We're here for you too.
Supporting lives, connecting people.
About us
Our story
Our story
Support – Be part of a well-trained and strong team which is both supported and supportive
Balance – Opportunities for flexible working, with the right help to achieve a good work-life balance
Develop – Work towards your own progression through CPD and clear career paths
We’re on a drive to achieve our ambitions for people in West Sussex and we would love you to join us to be a part of that.
Our ambition is to deliver care and support that will ensure people remain active, independent, resilient, safe and well by moving towards a strength-based model with our ways of working.
But we need more people like you; talented, skilled, professionals with the natural ability to work with people and find great solutions that meet their needs.
We want to make sure we give all our residents the tools and support to remain independent and help them achieve the outcomes that are right for them.
We know this can be achieved by offering good information, advice and guidance to everyone. This includes people who pay for their own care, so that they are aware of all the local resources available to them and can make positive choices.
We are focusing more on services that get people back to how they want to be as they recover from difficulties or periods of ill health. We know it’s vital for people to gain and regain skills which give them the confidence to live the lives they want.
In return, to help us achieve our ambitions, we offer you our commitment to professional high quality supervision and will value the contribution each discipline brings to our service. We will give you the opportunities to increase your knowledge and acquire the skills to help us provide the best possible outcomes for our residents.
At West Sussex we are committed to supporting your professional progression. We offer a career pathway to develop and promote talent and practice and provide opportunities to progress at each level of the organisation. See our 'Staff stories' section below to find out more about career progression, or download the document which also contains information about job roles and pay scales.
Benefits
Benefits
Adults’ social worker benefits
Annual leave of up to 29 days, plus the ability to buy additional annual leave
Excellent local government pension scheme
Flexible and mobile working opportunities supported by our technology
You can access our high quality essential training and many continuous professional development opportunities which can be tailored to your needs
Fantastic support for you and your family, including childcare vouchers*, career breaks and access to health and financial wellbeing schemes and benefits
Access to a wide range of discounts on areas such as:
groceries
travel
cinema tickets
days out
leisure activities
high street retailers
the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.
Range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives
Relocation packages of up to £10,000 are available, subject to meeting certain criteria
*The Childcare Vouchers scheme is now closed to new entrants, however the Tax-Free Childcare scheme (GOV.UK) is available.
Staff stories
Keely Fry
We spoke with Keely who is a senior social work practitioner to talk about what she loves about working at West Sussex.
Gary Mathews
Senior social worker in the Older People’s Mental Health Team, Gary Mathews was interviewed by Community Care about his experience of working at West Sussex.
One thing came shining through - teamwork. Working together and providing a strong support network is key to our social care teams.
Newly qualified social worker, Milly Richardson, tells her story of the training opportunities she's been given here at West Sussex.
Wanting to help others has always been Milly Richardson’s aim in life and now, after completing her degree while working for West Sussex County Council, she finds herself as one of the County Council’s newly qualified social workers.
Milly, who is part of the Worthing Community Team, is only a couple of months into her new job as a social worker, but she is keen to encourage people to consider a career in social work at the County Council.
“Early on I was told about the traineeship and that it was available in West Sussex. The massive bonus was that I was able to carry on working, and earning, while doing the degree, and as it was sponsored by the County Council I don’t have a student loan to have to pay back.”
During the degree Milly carried out both of her placements within the County Council and used the experiences as an opportunity to learn more about the service.
“All of the teams I have worked in have been really supportive and always happy to help, and I have had a number of different managers and they have all been supportive. I feel listened to, they acknowledge the hard work that staff do, as well as the challenges they face.”
Now a few months into her new role, Milly is completing her Assessed and Supported Year of Employment, which sees her take part in reflective workshops run by lecturers from Chichester University, as well as group supervision work.
She said: “I work in a lovely team and there are some great staff working within West Sussex County Council. It can be a stressful job obviously, but I certainly feel able to seek support from my colleagues and supervisor if needed, and I’m always treated with respect.”
Next year the County Council are working towards offering the Social Work Degree Apprenticeship for existing members of staff.