PURPOSE OF THE ROLE:
The role of SeniorSocial Care Workeris vital to the successful delivery of quality care, programmes and services in Neart Le Cheile for children and caregivers who access the service. The Senior Social Care Worker will support primarily children aged 4 to 18 along with their caregivers in Neart Le Cheile, Neilstown, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
The Senior Social Care Worker will report directly to the project manager and will be assigned a supervisor to provide regular support and supervision. The SeniorSocial Care Worker will be a member of, and work collaboratively with the wider Neart Le Cheile staff team, and external service providers and stakeholders in the Clondalkin region. The Senior Social Care worker will be responsible for supporting children from universal level to intensive wrap around support for those presenting with multiple and complex needs for a period of time. The Senior Social Care worker will also ensure the effective day-to-day running of the Neart Le Cheile project, all aspects of Health and Safety, Fire safety, Hygiene and the Physical Environment.
The Neart Le Cheile Service is located in Unit 1 / 2 Neilstown Shopping Centre, Clondalkin, Dublin 22. (D22 AK38).
This role involves working (38 hours per week) Monday to Thursday 09.45 – 18.00 and Friday however, some earlier or evening work will be required to facilitate group work or the functioning needs and operation of the service and a time in Lieu system will be in operation. Flexibility in working hours / patterns will be essential.
The Senior Social Care Worker will have a background in one of the following, Social Care Practice, Social Care Work, Applied Social Care, and Education to a minimum level of Ordinary Bachelor's degree (NFQ Level 7) or Honours Bachelor's degree (NFQ Level 8) - (National Framework of Qualifications) in Social Care.
The ideal candidate would also be entered onto the CORU register of Social Care Workers.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
· To carry out all Initial / Pre Assessments on children and caregivers needs and develop and deliver appropriate care and case management.
· To be responsible for ensuring that children and caregivers care plans are implemented through practice.
· Co-ordinate and allocate all cases to the wider staff team to include social care workers, Counsellor, Family therapists and outward referrals
· Collect weekly, monthly and yearly statistics, Key performance indicators (KPIs) ensuring compliance.
· Ensure Care Plans are developed, agreed upon, implemented, and regularly reviewed for children and their Caregivers.
· To adhere to all policies and procedures, particularly in relation to child protection, safeguarding, confidentiality, finance, personal safety and client care.
· To keep accurate, up to date and factual client records via the Neart le Cheiles recording platforms (Salesforce / E-cass System)
· Implement and maintain with the wider staff team appropriate written records of all the work undertaken to include Service user records, Attendance records, Programme design and evaluation
· Co-Ordinate and Identify staff training to enhance service delivery
· To engage with and develop connections with community support services and other networks. This will facilitate a two-way approach to sending and receiving referrals from relevant services. This will be done in a safe and client centred manner, that will provide the client with options and additional supports. It will also raise awareness of Neart le Cheiles support services in the wider community.
· To promote and advertise ongoing services and activities that the service provides, and to support people using the service to engage in ways that will improve their life circumstances.
· To develop opportunities to deliver activities and initiatives that tie into the national drug strategy and local and national awareness campaigns with the children or care givers.
· To provide an accompaniment service that offers support and advocacy. Accompaniments can include but are not limited to School or house drop and pickups, Activity based programmes outside of the service, and attending planned appointments with external professional organisations that have links
· To always approach children and families with dignity and respect and ensure they are provided with choices around the care and services they receive.
· To assist children and caregivers in providing feedback on services through meetings, the complaints procedures, suggestions and use of questionnaires in a child friendly manner.
· To promote children and caregivers participation by providing information, advice and choices to enable individuals to participate fully in daily decisions relating to them.
· To report immediately to the Manager, any incidence of malpractice by a staff member in relation to the treatment of any children or caregiver accessing Neart le Cheile.
· To ensure that each child or caregivers personal property is respected and protected insofar as is possible.
FinancialResponsibilities:
· To be aware of and adhere to all relevant financial procedures and regulations of the organisation and to report any discrepancies either on the part of the post-holder or others to the service manager immediately.
Liaison:
· To establish responsive liaison arrangements both within the service and externally with Local stakeholders, Clondalkin Drug & Alcohol Task force, HSE, Tusla and other Key partners.
· To promote the work of Neart le Cheile to other organisations.
· To attend internal and external meetings where appropriate and as requested.
· To be accountable for your workload and movements to both your
line manager.
Supervision, Support & Development
· Engaging in regular supervision or one-to-one sessions with your line manager.
· Working under the direction of the service manager, and the board of directors team.
· Working to help the organisation achieve the aims and objectives of the strategic plan in line with our values and mission.
· Participating in Team / Case Management meetings.
· Familiarity and compliance with all relevant policies and standards.
· Participation in relevant and required training events.
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Health & Safety
· Attention to your own Health & Safety in the workplace.
· Maintain and monitor Health and Safety standards and Vigilance of health & safety hazards.
and report to line manager
· Managing incidents and accidents in accordance with policies and procedures.
· Ensuring all Fire Safety Checks are carried out in line with policies, procedures and daily tasks. Reporting any issues immediately to the Project Manager and designated fire officer.
· Ability to recognise and administer basic First Aid as required. The training required will be provided.
· Adhere to all the principles of manual handling.
· Ensuring that the service is safe, reporting any security issues to the Project Manager/Gardaí as required.
Information Management:
· Ensure data and personal information relating to clients, staff and other members of the organisation is kept safe and secure using the correct systems and procedures, is collected for
legitimate purposes and is safely destroyed when appropriate.
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Garda Vetting:
Neart le Cheile will seek Garda Vetting for all residences in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. All appointments will require satisfactory security clearances. If you lived in any country for 6 months or more other than the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, you will be required to provide security clearance for each jurisdiction in which you have resided. Your security clearance must be dated after you left that country and cover the entire period of your residence. Seeking security clearances from other countries (e.g. the UK, USA etc.) are the responsibility and at the expense of the candidate. This process can take a considerable amount of time. Therefore, if you are interested in pursuing a career with Neart Le Cheile we would strongly advise you to commence seeking international security clearances now
Qualifications:
Qualifications/eligibility may not be confirmed until the final stage of the recruitment process - those candidates who do not possess the essential requirements, on the date of application and proceed with their application are putting themselves to unnecessary effort/expense and will not be offered a position from this campaign. Please note that, given the volume of applications, Neart Le Cheile is not in a position to consider or offer advice on the qualifications/eligibility of individuals unless they come under consideration. The onus is on the candidate to ensure they fulfil the eligibility requirements set out above. Neart Le Cheile reserves the right to deem an applicant ineligible at any stage if it is apparent that the candidate does not hold the required eligibility/qualifications e.g. from the submitted application form. Candidates who come under consideration following the final selection stage will be required to provide documentary evidence of their eligibility, including transcripts of qualifications. Candidates who are unable to show that they hold the required qualifications may be withdrawn from the campaign at any stage.
· The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.
Person Specification
Essential Criteria:
Documentary evidence of qualifications and eligibility will be confirmed at the end of any recruitment process, and candidates who do not possess the essential requirements on the date of application will not be offered a position. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they meet the essential criteria of the person specification.
The Appropriate Candidate Will Have:
· Professional Qualification in one of the following: Social Care Practice, Social Care Work, Applied Social Care, to a minimum level of Ordinary Bachelor's degree (NFQ Level 7) or Honours Bachelor's degree (NFQ Level 8) - (National Framework of Qualifications) in Social Care.
· CORU: One of the following
(1) Registered with the social care workers registration board maintained by Coru.
(2) Hold a Coru approved social care Qualification and have applied for Coru registration (Evidence Required)
(3) Eligible for registration with the social care workers registration board maintained by Coru (Evidence required)
· Minimum two years post qualification experience of working directly with children with complex needs and impacted by parental / caregivers substance misuse and or mental health.
· The ability to encourage and motivate a staff team to deliver a professional service to service users.
· The ability to relate to and care for vulnerable children, young people, and to demonstrate genuine respect for them, their parents, caregivers and families.
· The ability to provide a service that enhances the dignity, development and independence of children and their caregivers.
· An understanding of family dynamics, youth mental health, substance misuse, hidden harm, separated families, Domestic Violence abuse.
· Administration skills for record keeping and report writing and computer literacy.
· Relevant experience of facilitating meetings with external agencies.
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Your personal motor insurance must indemnify Neart Le Cheile when driving your own car for work purposes e.g. when supporting children/ caregivers in accessing relevant services in the community and you must also be prepared to drive the company vehicles as required.
Desirable:
It would be an advantage for the candidate to have:
Full clean driver's license
Experience and knowledge of working in two or more of the following areas: Community Family Support, Children's Residential Care, Children's Mental Health, Challenging Behaviour or Substance Misuse.
Experience and knowledge in the area of child protection and associated legislation and guidelines.
Knowledge of statutory and voluntary social care services and systems.
Experience working on own initiative, lone working, managing one's own caseload
and time management.
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· Read the Post Description Carefully
· Review the job description/ Person specification, duties, and requirements to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria.
· Write a cover letter highlighting your suitability.
· Attach an up to date CV.
· Address each of the essential and desirable criteria listed in the job description / person spec.
· Include copies of relevant qualifications, certificates, or references
· Ensure all documents are up to date and clearly labelled.
Submission Process:
· Send your application by email to by 5pm on 26/09/2025 and in the heading line please state "Senior Social Care Worker Application" when attaching your cover letter and CV.
For any further queries around the advertised role, please contact:
: Service Manager
: Chairperson
Shortlisting will apply.
Please note only candidates shortlisted for interview will be contacted. Candidate must be available for in person interview
The successful candidate will only be appointed after successful completion of Garda vetting and reference checks.
Neart Le Cheile is an equal opportunities employer.
WHAT WE OFFER:
SENIOR SOCIAL CARE WORKER
· Salary Scale aligned to HSE pay scale
HSE CODE: 3029
SENIOR SOCIAL CARE WORKER (WITH QUALIFICATION)
6 POINT SCALE (CONTUNIES ON SOCIAL CARE WORKER SCALE FROM POINT 6 -10)
1. 47,596
2. 49,030
3. 50,485
4. 51,953
5. 53,477
6. LSI
· Annual leave
· 25 Days + 3 Days over the Christmas to New Year period: to be decided annually by service manager depending on how xmas falls each year.
· Additionally - Christmas Eve / Good Friday are two automatic days off granted by employer.
· Bank Holiday
10 Public holidays per year pro rata.
· Sick Leave
3 X Weeks / (114HRS) Full Sick Pay with a valid GP cert from Day one.
· Time In Lieu
Time In Lieu system is in place for staff that are required to work over their required hours.
· Salary Payment
Paid Monthly on 28th day of each Month
Contracted Hours of Work (38 hours Per Week) (Flexibility will be required)
· Monday
· Tuesday 09.45 – 18.00
· Wednesday 09.00 – 17.15
· Thursday
· Friday
Service will Close for Lunch: Monday – Thursday – 14.30
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: €47,596.00-€53,477.00 per year
Benefits:
* Bike to work scheme
* Employee assistance program
* On-site parking
* Sick pay
Work Location: In person