Advanced Practitioner

Waltham Forest; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

The Looked After Children Advanced Practitioner role at London Borough of Waltham Forest oversees welfare and development of children in care, supporting the Team Manager in implementing care strategies and monitoring service delivery.

Applicants should have extensive Children & Families social work experience, ability to assess risks, and a track record in complex casework. The role requires DBS checks and offers a structured public-sector environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive post-qualification social work experience in Children & Families settings.
• Experience handling complex casework within statutory children's services.
• Experience with prioritisation, care planning, and service delivery.
• Proven ability to assess complex risks.

Responsibilities

• Deputise for the Team Manager as needed to ensure smooth team operations.
• Supervise up to three staff, guiding and supporting their casework.
• Facilitate PSG meetings at least twice monthly, focusing on serious case reviews and reflective learning.
• Oversee all leaving care transfers, ensuring timely referral to panels and supporting social workers through the process.
• Manage a caseload of up to 5 cases.
• Organise the duty rota and serve as duty manager.
• Monitor supervised staff’s performance weekly and escalate concerns as needed.

Job description

Job Description

Employer: London Borough Of Waltham Forest

Location: To be confirmed

Contract: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full Time

DBS Check: No

Closing Date: 30/09/2026 at 23:55

Reference: 2315

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Contract Type: Permanent

Working hours per week:36

Application Deadline: 30/09/2026

Proposed Interview Date: TBC

Reference:2315

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email [e-mail] so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role:

The Looked After Children Advanced Practitioner plays a crucial role in overseeing the welfare and development of children within the care system. This role involves supporting the Team Manager in the implementation and monitoring of care strategies, ensuring the highest standards of service delivery to meet the needs of looked-after children.

• Deputise for the Team Manager as needed to ensure smooth team operations.
• Supervise up to three staff, guiding and supporting their casework.
• Facilitate PSG meetings at least twice monthly, focusing on serious case reviews and reflective learning, preferably in person.
• Oversee all leaving care transfers, ensuring timely referral to panels and supporting social workers through the process; attend transition panels as scheduled.
• Manage a caseload of up to 5 cases.
• Organise the duty rota and serve as duty manager.
• Monitor supervised staff’s performance weekly and escalation concerns as needed.

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

• Extensive post-qualification social work experience in Children & Families settings.
• Experience handling complex casework within statutory children's services.
• Experience with prioritisation, care planning, and service delivery.
• Proven ability to assess complex risks.
• Able to make decisions based on evidence and comprehensive analysis of gathered information.

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
• Satisfactory DBS check;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace.

• Promoting equality of opportunity
• Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage
• Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels.
• Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered