Are you an experienced social worker keen to ensure that children and young people, who, unable to live with their parents are brought up by members of their extended families, friends or other people who are connected with them? We are looking for a social worker for our growing Connected Carers team. This might be the right role for you! WHAT IS INVOLVED? You will assess new Connected Carers, and offer advice and supervision to existing Connected Carers, as well as discuss potential training opportunities, ensuring they have the support they need to care for the children who live with them. WHAT GUIDES OUR PRACTICE? Our practice is driven by our belief that Connected Carers play a unique role in enabling children to remain with people they know and trust if they cannot, for whatever reason, live with their parents. We are supported in our work by our “how we practice in Durham guide” https://durhamcs.trixonline.co.uk/resources/resource-library and the Kinship Care Statutory Guidance Our practice model, Signs of Safety helps us to slow down our thinking so that robust evidence-based assessment and analysis guides our practice, and Liquid Logic supports our work. WHAT DO OFSTED SAY ABOUT US? You will be joining us at a fantastic time. Inspectors have just judged our Children’s Services as outstanding. You can read the full report here https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50276863 HOW DOES IT FEEL TO WORK IN OUR FOSTERING SERVICE? When you join our Fostering Service you will be supported by amazing colleagues and a leadership team that listens and cares about you and your work. You will benefit from a really strong training and development offer and support to continue to develop your career. We encourage hybrid working and are really open to discussions about flexible working. Recently we asked our social workers what was good about Durham and some of the feedback we received was: “We stay because of strong leadership and an open culture where you can ask questions”. “An organisation that focuses on children rather than services”. “We appreciate flexible/hybrid working”. You can read more about working in children and families social work in Durham here: https://www.durham.gov.uk/childrenssocialwork WHAT WILL I NEED TO APPLY? To apply for this role you will: Be an social worker with experience of work with children, young people and families. Have experience of analysis, assessment and building respectful partnerships. Be a wonderful communicator with experience of building positive relationships with children, young people and families. You can read more about the experience, skills and personal qualities we are looking for in the attached person specification. If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure. WHAT BENEFITS AND REWARDS ARE AVAILABLE? We can offer you a range of employee benefits including competitive salaries, a generous leave entitlement of up to 32 days, a government pension scheme and various flexible and hybrid working options (benefits are subject to individual Terms and Conditions). If you would like to know more, please follow this link: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/26895/Rewards-and-benefits READY TO APPLY? We encourage you to contact Victoria McDowell Team Manager or Angela Wright Team Manager to arrange an informal discussion about the role. Victoria can be contacted by e-mail at victoria.mcdowell@durham.gov.uk and Angela can be contacted by e-mail at Angela.Wright@durham.gov.uk In line with the County Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy, please note that we are unable to accept CVs. Applications must be submitted on-line via the Northeast Jobs portal. Please use the ‘Person Specification’ section of your application form to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge you will find on the attached person specification. If you do not evidence that you meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification you will not be short-listed. INTERVIEWS Interviews are scheduled to be held in person in Seaham w/c 21st July 2025. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran. If you have any support needs or require assistance when applying for this role, please contact the Resourcing & Recruitment Team via RecruitmentCYPS@durham.gov.uk. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and recognise the value of difference, having a diverse talented workforce brings new ideas and new perspectives, which will facilitate growth and improvements to services. As a Disability Confident Leader, we encourage applications from disabled people and can provide support throughout the recruitment process, for more information please refer to the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion page on our website. We collect personal information from you when you register with North East Jobs and make an application. Details on how we process your personal data is available in our Privacy Notice. https://www.durham.gov.uk/media/24645/Privacy-notice-human-resources/pdf/PrivacyNotice-HR.pdf PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION FOR THIS POST WILL BE SENT TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS THAT YOU HAVE REGISTERED WITH NORTH EAST JOBS, INCLUDING YOUR INVITE TO INTERVIEW IF YOU ARE SHORTLISTED. PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL AFTER THE CLOSING DATE FOR NOTIFICATION FROM DONOTREPLY@NORTHEASTJOBS.ORG.UK AS YOU WILL NOT BE NOTIFIED BY ANY OTHER MEANS. PLEASE ENSURE YOU CHECK YOUR JUNK MAIL. VPRS/161