Ahead.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.

Contact Details

If you require any further information about this role, please contact:

Gareth Locke

[email protected] / 03000 417506

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Alexia Fenwick, Practice Specialist (CSW Lead) at Think Ahead, [email protected], 07901 611 501).

About The Company

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county’s working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds and faiths, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.

Job Description & Person Specification

• Consultant Social Worker JD