Senior Practitioner Emergency Duty Team

Job Introduction

About Us

The Emergency Duty Team is a critical part of our service to children, families and vulnerable adults in Oxfordshire. Our team covers all hours of the week that fall outside of the standard office hours and offers staff a dynamic, fast-paced role responding to those in our communities who require immediate help and support during emergencies out of hours. We are co-located with our police partners at Abingdon Police Station.

About the Role

The Emergency Duty Team (EDT) are an out of hours service covering 126.5 hours of the operational working week, therefore you will be working alongside colleagues on a rotating Shift Pattern which will include some weekends and Bank Holidays. We work closely with our partner agencies and are co-located with Thames Valley Police in Abingdon Police Station.

As part of our team, you will:

• Provide a high-quality response to emergency referrals out of normal working hours.
• Work a rotational shift pattern. 
• Provide appropriate support and interventions to vulnerable adults, children and families to address safeguarding concerns.
• Provide out of hours advice and guidance to professionals, as well as factually accurate and reflective reports.
• Be the first point of contact for professionals, vulnerable adults, children, families or members of the public who have a concern which cannot wait until normal office hours resume.
• Carry out thorough high-quality crisis led assessments for children and families, promptly identifying level of risk, need and services required to promote and ensure safe outcomes.
• Actively apply legal and professional knowledge and skills - balancing protection, risk and support to achieve positive outcomes for those requiring our service.                                                

Your pattern is carefully managed, is fair and equitable with a combination of ‘block’ shift patterns. Shifts are as follows:  

Mon – Thursday 5pm – 12:00 or 12:00 – 8.30am                                   

Friday 4 – 12:00 or 12: -8.30am.                                                         

Weekends: 8.30am-5pm or 5pm-12:00 or 12:00 – 8.30am.

About you

You will appreciate this is an important and essential service and as such, the role requires a significant level of autonomy and therefore ideally you would have management experience gained from a statutory child protection service. You need to be a qualified social worker with Social Work England registration and should be someone able to manage competing demands, reflective and analytical, and proportionate in your decision-making whilst maintaining a clear focus on the best interests of children and vulnerable adults. 
  

Rewards and benefits

It really is true that every single job role here contributes to bettering the lives of the people in our county - we want to do this for our employees too. We are proud of our strong flexible working culture, including the opportunity for flexibility on working hours and the use of technology to support agile working. We offer some of the very best learning and development opportunities to support your ongoing development.

We have a generous holiday allowance which rises as you remain in employment with us up to 32 days, as well as giving you the option to buy additional holiday. You will also have access to a Local Government Pension Scheme with employer contributions of up to 19.9% of your salary; a range of local and national retail discounts; and a host of enhanced family friendly policies including carers leave and paid time off for volunteering.

Due to the nature of this role, the salary also attracts a 15% uplift for working unsociable hours.

Our commitment to:
 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our commitment to:
 Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Our commitment to:
 Safeguarding

Oxfordshire County Council are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect these commitments.

Our commitment to:
 Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any technical issues with the application system, please contact us at: careers@oxfordshire.gov.uk