Children's Independent Chair

The starting salary for this position is £50,942 - £55,125 per annum based on a 36-hour working week. We are also able to consider part time working on a 3-4 day basis.

This is a rolling advert and applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Are you looking for a fresh opportunity to use your social care management skills and experience?

Are you ready for a pivotal role that safeguards continuity of quality care for children and young people where their current feelings and wishes are considered?

If that sounds interesting to you then we'd invite you to consider our Child Protection (CP) Chair/ Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) role within the Quality Performance service at Surrey Count Council.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Professional support from experienced and qualified members of the team to help you grow and develop your career

About the Team

You'd be joining our team of established CP Chairs/ IRO's where you will have the chance to share your knowledge and expertise gained as a social work practitioner and manager, to provide invaluable insight and accountability for monitoring the progress of outcome focused plans for our children and young people, which are effective and reflective of their needs and wishes and timely; in line with our statutory requirements.

About the Role

As a combined CP Chair/ IRO role this provides a unique opportunity and benefit of being able to build trust and safety with the children and young people you support as they progress on their journey.

Through your work with case auditing, service reviews and reviewing the quality of practice you'll use the breadth and depth of your experience to support not just children, young people and their families, but staff too, making recommendations for improvements both in conference meetings, in between them and in relation to child protection plans, helping to have a positive influence and impact on how we do things at Surrey. At present we are seeing increased demand within Looked After Reviews, meaning this would be the greater focus of the role for now.

Supporting your career development is a top priority for us. We have a comprehensive training programme and an "Academy" which supports the multi-agency partnership. The Council is invested in training staff in the Family Safeguarding model, Motivational Interviewing, as well as investing in support to develop systems thinking in practice in Surrey. As an Independent Chair you will be supported to ensure that you are competently able to deliver in your role for both CP conferences and Looked After Reviews. Your development will also be supported by regular supervision and performance conversations as well as a range of coaching, e-learning and other reflection and learning opportunities.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be shortlisted for interview your CV and personal statement will clearly evidence:

• A passion for social work
• A broad knowledge of practice and legislation, including safeguarding
• Registered with Social Work England and hold a Social Work degree or equivalent qualification
• A track record of improving outcomes for children and young people
• You will need to be able to work flexibly and travel extensively across Surrey and surrounding areas.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.
We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.