Adults Social Worker - Older Adult Mental Health

Essex

n/a - n/a

£37,185-£50,081

Colchester

Permanent

Social Care

Role

Adults Social Worker - Older Adult Mental Health

Permanent, Full Time

£37,185 to £50,081 per annum

Location: Colchester & Tendring

Working Style: Community-based worker

Interview date: 29th July 2025

This position is open to Newly Qualified Social Worker’s (NQSW) with relevant experience in Mental Health. The starting salary for NQSW's is £34,902 per annum, rising to £37,185 per annum upon successful completion of the ASYE programme.

The Team

We are a committed team working with adults aged 65 years plus and their carers diagnosed with a functional or organic mental illness such as dementia, both in the community and developing discharge pathways from inpatient wards.

Our team works closely with mental health inpatient wards, Severe Dementia and Frailty Services and Social Care neighbourhood teams, managing the complexities of ongoing support and reablement for people who live with mental health needs. You will have the chance to support adults from the very start of their journey, to reviewing their goals and ambitions further into their social care journey ensuring that their assessed goals and outcomes to continue to promote independence and opportunities.

This role will cover both Colchester and Tendring with a mixture of home, office, and community-based working. Candidates must be located within a reasonable commuting distance from these locations as there may be a requirement to undertake emergency visits.

About the Role

Working to support adults and their families who have complex social needs and are more vulnerable as a result of disability, exclusion, or diminished capacity, you’ll maximise their potential to live independently.

You will manage a caseload, including assessment of risk and purposeful intervention through direct work, commissioned services and review. With case work focusing on the most complex and challenging adult cases, you’ll ensure that adults and their families are safeguarded. You’ll share ideas and best practice, providing specialist advice as part of a multi-disciplinary team sharing your knowledge as a Social Worker.

This is a dynamic role promoting innovative person centred and partnership working with adults, their informal carers and in collaboration with other statutory, and non-statutory services to support and promote their mental health, well-being and outcomes

Take a look at our short video here to get a glimpse into the role and what it’s like to work for Essex County Council.

About You

To apply, you should be a qualified social worker with current Social Work England registration. You’ll bring significant experience of social work and mental health, modelling good practice and providing advice and guidance in complex situations. As, as a subject matter expert in relevant professional practice, you should have a comprehensive understanding of current legislation, regulations, and guidance.

With experience of chairing meetings involving clients, family members, carers, and other multi-agency professionals, we’re looking for your ability to develop strong relationships with partner agencies and the local community to provide a supportive framework for vulnerable adults.

You’ll also bring:

Evidence of continuing professional development and capability of practice in accordance with current professional standards.
An in-depth understanding of the financial implications of commissioned care packages.
The ability to make clear decisions, to highlight and limit potential risks associated with intervention.

This role involves travelling around Essex and beyond. A driving licence and car - or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means - is essential.

Why Join Us?

With us, you can achieve more – for yourself as well as the vulnerable adults you work to support. We’re always looking for new ways to deliver even better services, Social Workers play an integral role in our preventative approach to Social Care. We encourage our multi-disciplinary teams to share their ideas and experience. We work together to get things done. Bring your positive, proactive attitude, and we’ll empower you to make the most of your experience within Essex County Council (ECC) Adult Social Care services.

In June 2025, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated our Adult Social Care services as “Good” with a score of 73%

“The local authority had a good structure and processes in place to enable people to be supported successfully, and support people to remain independent and live healthy lives. The workforce was passionate about supporting people to achieve these outcomes and the local authority had good knowledge of their area, the people living there and the demographics.”

You can read the full report on the CQC website here.

What We Offer

We’ll support you to be your best…

Training and development to empower you from our award-winning Essex Social Care Academy.
With us you can make your career work for you with flexible working options
With us you can get the support you need with employee wellbeing and counselling
Lease Car scheme
Up to £8000 for relocation*
With us you can have peace of mind with life assurance of three times annual salary
Payment of professional fees for approved professions
Local Government Pension Scheme. View Key Facts and FAQ’s about the LGPS.
Volunteering leave
27 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), rising with service
Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) - access to free and confidential information, support, and guidance from a team of highly qualified professionals.
Employee Networks – communities to support you, connect you and help influence change at ECC

Whatever you want to achieve in your social care career, you can do it here.

*T&Cs Apply.

Apply now.

For more information please contact Abbie.Mollison@essex.gov.uk

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR)) on our careers site

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

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