Specialist Consultant Social Worker

Posted 25th Jul, 2025
Location
Bexley
Salary/rate
£50,355 – £56,586
Working pattern
Full-time – 36 hours per week
Working arrangements
Blended
Contract type
Fixed term
Closing date
5th Aug, 2025
About the role

Are you passionate about young people and interested in supporting colleagues through mapping, auditing and training to ensure young people are protected or diverted from exploitation. Do you have a good understanding of extra familial harm and experience of safeguarding in this context and wish to utilise your quality assurance skills and or further develop them?

Are you are interested in what we can learn from young people, and practice? Do you enjoy working multi-agency, and want to make a difference?

This role is a fixed term period currently and will be reviewed in May 2026.

About you

In this role, you will be a key player in supporting practice development and identifying where we need to strengthen practice in Bexley. You will have the opportunity to work as part of a team auditing and developing practice. You will be able to access support through your peers and specialist staff. You will have access to group supervision and training.

This role is non-case holding and will provide opportunity for both operational and strategic working and allow you to be creative and innovative in your approach.

Working closely with colleagues across children’s services, youth justice, health and education you will be a key player in strengthening our grip on children who go missing, those at risk of exploitation and in need of support.

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) 

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on  recruitment@bexley.gov.uk

About Bexley

Bexley is well connected, there are good transport links to central London, the Kent countryside and the Coast! It is the best of both worlds. Our residents and workers can benefit from the new high-speed Elizabeth Line which goes from Abbey Wood, here in Bexley and all the way to Reading, Southeast England.

We are a diverse and growing borough. By 2030 our population will be over 260,000 and almost 300,000 by 2050. Almost 25% of our population is Black and Asian Multi-Ethnic. Bexley is one of London’s greenest boroughs and has recently been awarded Public Sector Campaign of the year by Sustainable City’s prestigious annual awards.

Our Approach to Children’s Social Care in Bexley

We believe that everyone in Bexley Children’s Social Care should have the opportunity to grow and develop, in every role and at every stage of their career and offer a wide variety of social work roles, both for qualified and unqualified practitioners. Bexley Children’s Social Care offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in different areas of Children’s Services: we offer a comprehensive range of professional development opportunities and are committed to ensuring that Bexley is a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.

The children and families we work with, are always kept at the centre of our practice.  We believe: 

  • children should stay with their families whenever it’s in their best interests and safe to do so

  • where it’s not, we must act quickly through the courts to help children find a safe space 

  • success depends on positive, respectful relationships with families and with each other 

  • working with families is unpredictable, so we have to create a supportive environment for our teams 

  • the most effective practice is based on â€˜showing your working out’ â€“ so that even when things don’t go to plan, the thinking behind decisions is clear and defensible 

Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career. 

We offer excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes. 

Our offer:

  • flexible working - including opportunities for hybrid working, job sharing, compressed hours, and career breaks 

  • a comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision for colleagues in all roles and at every stage of their career

  • clear career progression pathways, within a nurturing environment, which allows social work to flourish. From opportunities to undertake social work qualification; our dedicated ASYE Academy; to our Leadership Academy offering bespoke development for our aspiring and existing leaders. There are also opportunities for practitioners to be involved in university research & academic delivery with our partner universities and students.

  • family leave - includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave 

  • mental health and physical wellbeing - including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, help to quit smoking, access to private healthcare, free eye tests and discounted leisure offers 

  • financial wellbeing - excellent pension scheme, charitable giving options 

  • generous annual leave - 25 to 33 days, with the option to purchase extra leave plus an extra bank holiday at Christmas 

  • competitive pay - performance assessments with the opportunity for salary increments and transparent salary scales 

  • transport offers - cycle to work scheme, carpooling, subsidised parking and interest-free season ticket loans 

  • recognition - Thank you messaging to celebrate staff success and sharing of compliments received 

  • professional and personal development - training and workshops to help you thrive and a discount on most Learning and Enterprise College Bexley courses 

  • staff support networks - our networks support and encourage networking between staff with various events throughout the year 

  • employee volunteering - get out of the office and help a local project blossom 

  • MyChoice benefit scheme - your pick of perks from vouchers to car leasing 

  • local authority discount scheme - attraction and theme park discounts and local offers in partnership with KAARP .

We work together in a modern, well-equipped, energising environment that supports team working and collaboration across the service and with partners