Independent Reviewing Officer / Child Protection Chair

Become an Independent Reviewing Officer for

Bury and help with our ‘Let’s Do it for Children’ vision.

We are committed to flexible working- ask us for more details.

About the job

This is an exciting opportunity to join our experienced and stable team of IROs dedicated to improving outcomes for children looked after!

As an IRO in Bury your role will be to chair Children Looked After Reviews, ensure that children are at the centre of the process and that parents are included wherever and however possible.

Building relationships with children and young people is a key responsibility of Bury IROs. So you will be expected to visit children and young people before their meetings and maintain oversight of their care plans between reviews, whilst ensuring their voice is captured and made known to Bury’s Social Care Managers.

Bury Council is committed to ensuring that all children have a permanence plan and you will play a key role in driving this commitment and ensuring it is secured at the earliest possible moment.

One of the ways you will do this is by providing advice support and challenge to colleagues in Childrens Social Care but also professionals from partner agencies.

When Care Plans are not effective at meeting the needs of Children Looked After, you will have the analytical skills along with the confidence and experience to challenge colleagues. You will also celebrate good practice and highlight this to social workers and their managers.

About You

We are looking for people who are motivated, enthusiastic and committed to making a difference to children looked after. You will have excellent skills in communicating with children.

We need you to be an experienced practitioner with at least 5 years post qualification experienced under your belt and a full understanding and experience of working with all aspects of safeguarding children.

You will be experienced in chairing meetings and able to handle complex and competing demands to ensure the best outcomes possible for children and young people.

You will need to be comfortable working in a multi-agency environment and able to question and challenge partner agencies in the same way as our social care colleagues.

About Bury

Bury is a busy town with its world famous market and large shopping centre!

We are part way through a journey in Bury and are doing things differently. IRO’s are vital to drive improvements and implement our new practice model.

We are committed to finding and supporting the best talent to work in Bury. The Independent Reviewing Officers sit within children’s services but retain their independence, which enables them to advocate effectively for Bury’s children and young people.

We are one of the first Authorities in the North-west to be pioneering the Hertfordshire Family Safeguarding model of working with families and training will be provided to learn new skills such as motivational interviewing which will help you forge strong connections with children, young people, and their families.

We want to invest in you, and we have a clear vision around succession planning for our most talented workers. At the heart of everything we do are the children and young people of Bury. We want staff who can form relationships, seeing the strengths in families and building on those assets, always looking for solutions to support families to live together safely and for children and young people to thrive.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact IRO Team Manager, Sam Taylor on 07356122302 or Rae Capon -Head of Service on 0161-253-6146

Normal hours of work are 37 hours per week, worked throughout the year.

Full time salaries are:

£46.731-£47.754

Plus market supplement of two additional increments per Anum

Employee Benefits include:

Re-imbursement of the annual £90 Social Work England registration fees (conditions apply).

Pay increases in line with your continued professional development.

Free parking where you work - worth £860 a year for qualified Social Workers who work from town centre locations where there is no ready access to free parking, plus car mileage.

Opportunities to develop new and specialist skills.

Innovative training and development opportunities.

Supportive integrated teams and a friendly working environment.

Professional supervision to a high standard.

Local Government Pension Scheme.

A range of attractive work/life balance policies.

26 days annual leave (rising to 31 days after 5 years), plus an additional day of leave over the Christmas period and the option to buy an additional 10 days on top of that.

Employee discount scheme which provides discounts with local business within the borough as well as a cycle to work scheme and car lease scheme.

Employee Assistance Programme, to support you through difficult times, with things like free counselling, financial or legal advice.

It all adds up to an exciting package.

We’ve improved our interview process too - you’ll get a quick response to your application, and we have regular interview days.

Come and join Team Bury #TeamBury

We listen

We hold monthly Voice of the Workforce meetings where we discuss how we can resolve practice challenges and create better conditions for social work to thrive.

We encourage work-life balance

We want our Social Workers to have enough time to relax, spend time with family and friends, and feel good, so that they can do their best at work.

About Bury

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare or children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Appointment may be subject to a satisfactory disclosure at the appropriate level under the Disclosure and Barring Service.

In line with safer recruitment, please ensure that your application/CV covers your full employment history and there is a reason noted for any gaps in employment. Successful candidates will be asked to provide relevant references for the past ten years and character references will not be accepted.

As a Corporate Parent, ensure that the work and services you deliver considers our care experienced young people, promotes their life chances empowers them to influence the policies, services, and decisions that affect them, champions their rights, and ensure they grow up in the best possible way

We are committed to Bury being an equal society that recognises values and embraces all people, regardless of any difference, for the skills, abilities and experiences they bring into the workforce and the wider community. Therefore we guarantee an interview for disabled people, looked after children/ care leavers, armed forces personnel (including reservists and veterans) and carers of adults or disabled children if they meet the essential criteria.

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