Advanced Practitioner

Halton Borough Council; Widnes; On-site; GBP 44,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS

Life cover

Personal development

Free car parking

Flexible working

Employee benefits platform

Job summary

Halton Borough Council’s Social Work Academy in Widnes is inviting applications for an experienced Advanced Practitioner to support high-quality, child-focused practice across the workforce. You will provide safeguarding expertise through training, coaching and mentoring, helping practitioners and managers build confidence and evidence-informed practice.

Based in the Social Work Academy, you will lead learning programmes, contribute to standards and quality assurance, and support practitioners

Qualifications

• Advanced practitioner role within Children’s Social Care; safeguarding expertise preferred.
• Experience in workforce development and practice improvement is desirable.
• Strong collaboration with partner agencies across services.

Responsibilities

• Deliver training, coaching, mentoring and workforce development.
• Lead learning programmes and contribute to practice standards and quality assurance.
• Embed learning from audits, reviews, research and inspections to drive improvement.
• Collaborate with colleagues and partner agencies; represent the service at professional forums.

Skills

Advanced Practitioner

Safeguarding

Coaching

Mentoring

Job description

Location: Municipal Bldg, Kingsway, Cheshire, Widnes WA8 7QF, UKSalary: 44,253

Scroll down the page to see all associated job requirements, and any responsibilities successful candidates can expect.

• 47,665 per year
• Employment: Full time
• Category: Social Work
• Posted: 2026-09-12
• Valid to: 2026-10-11
• Employer: Halton Borough Council

Our Story

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring three iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey.

Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives.

It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services. We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team

Halton’s Social Work Academy is a dedicated team of skilled social work specialists, led by the Head of Workforce and Principal Social Worker.

We provide a comprehensive programme of coaching, support and professional development for social workers and wider Children’s Social Care and Early Help colleagues at every stage of their career.

From supporting newly qualified social workers through their ASYE to developing experienced practitioners and managers, the Academy is committed to continuous learning, career progression and improving practice.

Working closely with colleagues across Children’s Social Care and Early Help, the Academy helps to build confidence, develop expertise and ensure children, young people and families remain at the heart of everything we do.

Hours: 37hrs

Your Contributions

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Advanced Practitioner to join the Social Work Academy in Halton Borough Council’s Children’s Social Care service and support the development of high-quality, child-focused practice across our workforce.

You will provide expert safeguarding and practice support through the delivery of training, coaching, mentoring, consultation and workforce development, helping practitioners and managers build confidence, professional curiosity and evidence-informed practice.

Working within the Social Work Academy, you will lead learning and development programmes, contribute to practice standards and quality assurance, and support practitioners across the workforce.

You will also help embed learning from audits, reviews, research and inspections to drive continuous improvement.

You will work collaboratively with colleagues and partner agencies, represent the service at professional forums and deputise for Practice Leaders when required.

Our Offer

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at HBC sites
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme

Next Steps

We want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects.

We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual.

This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions.

If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – refer to the attached Job Profile for further information about the role and our values.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.