Our Opportunities

Social Worker

If you’re looking to take the next step in your social worker career in a supportive environment where you can continue learning, Medway Council is the place for you. You will work as part of a small team known as a Pod where staff collaborate on cases to achieve the best possible outcomes.

With a focus on reducing caseloads, Medway is continually looking for new ways to ensure that social workers are provided with the support and assistance they need to thrive. The POD system means that cases are shared and benefit from the team’s varied knowledge and experience.

Our Social Work Academy allows all of our staff, no matter their level, to continually develop their skills and make a real difference to service users. We are offering training from the Institute of Family Therapy from January 2017 leading to an accredited qualification.

Our Aims

Reduce Caseloads

In order to allow our social workers to give proper time and resource to service users, we continue to find new ways of reducing caseloads. Cases are also shared across a Pod so service users benefit from varied knowledge and experience while social workers are not alone managing the risk.
Energetic Service

A proper support structure and collaborative working means that happy social workers come together as a dynamic team. This energy allows us to secure more positive outcomes for our service users.
Continual Learning

Social work academy and numerous training and development opportunities create an environment of career-long learning. Our social workers are highly skilled and knowledgeable as well as equipped for progression when opportunities arise.

Our Offer

Small Pod system enabling collaborative working supported by a dedicated Practice Manager.
Opportunity to develop reliable working relationships within your Pod and across the service.
Reduced caseloads allow you to spend more time on each case in order to consistently achieve positive results. Make a difference without feeling swamped.
Take advantage of time away from daily work in which to learn new skills and digest contemporary research.

Social Work Academy supports your training and development at every stage of your career. Develop knowledge to, not only better equip you in your current role but, set you up for future progression. Institute of Family Therapy accredited training and Practice Educator Award qualifications are just two of the training programmes available to social work staff in Medway.
Enjoy flexible working to fit around your personal situation.
Reflective group and individual supervision which recognises the importance of self development.

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Practice Manager

If you are looking to take the next step on your Social Work career, our Practice Manager positions provide the perfect opportunity.

Managing four Social Workers, including one NQSW, you will have the time and space to give high quality supervision and guidance. Using a systemic practice approach to social work you will be a key influence on creative work with families to safeguard children. Whilst you won’t hold cases yourself, you will have time to ‘know’ the families and play a central role in the key decisions made helping the team to deliver the best service possible.

This position will see you develop as a leader and you will be given the opportunity to work towards the ILM4 (Institute of Leadership and Management Accreditation). We are also offering training from the Institute of Family Therapy from January 2017 leading to an accredited qualification.

Our Aims

Develop Leaders

In this position, you will be supported by a hands-on management team as you build highly effective supervisory, management and leadership skills.
Drive our service forward

Practice Managers will have a key influence in big decisions regarding the future of the service. You will have the opportunity to shape the care delivered across the service. This includes quarterly meetings with the Deputy Director.
Grow our social workers

You will have a highly influential role in the development of the members of your team. Using your own knowledge and experience you will help social workers develop and deliver the highest level of care.

Our Offer

Hands-on role that will see you working out in the community, working closely with social workers to deliver high quality services.
Make the role your own in a recently created position.
Support and collaboration across the service between Practice Managers. Ideas and best practice are shared to ensure high performance throughout.

Chance to step up from Senior Social Worker and learn to be a manager in an open and safe environment.
Collaborative Pod system where cases are shared across a Pod. This structure makes caseloads more manageable for all.
Opportunity to work towards ILM4 Leadership qualification, Institute of Family Therapy accredited training and Practice Educator Award qualifications with release for modular study.

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Newly Qualified

If you have recently graduated with a degree or masters in Social Work, our ASYE programme delivered by our award winning Social Work Academy could be for you. The ASYE programme provides a structured framework of support and supervision.

The focus is on developing you as a practitioner so you feel confident in your work with families and able to meet the required level of professional competency outlined in the Knowledge and skills Statements and Professional Capabilities Framework.

Our Aims

Embedding Confidence

To help NQSWs to embed and consolidate their skills, competence and confidence as a social worker in a systematic manner during their first year of employment or longer if employed part-time.
Improving Job Satisfaction

Improve NQSW job satisfaction and their enthusiasm to continue to work as a social worker.
Providing a bridge

To improve the quality of social work practice by ensuring the first year of employment provides an effective bridge and the transition from being a student to being a competent and capable professional.

Our Offer

A two week induction to the ASYE programme.
A protected caseload during your post-qualifying year.
Reflective group and individual supervision which recognises the importance of self development.
Introduction to Systemic thinking ideas and how they can be applied to social work.

Protected individual and facilitated development time and the opportunity to undertake a project of interest.
You will receive high levels of support from a team based assessor and advanced practitioner from the Quality Assurance Team. There will be a phased approach to the volume and complexity of your workload to enable you to develop the skills, experience and confidence to join our existing workforce.
Give the required level of development support and assessment leading to final assessment using the Knowledge and Skills Statements along with capability statements as set out in the PCF.

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INTERESTED?

We run ASYE programmes twice a year in September and February. Applications for the programmes are welcome throughout the year.If you wish to register your interest do please join our talent pool.

Applications now being accepted for the 2018-19 ASYE programme. If you are graduating from your Social Work course this year or graduated last year (and have not undertaken an ASYE course previously), then click here for more information and to fill out an application

Join Our Talent Pool

You are eligible if you can demonstrate you already have:

A minimum 2:1 level 6 degree qualification.
OR

A minimum 2:2 honours degree plus a higher degree (level 7 or above).
PLUS

Grade C or above GSCE in English/ English Language and Maths (or recognised equivalent).
AND

Experience of working with children, young people and families.

Do you have what it takes?

Online applications open 28 March and close 5 May 2017For more information click:

Step Up to Social Work: information for applicants

Ready to apply?

See our roles and apply now!

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