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Your new role

Southend City Council are looking to appoint a 22hrs per week, permanent Independent Reviewing Officer to join the Safeguarding and Reviews Service. The successful candidates will be joining a service committed to ensuring plans for children in our care are progressed without delay and lead to improved outcomes for children.

As the newly appointed IRO, you will be required to chair child protection conferences in line with SET Child Protection Procedures and Working Together to Safeguard Children. You will review the cases of children who are looked after and take all necessary decisions to confirm the child’s care plan.

You will monitor progress of plans for children between CLA Reviews and Child Protection Conferences to ensure their needs are being met.

By joining Southend, you will be joining a service that Ofsted reported in 2023 as 'Social workers who were spoken to during this visit were positive about working for Southend and reported feeling safe and ‘belonging’. Social workers reported that management is thoughtful, considers successes and celebrates good practice...the senior leadership team are visible and social workers can discuss issues affecting their work with children.

There is a requirement that you are able to work Wednesdays, the other 2 days are flexible.

Within this position, there will be working from home opportunities every two weeks for administration duties, meetings will be onsite and in person.

What you'll need to succeed

To be successful in this position you must be able to work in the UK, have a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with the Social Work England.

You are required to have statutory local authority children's services experience along with experience of improving outcomes for children who are being harmed, including children who experience domestic abuse and chronic neglect.

You will need to have the ability to engage in a restorative manner with parents, carers and children in order for them to know they are central to all aspects of planning. As well as having the ability to share expertise in the field of child protection with social workers, social work managers and partner agencies.

You will have strong communication skills, both verbally and written, and have the ability to organise and manage a varied workload