People and Place
Senior Social Worker

Ref: 001041
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £42,839 - £47,181 per annum (Grade 8)
Car User: Essential
Hours: 36.66 per week
Based: Barn Street Police Station
Interview Date: TBC
Informal Enquiries: Natassja Gollcher, Head of MASH, EDT and CSH
Email: Natassja.gollcher@oldham.gov.uk

Why should you work in Oldham?
Officially rated as a ‘Good’ by Ofsted, we are proud of our relentless approach in seeking the very best outcomes for our children and families, and there’s never been a better time to join the team and be part of our success story.

Oldham is a wonderful place of diversity, where people of all cultures come together. This is one our greatest strengths and our social workers enjoy using a breadth of skills and gaining a variety of experiences whilst supporting children and families from diverse backgrounds.

We use systemic practice as our chosen practice model, focusing on building relationships with children and families, understanding the context and family dynamics, and reflectively learning together. 2024 has seen the launch of our new systemic reflective hubs, as our Social Work Academy continues to offer reflective supervisions and tailored support through an innovative 2-year ASYE programme.
We have a strong ethos of ‘Growing our own’, providing a great environment to excel in your social work career.
You will be rewarded with great benefits:

Hybrid working giving flexibility for you to manage your diary and offer a better work/life balance.

Our generous benefits including:

• 25 days annual leave with the option to purchase additional days, and which increases after 5- and 10-years’ service.
  
• Attractive defined benefit pension scheme with a market leading AVC option for additional retirement savings
  
• Discounted gym membership
  
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
  
• Salary sacrifice scheme, including Cycle to Work
  
• Wellbeing support, including an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
  
• Staff recognition and celebration even
  
• Clear progression pathways and support to develop your social work career in Oldham
  
• Fit for Oldham Scheme which offers free health and fitness opportunities

What’s different about being a social worker in Oldham?
We work with one of the most diverse communities of any local authority in the country and this is reflected within our workforce which we believe is one of our greatest strengths. The life experiences and challenges facing our children and families are incredibly varied and require an inclusive response which recognises the family’s unique strengths and works with them to achieve solutions.

We will develop and reward you for your expertise - that’s why we make sure you have access to a range of support, continual professional development, and training opportunities to continually improve your practice. We also offer a clear career development route based on your skills and experience through our progression pathway.

Here's the role:

You’ll work as a member of our Complex Safeguarding Hub to deliver effective services that promote and safeguard the welfare of children and young people. In this role you will be dedicated to supporting children and young people who are experiencing exploitation or who are at risk of exploitation. You will work closely with colleagues from GMP and Health.

In Oldham we are committed to systemic practice, with a focus on building relationships with children and families and reflective learning, both within families and as a Service. We will support you with training in this model.

What we need from you:
All applicants must meet the relevant criteria, including the right to work in the UK. We are not in a position to accept applications from candidates who require sponsorship.

Oldham Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All roles require strong commitment to securing good outcomes for children, operating in a supportive environment focused on effective delivery, including identifying and responding appropriately to any safeguarding concerns, ensuring the immediate decision making reflects an analysis of risk and protective factors.

Diversity and Inclusion:
We are committed to creating a fair and inclusive workplace that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We aim to develop a culture of respect, where differences are recognised regardless of background. We aim to be an employer of choice by engaging in fair and open recruitment processes and applications are encouraged from all communities across the borough to create a workforce that represents the diversity of our population.
If you would like support with this application, an interview or interested in looking at any courses that could help with this position please get in touch with Get Oldham Working - Get Oldham Working registration form - Oldham Council

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

About Us:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

Our Values and Behaviours:

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

• Work with a resident focus
• Support local leaders
• Committed to the borough
• Delivery high performance
• Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page

Our Benefits Package

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

• 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
• Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
• Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
• Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Staff recognition and celebration events.
• Peer support groups

Inclusive Recruitment:

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer or someone who has served in the Armed Forces and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.

Data and Privacy:

For details of how we use your data please see our privacy notice.

Important Information:

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

While we embrace the use of AI as an innovative tool to maximise our services at Oldham Council, we are looking for authenticity in applications we receive. We therefore ask you to think carefully if choosing to use AI when completing your application and ask that you ensure you read all instructions carefully and that your application is written by you and reflects your skills, knowledge and enthusiasm.

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