Responsibilities

We are a vibrant community team based in High Wycombe at the heart of Chilterns. In addition to the salary advertised, you will receive a market premium of £2,525 per annum, you will also receive a ‘Golden Hello’ lump-sum payment of £2500 paid on successful completion of your probationary period.

Why join us?

We are closer then you think!

We are lucky to have really good transport links including easy access to M25 and M40 and therefore, we are commutable from various locations including Slough, Reading, Hillingdon, Luton and Bedfordshire. We are also outside of the ULEZ zone.

We invest in staff wellbeing

We understand that you can’t give what you don’t have so we focus on staff wellbeing to enable employees to support the most vulnerable communities. To achieve that we organise meditation and “getting active” sessions, pull together for team building and volunteering days and promote open and inclusive communication.

Robust induction

We have innovative approach to induction whereupon you will be provided with a buddy and presented with a schedule of shadowing opportunities already booked into your calendar to help you settle in to your role from the first day on the job.

Realistic expectations

You can expect a manageable caseload of up to 25 active cases and supportive approachable managers to guide you. You are never alone!

Staff Benefits

You will get free parking and an essential car user allowance. We will cover the cost of your annual Social Work England registration. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme.

We value and invest in you

We provide a range of internal and external training courses and free access to RIPFa resources with a council log in. We have a clear career progression pathway to give you opportunities to grow and flourish. You will have a bespoke Personal development plan to support you in exploring your areas of interest.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

We have created more roles in Social Work and Occupational Therapy; we are adapting to work much more closely with the community and support people near to where they live; we have developed a new career progression framework to encourage staff ambition and development; finally, to establish the conditions to deliver outstanding practice, we have reduced the numbers that managers supervise and the caseloads the team have, to allow for more contact with our residents.

Initiated in 2019, our strength-based practice model, ‘Better Lives’, has been improving outcomes linked to independence, developing social connections, and improving areas that are important to the residents we support.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey.

About the role

To ensure the highest standards of service are provided to the residents of Buckinghamshire, Advanced Practitioners will ensure:

• Work in accordance with the Better Lives framework
• Promote and deliver goal-based support people to achieve greater independence
• Promote equality as an integral part of a role and treat everyone with fairness and dignity
• Provides a proactive personalised approach to the delivery of care and practice
• Respond to people’s needs in a timely manner
• Focus on improving people’s well-being
• Give people greater choice and control over the care that they receive
• Take account of people’s risks and safety at all times, identifying mitigations to reduce that risk
• Support people to achieve the outcomes that are most important to them using all available resources and taking responsibility for the public purse
• Provide personalised information and advice, safeguarding, assessment, support planning and review to individuals/families and their carers

Mobile:

A ‘mobile’ role gives you the flexibility to schedule your own diary, so you can meet with colleagues and clients in a variety of locations. You’ll access digital folders and resources on your laptop and be able to use the network wherever you are based. Working from home will be common, as well as meeting your team in the office where necessary.

About you

You must be a qualified Social Worker (holding a social work degree or equivalent) and be registered with Social Work England. In addition, a full driving licence with access to a vehicle is an essential requirement for this role.

Naturally, you’ll be a great people person, familiar with working to a strength-based approach. Thinking outside the box, you’ll support your clients and help prevent, reduce or delay the need for care. Bringing your in-depth knowledge of the latest legislation and statutory guidance, you’ll work independently and with colleagues to support adults and their families. Persistence and an adaptable approach are needed in an outcome-focused way with partners such as health services, community sector, housing, care providers and other stakeholders.

If you'd like to hear from some of our current social workers and social care staff, take a look at our careers social media pages Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

We welcome individuals looking to return to social work and offer a return to social work programme assessment and support process. Should this be something of interest to you please contact the Learning and Wellbeing Hub via email at [email protected] to arrange an informal chat or to find out more information.

Other information

If you have any questions or would like to hear more about these exciting roles, please contact Kinga Donovan, Team Manager at [email protected]

As a service, we’re proud of the way we have adapted as we make our way through the COVID-19 pandemic. The safety of our colleagues and residents remains at the forefront of what we do, and we have used technology where it has been appropriate to undertake some functions such as staying in touch with your clients, partners, and colleagues. We want to retain the benefits of working in this way, as well as continuing face-to-face where it is appropriate to do so. As a result of this, we would welcome applications from a wider geographical basis.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

All unspent convictions and conditional cautions

All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

Person Specification

Essential:

Please see the job description for a full list of essential criteria.

Desirable:

Please see the job description for a full list of desirable criteria.