Isle of Wight Council

A new Isle of Wight children’s services leadership team has been in place on the Island since 1st February 2024, following the cessation of the successful ten-year strategic partnership between the Isle of Wight Council and Hampshire County Council. Our new focus is on Creating Change Together using Language That Cares. Ofsted has rated us as a good children’s social care service since 2018. This new arrangement, with the Children’s Services Directorate embedded within the council’s wider corporate arrangements, and its leadership team focused 100% on the Island, presents an opportunity to consider children’s social care services and the impact that we have, within the ambitious new strategic plans being developed to improve outcomes for all children, young people, and families on the Island.

An opportunity has arisen for us to recruit to a permanent social worker position within our children in care team. We are looking for a social worker who understands the importance of participation, direct work, and engagement and how this leads to improvements in outcomes for children, social work practice and our services. This position attracts an enhanced market supplement, reviewed annually and you will be supported by a social worker personnel assistant to help with all your business administration. Our Council has invested further in children’s social care. We have recruited additional permanent social workers, senior social workers, and Family Practitioners, bringing in even more capacity. Our Resilience Around the Families Team (RAFT) is a dedicated resource with adult mental health professional, adult substance misuse professionals, child mental health specialists, and a team of trained volunteers. RAFT is a key part of our approach to support social workers to keep children at home or to reunify them back to their families from care when and where it is in their best interests to do so.

Our Family Hub and early help offer is nationally recognised as best practice, providing access to a range of targeted early interventions and early help support services including, parenting and domestic abuse interventions. Recent developments include increasing our Local Offer to Care Leavers accessed through our Family Hubs.

We have a positive, supportive culture and working environment. Even our agency workers do not want to leave and if they do, they ask to come back. We work to a strengths-based, multi-disciplinary approach, focussed on building resilience in individuals, families, and communities, whilst managing risk and safeguarding children.

When you join #TeamIWC you'll receive our staff benefits package, including:

-  Annual leave entitlement of 32 days p/a PLUS public holidays!

-  Local Government pension scheme

-  Discounted Solent ferry travel

-  Island bus network discount

-  Cycle to work scheme

-  Staff parking permit scheme

-  Discounted island sports & leisure gym membership

-  National and local discounts & benefits schemes

Relocation: For some vacancies (subject to criteria) a relocation scheme of up to £8,000 may be available if you are specifically relocating to the Isle of Wight to work with us, or if you choose to commute to the Isle of Wight daily, you may be eligible to have some travel costs reimbursed.

The Isle of Wight Council currently does not have a license to sponsor overseas workers. 

Find out more about working for the Isle of Wight Council and living on the Island here.

The Isle of Wight Council protects its employees from discrimination and this is supported by the Unacceptable Behaviour Policy, Employee Code of Conduct and Behaviours Framework. We actively promote the diversity of our workforce and we provide flexible working options (where appropriate) to support the different needs of our employees.

The Isle of Wight Council’s Terms & Conditions of employment are available upon request. Please contact our recruitment team via adverts@iow.gov.uk if you would like to receive a copy.

The Isle of Wight Council is an equal opportunities employer. We are proud to encourage applications from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities to better reflect the diversity within our local community. We are also a Disability Confident Employer. Along with a number of commitments, this means, providing you meet the basic essential requirements of the advertised role and have declared yourself as disabled, you will be offered an opportunity for an interview within the council.

This council and its schools recruit according to the council’s Recruitment, Policy and Procedure and are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.

The management reporting line for this role is ultimately through the Isle of Wight Council Children’s Services directorate.

The Isle of Wight Council is committed to supporting all newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) through the implementation of a robust post graduate competency framework referred to as the Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE). The ASYE is intended to be the first stage of the continuing professional development for Registered Social Workers, and the framework will be closely allied to the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF).  You will be therefore, be required to satisfactorily complete the ASYE programme within a 12-month period (or 18 months if part time).

If you have difficulty completing your online application or need further information about how to apply, phone 01983 823134 or email callcentre@iow.gov.uk. Please note: Only applications completed and submitted online by the closing date will be accepted.

We often receive a high volume of applicants for our vacancies. If you do not hear from the recruiting manager within three weeks of the closing date, we regret that your application will not have been successful on this occasion. We actively encourage you to revisit our job page and apply to alternate posts that may be suitable.