Advanced Practitioner - Duty and Assessment

Northamptonshire Children's Trust; Northampton; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional children's services organization is looking for an experienced Advanced Practitioner to oversee assessment and safeguarding processes in Northamptonshire. The ideal candidate will have significant social work experience, mentoring skills, and a passion for child welfare. You will play a key role in supporting less experienced colleagues, making vital decisions related to the safety of children and families. The organization offers a range of benefits, including a recruitment bonus and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Recruitment Welcome Bonus of £6,000

Relocation costs up to £8,000

28 days annual leave plus 8 Bank Holidays

Local Government Pension Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Completed ASYE and registered with Social Work England.
• Experience in safeguarding and supporting vulnerable children.
• Commitment to ongoing professional development.

Responsibilities

• Responding to new referrals from professionals and public.
• Supervising and mentoring social workers on complex cases.
• Ensuring adherence to legislation and best practices.

Skills

Social Work Expertise

Analysis and Decision Making

Mentoring and Supervision

Collaboration

Education

Qualified Social Worker

Job description

Overview

Advanced Practitioner DAAT

We have a wonderful Duty and Assessment Team (DAAT) here at Northamptonshire Children’s Trust! Duty and assessment are the single point of contact for all safeguarding concerns relating to children and young people in Northamptonshire. Professionals from a range of services that have contact with children, young people, their families and carers collaborate to ensure immediate and prompt responses; their combined knowledge and expertise keeping children and young people in Northamptonshire safe from harm.

With a rotating duty element, the team works at pace, completing robust short-term quality assessments of need, ensuring the right service provision is in place. Skilled social workers in these teams are friendly and confident professionals, who can work collaboratively to very tight deadlines, and ensure the child’s voice is evident throughout.

There are 6 teams within DAAT, each team consists of a Team Manager, Advanced Practitioner, who holds complex cases and supports 5 or 6 Social Workers / Senior Social Workers and a Newly Qualified Social Worker within their team. We collaborate with other professionals to ensure immediate and prompt responses. Their combined knowledge and expertise keep children and young people in Northamptonshire safe from harm. We are supporting excellence in Social Work practice, with a new practice approach including signs of safety and systemic practice, and clear personal development opportunities for the right candidates.

What will you be doing?

We provide the front line, single point of contact for the public and professionals who are making referrals with concerns for children who are at risk of significant harm or who are children in need. Working with a broad range of agencies and services in our region, you will be responsible for responding to new referrals from professionals and members of the public.

You will undertake work with children, young people and families that require you to have advanced social work expertise, maintaining a small caseload and jointly allocating cases with less experienced social workers.

Additionally, you will supervise, support, advise, and mentor newly qualified and less experienced colleagues handling complex or high-risk cases. This includes authorising assessments, plans, and related documentation, as well as chairing strategy meetings and discussions.

Your role will also involve guiding and mentoring social workers to ensure their adherence to legislation, statutory guidance, local policies, and best practices in safeguarding vulnerable children, supporting looked-after children, and planning for permanence.

About you

We are seeking to recruit an experienced, enthusiastic, and dedicated Advanced Practitioner who shares a passion in supporting the progression of others. The Advanced Practitioner role is ideal for a Social Worker looking to develop their skills and experience. You will receive support from the Team Manager with regular supervision, numerous training opportunities and a commitment to your on-going professional development.

The ideal candidate will be confident in their analysis and decision making to deliver purposeful and effective social care and have a strong desire to develop social work expertise to support NCT on its improvement journey.

You will be a qualified social worker, who has completed your ASYE. Registered with Social Work England and have the commitment and passion to be at the forefront of delivering best practice and support to children and families.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Barred List check.

Benefits

• SWE Registration paid yearly (social care colleagues)
• Recruitment Welcome Bonus of £6,000
• Relocation costs of up to £8,000
• Retention bonus payments for established personnel
• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days after 5 years
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health pension protection
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave
• Employee Assistance Programme - Health Assured, available 24/7 for you and your immediate family
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme

About us

At Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, children, young people and families are at the heart of all we do – in every decision we make and every action we take. Our mission is driven by the unwavering commitment to achieving the best outcomes for them. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils.

Our workforce are our most valuable asset and are pivotal to making the services and support we offer to children, young people and families who need us to be the absolute best we can be.

We value our colleagues and empower them to be able to do the best job of their lives every single day, working in a culture of support and kindness where achievements are celebrated and creativity is very much welcomed.

At NCT equality, diversity and inclusion are part of us and in everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and thrive in our organisation. We are a disability confident employer and have a commitment to care leavers who we guarantee an interview if they meet the essential criteria.

Join our dedicated team and be a part of an organisation where your work makes a real difference.