Advanced Practitioner - Family Help South

Lewisham Council; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Local Government Pension scheme

Flexible working

Season ticket and bicycle loans

Staff discounts

Supportive staff networks

Job summary

Lewisham Council seeks an Advanced Practitioner in Social Work to lead and deputise for Family Help South teams in London. You will supervise frontline social workers and ensure high‑quality services for children and families, applying Signs of Safety in assessments and court-reported work.

You will work in a hybrid model from Laurence House, Catford, with a focus on supporting vulnerable families, supervising teams, and coordinating with partner agencies to secure safe outcomes.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years post-qualifying Social Work practice and experience of managing a frontline safeguarding caseload.
• Using the Signs of Safety practice framework to structure assessments and interventions with families.
• Ability to provide supervision and guidance to team members and bridge with other professionals.

Responsibilities

• Lead and deputise for the team managers within Family Help South.
• Oversee delivery of high-quality services and supervise social workers.
• Work with children and families under CIN, CP and/or legal frameworks.
• Mentor and line-manage ASYE and senior family practitioners.
• Collaborate with partner agencies to support families and ensure safe outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Supervision

Frontline safeguarding

ASYE mentoring

Education

Social work qualification

Job description

Job Description

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK's first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

Introduction

The appointment will be for a Social Work qualified Advanced Practitioner's. We are looking for inspirational leaders to sit across out Family Help South Service. We are seeking people are also skilled and reflective practitioners who are creative and can work with young people and their families in an innovative way to ensure they receive the right help at the right time. We are looking for applicants who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and who have the experience and confidence to work with young people.

The teams across the service areas are made up of Social Workers, Senior Family Practitioners, Substance Misuse Practitioners, Mental Health Practitioners and Business Support. The teams within our service consists of Family Help Teams 1 - 5, Family Wellbeing Team, Children With Disabilities team 2 and Occupational Health.

What's the role? ...

You will work in a diversified team including advanced practitioner, social workers and family practitioners. As advanced practitioners in these teams you will not only case hold but will also be required to deputise for the team managers. Therefore, we are looking for people who are confident, dynamic and experienced to help lead our efforts in working with and supporting young people and their families.

As well as case holding responsibility, you will play a crucial role in overseeing and supporting our team of social workers. You will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of high-quality services, providing supervision and guidance to team members, and working collaboratively with other professionals and agencies.

Within Family Help South we have the The Family Wellbeing Team aims to improve the safety and wellbeing of children affected by the drug and alcohol use of their parents and carers, through providing earlier and easier access to substance misuse and mental health support. The aim is to divert these families from traditional Child Protection processes. The team was established in September 2024 and has been leading the way in testing innovative social work practice, including:

• Integrated Child and Family Assessments with substance misuse and mental health
• Multi-agency group supervision
• A new approach to child protection conferences (Keeping Children Safe meetings) taking place face to face at a location chosen by the parents
• Diversified team with co-location from partner agencies, and co-allocation of cases to non-LBL practitioners
• Support the team manager to monitor the performance of the team, identifying areas for improvement and implementing necessary changes
• Deputise for the team manager and provide leadership and support to a team of social workers, ensuring the delivery of high-quality services
• Work directly with children and families under CIN, CP and/or legal framework.
• Line supervision for ASYE and senior family practitioners-Supervise and mentor team members, offering guidance and support in complex cases.
• Closer working with the family network during the assessment and safety planning process

What's in it for you?

• Generous holiday allowance
• Local Government Pension scheme
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Season ticket and bicycle loans
• A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
• Supportive staff networks

What we're looking for

A minimum of 3 years post-qualifying Social Work practice and experience of managing a frontline safeguarding caseload

• Working with parents who have complex needs where there is a risk of significant harm to their children
• Completing parenting assessments - or other assessments of parents regarding the safety and well-being of children for use in the Family Proceedings Court
• Using the Signs of Safety practice framework to structure your assessments and interventions with families
• Completing family network meetings to achieve the safety and well‑being of children
• Giving evidence in the Family Proceedings Court

Location

The job is primarily based in Laurence House, Catford, London, SE6 4RU, but we operate a hybrid approach where you will be required to work both in the office and from home on a regular basis.

Special conditions

• Relevant Social work qualification is needed
• Weekend working is required for this job
• The job is subject to an enhanced DBS check

For an informal discussion about this job, please contact Renee Miller [e-mail]

Salary

£58,299 - £60,486 per annum (SCP 41 - 43)

N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

The Council reserves the right to close adverts early if there is a large response.

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