Consultant Social Worker - Willow Service

About this job

Consultant Social Worker - Willow Service

The Willow Programme – Rooted. Resilient. Renewing.

Lead an innovative new service. Shape practice. Change futures.

Barking & Dagenham is creating the Willow Programme, a new service designed to support women who have experienced the removal of a child from their care. Embedded within Children's Services, Willow will deliver intensive, trauma-informed and relationship-based support that helps women achieve sustained change while reducing repeat care proceedings and improving outcomes for children.

We are seeking an exceptional Consultant Social Worker to lead this new service and help shape its vision, culture and future success from day one.

About the Role

This is a unique leadership opportunity for an experienced social worker who is passionate about innovation, prevention and strengths-based practice. You will lead a small specialist team of two Willow Practitioners while holding a small caseload yourself, providing strategic and operational leadership to ensure outstanding outcomes for women and families

You will:

• Lead and develop a high-performing trauma-informed practice model.
• Build strong partnerships across Children's Services, health, adult services and community agencies.
• Use data, performance information and quality assurance processes to demonstrate impact.
• Support recruitment, development and supervision of staff.
• Champion learning, participation and continuous improvement.
• Help establish Willow as a flagship preventative service within Barking & Dagenham.

Special requirements for this post

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and a comprehensive screening process will be undertaken on successful applicants including an Enhanced Children’s Department of Barring Services check.

About you

You will be a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England, with significant experience in children's social care, safeguarding and court-related work.

You will bring:

• Experience of supervising and developing practitioners.
• Strong understanding of trauma-informed and relationship-based practice.
• Knowledge of the challenges facing women whose children have been removed from their care.
• Excellent communication skills
• Confidence in using data and performance information to improve practice.
• The ability to inspire others, drive innovation and create positive change.

Why Join Willow?

This is a rare opportunity to help design and lead a completely new service with the freedom to influence how it develops and grows. Willow sits at the heart of Barking & Dagenham's wider strategy to reduce repeat care proceedings, improve permanence outcomes and strengthen support for vulnerable families.

You will join a borough that is committed to innovation, prevention and improving outcomes for children and families. Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to lead work that genuinely changes lives, helping women move beyond trauma and creating better futures for the next generation

Help us build something exceptional from the ground up.
Lead a service that transforms lives.
Join Willow.

About us

Barking & Dagenham is changing. It Starts Here.

Think you know Barking and Dagenham? Think again. While this small corner of east London might have a reputation for needing development, scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find active communities and a place that consistently punches above its weight. The borough is changing – and changing for the better. And It Starts Here.

Yes, the borough has its challenges. But it’s on the cusp of something exciting. With one of the youngest populations in the country, ambitions are high and rightly so. 98% of our schools are rated Good or Outstanding and every year more of our talented teenagers get into Russell Group Universities and hotly sought after apprenticeship schemes.

We have award winning parks, centuries old manor houses full of relics and artifacts you can go and see, and the ruins of one of Anglo-Saxon England's most powerful and wealthiest religious sites. We’re even bringing beavers and white storks to the borough to help rewild the local landscape and boost biodiversity.

Over the past few years, we’ve been working hard to improve how we deliver services and support our community. From tackling inequality to making sure our services are the best they can be, we’re focused on what matters most to local people.

We’re creating the conditions for people to thrive - so everyone can enjoy a good quality of life, feel proud to call this place home, and be part of something bigger.

#ItStartsHere - with our streets, our schools, our neighbourhoods. And with your application to join our determined team who are passionate about doing what’s best for the future of Barking and Dagenham.

As an Investors in People Gold Award employer, we’re serious about supporting our staff. From flexible working, professional training and career development to wellbeing initiatives, we want our people to feel valued and supported in everything they do.

Our values, known as

• DRIVE, shape how we work: Deliver our best every day – and do what we promise
• Respond in a prompt, positive way to our community’s needs
• Inspire others with our attitudes and actions
• Value people for who they are and what they can do
• Engage with others to improve our resilience and flexibility We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences.

Additional Information

Barking & Dagenham is changing. It Starts Here.

Think you know Barking and Dagenham? Think again. While this small corner of east London might have a reputation for needing development, scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find active communities and a place that consistently punches above its weight. The borough is changing – and changing for the better. And It Starts Here.

Yes, the borough has its challenges. But it’s on the cusp of something exciting. With one of the youngest populations in the country, ambitions are high and rightly so. 98% of our schools are rated Good or Outstanding and every year more of our talented teenagers get into Russell Group Universities and hotly sought after apprenticeship schemes.

We have award winning parks, centuries old manor houses full of relics and artifacts you can go and see, and the ruins of one of Anglo-Saxon England's most powerful and wealthiest religious sites. We’re even bringing beavers and white storks to the borough to help rewild the local landscape and boost biodiversity.

Over the past few years, we’ve been working hard to improve how we deliver services and support our community. From tackling inequality to making sure our services are the best they can be, we’re focused on what matters most to local people.

We’re creating the conditions for people to thrive - so everyone can enjoy a good quality of life, feel proud to call this place home, and be part of something bigger.

#ItStartsHere - with our streets, our schools, our neighbourhoods. And with your application to join our determined team who are passionate about doing what’s best for the future of Barking and Dagenham.

As an Investors in People Gold Award empl