Advanced Practitioner

Leicestershire County Council; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in England seeks an Advanced Practitioner to support and develop the practice of social workers within Children's Social Care. This role involves providing supervision, training on Signs of Safety methodology, and enhancing the well-being of practitioners. Candidates must be registered social workers with significant experience in children's social work. The position offers a hybrid working model and competitive salary.

Qualifications

• High level of experience in children's social work, including child protection and risk management.
• Skilled in applying the Signs of Safety methodology.
• Demonstrated experience in coaching and mentoring other social workers.

Responsibilities

• Provide 1:1 support to practitioners in children's social care.
• Support the delivery of Signs of Safety training and trauma-informed practice training.
• Engage in recruitment activity and quality assurance efforts.

Skills

Coaching and mentoring skills

Knowledge of Signs of Safety methodology

Strong relationship-building skills

Experience in training others

Challenging inadequate practice

Education

Registered social worker

Job description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall

Worker Category: Hybrid Worker

Salary: £43,860 - £47,829 per annum, plus market premium

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 15th October 2025

Interview Date(s): 21st October 2025

About the Role

We have an exciting opportunity to join our Practice Excellence Team as an Advanced Practitioner. This role is a key part of our offer to support and develop the practice of colleagues working within Children's Social Care. You will be working within a team including the Principal Social Worker, Learning and Improvement Managers and other Advanced Practitioners. Leicestershire values creating an environment where good practice can flourish and a vital part of that is having a responsive and supportive team such as Practice Excellence to support practitioners and managers across the service in their everyday practice. You would be a link to our Locality based teams and will:

• Provide 1:1 support to practitioners across teams in children's social care - this could include reflective discussions, helping to develop safety plans, supporting on challenging visits or supporting in chairing network meetings.
• Support PODs across children's social care teams using the group supervision process to reflect and explore ways of working with children and families promoting an environment of curiosity.
• Support the wellbeing and retention of a skilled and dedicated workforce.
• Take part in the delivery and organisation of our Signs of Safety training offer - this includes the 2-day core training, and also half-day workshops.
• Take part in the delivery and organisation of our trauma informed practice training offer - including the 1-day foundation training and then specific workshops.
• Take part in supporting newly qualified social workers via the ASYE program and international social workers.
• Take part in other key activities such as annual conferences, virtual practice forum events, recruitment activity and quality assurance activity.

An enhanced DBS check is required for this post.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

• Be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England and have a high level of experience in children's social work, with substantial breadth of practice and depth of experience across a range of areas in children's social work including child protection, complex care or risk management.
• Have demonstrable skilled application of knowledge and understanding of the Signs of Safety methodology with being able to describe how practical application of the tools and disciplines are used to affect change.
• Have evidence of coaching / mentoring and supporting workers to develop their practice and confidence
• Have experience of training others
• Have experience of challenging inadequate practice to support improvement.
• Have extensive knowledge of key areas of social work practice including safeguarding children and managing risk.
• Have the ability to proactively develop strong and productive relationships with a wide range of colleagues.

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services, we offer our communities.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.