Qualified Social Worker - Adults

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About the role

Based: Various locations in Northampton & Daventry

West Northants Council Adult Social Care has been on an exciting journey of transformation since we became a unitary authority in April 2021. This has given us the opportunity to really look at how we provide adult social care on a more localised level, leading to lots of exciting innovations and a new model of working which puts people and their communities firmly at the heart of what we do.  

What will you be doing?

We are looking for passionate and accomplished Social Workers to join our dedicated and supportive teams in West Northamptonshire. Our teams include:

Community Hub teams: based across Northamptonshire. Our community teams have a very varied role and support a wide range of adults from 18 plus, with a variety of needs. We also have our rural community teams, covering Daventry, Towcester and Brackley.

Learning Disability team: Support adults specifically with learning disabilities across West Northamptonshire.

Flow and Capacity team (FACT): Undertake assessments; provide advice and co-ordinate support for people who are in hospital; discharged home with reablement services or who transfer from hospital to settings such as residential Discharge to Assess placements or the Recovery and Independence Bed Unit.

Assurance and Safeguarding team: Minimise risks to people to ensure they remain safely living within the community. The team work with people over 18 for whom there are concerns about abuse or neglect from a service that’s providing care to them and carry out investigations surrounding this.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) team: Responsible for assessing individuals who may be experiencing a deprivation of liberty in a hospital or Care Home setting and lack the mental capacity to consent to these arrangements. We conduct 6 assessments in this process. These include a Mental Capacity Assessment and Best Interests Assessment. The purpose of this is to provide a legal authority for a person to be deprived of their liberty where this is assessed to be in their best interests.

Discharge and Review Team (DART): Support CHC assessments, provide expertise in relation to CHC assessments to the wider directorate, complete reviews for people in residential and nursing homes, assets below assessments and support the flow from discharge to assess placements and Specialist Care Centres. 

Click the link to hear from employees in our Social Work teams about what they do, and what the love about their roles at West Northants Council: Our Adult Social Work teams | West Northamptonshire Council (westnorthants.gov.uk).

If you would like to know more about current vacancies before formally applying, please email Gina.Braithwaite@westnorthants.gov.uk who will be happy to arrange an informal and confidential call.

Hours: Our standard hours are 9am-5pm, however there is the option for flexible working, and part time hours are available for some roles so please do ask!

About you

If you are passionate about adult social care, have a social work qualification/equivalent and are registered with Social Work England, we would love to hear from you. 

We are looking for individuals with a proactive, innovative approach who can problem solve creatively, and have a passion for fostering the strengths of individuals. You will play a crucial role in conducting timely assessments, developing support plans, and implementing support in accordance with the Care Act 2014. As someone who is committed, hardworking, and enthusiastic, you will thrive in working in a fast-paced environment. Strong communications skills will be essential, as you'll be working collaboratively with a wide range of partners, including community groups and the voluntary sector as well as colleagues in health and other sectors. 

If you love a challenge and have an openness to learn, join us on this rewarding journey of making a true difference in the lives of the individuals we support in West Northants. 

Career development and training opportunities  

As a Social Worker joining West Northants Council, you’ll receive a supportive induction and shadowing period to enable orientation to the service. It is important to us that we ensure we have the right people, with the right skills, doing the right job.  

We are committed to career development and offer training and development opportunities for those who want to progress or specialise, for example AMHP training (for those 2 years post-qualified).  

We welcome applications from newly qualified social workers. NQSW applications will be considered in line with vacancies best suited across adult social care teams. 

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate, at our cost. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU  

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.