Personal Facilitator - Working for Essex

About the role

Personal Facilitator

Fixed Term, Part Time

£25,959 to £28,621 per annum, full time equivalent

Location: Colchester

Closing Date: Sunday 19th April 2026 at 11.59pm

Please note that this is a Fixed Term Contract / Secondment opportunity till the 31st of March 2028 and is a Part Time role, offering 33 hours per week.

The pro rata salary range is £23,152 to £25,526 per annum.

Interview Date: 28th April 2026.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Adult Social Care

The Opportunity

Within this role you will be supporting and facilitating a Social Worker employed through Adult Social Care to carry out their role in Advocating for the Adults they work with. The Social Worker you will be working with lives with a Severe Sight Impairment. The need for a Personal Facilitator is to ensure the Social Worker can complete their role successfully in areas in which they cannot see or access otherwise. The Social Worker also has the assistance of a Working Guide Dog to aid with mobility.

The role requires willingness to drive (in your own vehicle, with milage reclaimed via expenses) and working with a guide dog.

This role is specific to meet the access needs of an ECC officer with disabilities. The role is funded entirely by Access to Work, is therefore cost neutral to ECC and is accommodated by the organisation as a reasonable adjustment in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Accountabilities

To drive to and from Office Locations and visits within the community.
To support with the safety and orientation of the Social Worker when necessary.
To risk assess and verbalise appropriately any risks noted to the Social Worker. This could include changes to the environment.
To take clear and concise notes relating to the work The Social Worker is completing.
If notes are written by hand, to ensure these are typed up in a timely fashion allowing the Social Worker to complete their report writing.
To support with form filling and document reading when required.
To support the Social Worker in attending training, meetings, and events (this may be in person or virtually). (When in person could be out of the North Essex Area).
To ensure necessary tasks are completed for the Social Worker’s role. This will be using Microsoft and Web based systems.
To proofread official documentation and reports ensuring accurate grammar and spelling.
To follow instructions given by the Social Worker about support they may need.

The Experience You Will Bring

Essential Criteria:

Hold a clean UK Driving Licence.
Be willing and able to support alongside a guide dog.
Be fluent in English, verbally and written.
Have experience and be proficient in Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel etc.
Follow instructions and ask questions if unsure.
Work well in a busy environment within a team.
Have excellent time keeping skills.
Understand the role and rules for a Working Guide Dog and respect this.

Desirable Criteria:

Have experience in supporting an adult living with a Sight Impairment.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

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.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

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

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email daniel.warner@essex.gov.uk

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