Work For Us
Welcome to Achieving for Children
Nick Whitfield, Chief Executive
In 2016 we won the Social Work Employer of the Year award, with the judges highlighting the fantastic training and development, positive working culture, and opportunities for innovation and career progression. We also offer great opportunities outside of social care, such as early help, education and business services.
We’re a community interest company jointly owned by Kingston, Richmond and Windsor & Maidenhead Councils. This gives our staff the employment benefits of the public sector, plus the freedom to innovate without the distractions of being part of a much larger council structure.
We’ve been up and running since 2014 and since then we’ve transformed services in Kingston from an Ofsted rating of ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’. Services in Richmond are also rated as ‘good’, and we’ve recently expanded to take on services in Windsor & Maidenhead. We’re also one of a handful of local authorities (or in our case, a separate organisation) to be named one of the government’s Partners in Practice, which means we have been tasked with modelling excellent practice and sharing it with the wider sector. It’s an exciting time to join the team at Achieving for Children – please have a look around our site to find out more.”
Why work for us?
In return for your dedication to improving the lives of children and young people, we can offer you:
- Competitive salary, leave and access to the local government pension scheme – our salaries are benchmarked against other local authorities and includes access to the local government pension scheme; a generous annual leave entitlement; and enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes.
- Excellent learning and development opportunities and schemes of support – all employees have access to our training and education programmes that includes everything from systemic family therapy to Lego therapy! Our learning and development offer was highlighted as a key strength by the judging panel when they awarded us Social Work Employer of the Year in 2016.
- Retention of continuous service benefits – for those moving from a local government post you will retain your continuous service benefits.
- Tools and models to support practice – you will have access to our virtual practice support hub, which includes access to Research in Practice, Signs of Safety practice support and relevant evidenced based research.
- Manageable caseloads – through reflective supervision from an experienced management team, your caseloads will be monitored and reviewed regularly.
- Career pathways – there is access to a clear progression path when key qualification milestones are reached.
- Flexible working arrangements – we encourage flexible working and have systems in place which enable mobile working. As an employer, we know how crucial it is to make sure you have access to the right tools to do your jobs to the best of your ability.
- Travel and transport – whether you are based in Twickenham, Kingston, Windsor, Maidenhead or Chessington, you’ll benefit from excellent public transport links. In addition you have access to the Zipcar scheme and interest-free travel season ticket loan for purchase of an annual season ticket for travel between home and work.
- Discounts – all employees have access to the bike pool and discounts on purchases for bikes and equipment through Cyclescheme as well as other employee discount schemes offered by our owning Councils.
- Have your voice heard – we’re a democratic organisation with a commitment to reducing bureaucratic and hierarchical barriers. Initiatives such as our Innovation Hub, Staff Council and Bureaucracy Busting Workshops actively encourage your ideas to make things better for staff and the children you serve.
And above all, we care! We value employees’ wellbeing, and recognise that working with vulnerable children and their families can be stressful. That’s why we offer an internal coaching programme, reflective supervision, and access to a confidential support line and advice and guidance from trained professionals. And we also recognise the hard work and dedication of our employees through our staff awards programme and regular social events and activities.
Vacancies
You can find our job vacancies listed here: