Advanced Practitioner IFD (2 posts) | £50,269

Barnsley; Barnsley; Hybrid; GBP 43,000 - 58,000; Full time

Job summary

Barnsley Council is recruiting for an advanced practitioner within Children’s Services. The role focuses on supporting front-line safeguarding work, leading training, and guiding teams to ensure timely, risk-informed decisions in a multi-agency context.

You will work in a dynamic integrated front door setting, using relational approaches and evidence-based practice to improve outcomes for children and families in Barnsley.

Qualifications

• Social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England.
• Experience in teaching, mentoring, supervising others.
• Advanced understanding of safeguarding and child protection policies.
• Strong ability to assess risk and make timely decisions with multi-agency partners.
• Minimum 3 years post qualifying experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide peer supervision, support, and guidance to staff.
• Develop and deliver training; drive best practice in Children’s Social Care.
• Lead screening of Contacts and Referrals and participate in duty system.
• Promote relationship-based social work and timely decision-making.

Skills

Practice teaching

Mentoring

Supervising others

Knowledge of safeguarding

Advanced decision making

Education

Social work degree and registration with Social Work England

Job description

Position reference:50146720, 50146721

Directorate:Children's Services | Service:Children & Family Social Care

Salary : £ 50,269

Working Arrangements : Agile - 3 days in the office minimum

This is a full-time role. We are committed to supporting work-life balance, and requests for flexible working, including job share, will be considered in line with the needs of the service. Given the requirement for continuity of support to service users, any flexible working arrangements would need to ensure consistency in case management.

Hours per week : 37

Contract type : Permanent

We are happy to talk flexible working arrangements with you, please get in touch .

Suitable for Secondment : Employees wishing to be considered for secondment should agree with their head of service before submitting an application form .

See our range of Employee Rewards

Closing date : 21/08/2026 a t 23:59

The successful candidate will be required to speak English to an appropriate standard.

This post requires an Enhanced DBS Check

If you are currently living overseas or have lived overseas in the last five years please be aware, if you are the preferred candidate for the post, you will be required to apply for an overseas criminal records check from the country/countries you have resided in. If you experience difficulty in obtaining an overseas criminal record check please email

This post requires a Police Vetting Check

Prospective employees will be required to apply for a Police Vetting Check, Please note that this doesn't supersede the DBS check. Recruitment Vetting provides the Police service with an assurance as to the integrity and reliability of persons seeking employment within the police community.

When applying, please ensure you are prepared to start work with all the necessary legal documents, such as a valid visa, relevant to the type of work you will be undertaking. Please be aware that our organisation does not possess a Home Office license and, as a result, is unable to provide sponsorship for anyone seeking a visa as a skilled or temporary migrant worker.

Pensions Regulations have provisions to reduce pension payments in certain circumstances of those who return to work within local government service. If you are in receipt of a pension upon commencing employment with the authority, this may affect your pension entitlements and you should therefore seek advice from the relevant Pensions Authority.

How do we sum up Barnsley Council? Well, we're an Ofsted rated 'Good' Childrens Services a nd a double award-winning, high-performing council with a growing economy, a thriving town centre and some truly impressive outcomes in our communities.

Creativity, ambition and a focus on people. That's what matters at Barnsley Council. Our award-winning council is on an exciting journey of change. It's all about putting local people at the heart of everything, listening to and doing good for our communities. We're now more innovative, more efficient and provide better value for money. The changes are clear to see - from new businesses and jobs, to improving school results and to museums being recognised for their community engagement.

Our excellent Children's Services has been a key part of our win; we're so proud of what we've achieved not just for the council but for our partners and Barnsley.

We're impressed. Are you? It's the perfect time to join our excellent team.

About the Post

We are an ambitious Local Authority who are committed to continued improvement activity in driving strength based, relational and collaborative practice in our work with children, young people, and their family networks. We want to make sure that we make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people.

Your role in our journey

The Integrated Front Door provides an integrated pathway for all concerns about child safety or welfare. It is the Front Door for referrals into our Early Help Service and Children's Social Care. We are a co-located service with partners from the Police, Health, Education, Domestic Abuse Services,Drug and Alcohol Services, andProbation.

Our Front door is dynamic, has excellent partnership relationships that we continue to develop as well as building our links with community-based resources. We work closely with our Early Help Service and a range of Targeted Services within in the borough.

As an advanced practitioner you will work alongside team managers, to provide peer supervision, support, and guidance. You will develop and deliver training, support learning, and drive best practice across Children ' s Social Care to deliver timely and effective decision-making, engagement with the multi-agency partnership, promote partnership working including developing links with services across Barnsley. You will be key in promoting relationship based social work, purposeful screening assessments, and modelling excellent social work practice at the front door.

As an advanced practitioner you will also be expected to undertake screening of Contacts and Referralsfrom multi agency partners and members of the public andparticipatein the telephone duty system alongside social work colleagues.You will be an experienced and knowledgeable practitioner and will have a clear understanding of thresholds for intervention. You will be able to gather information, analyseriskandidentifylevels of need to inform decisions in relation to next steps. You will have experience of working alongside multi-agency colleagues and will utilise theirexpertiseto inform decisions which are proportionate. You will be committed to engaging families in safety planning and to working within a strengths-based approach.

We are looking for someone with passion and drive to improve the outcomes and lived experience of children within Barnsley. You will be able to work at pace to ensure decision making istimely. You will know what good looks like and will be confident in working within a performance management framework which supports good outcomes for children.

What you'll need

• A social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England


• Experience of practice teaching, mentoring,supervising others or similar


• Advanced experience of applying in practice, the principles of legislation relating to child protection, looked after children and the provision of services to children in need.


• In-depth knowledge of relevant policy, guidance and best practice in safeguarding children, anda high levelof professional competence and confidence.


• Minimum 3 years post qualifying experience

Shape a better future with us

Join our double award-winning council of the year 2023 on our journey to a brighter future. By working together, with each other and with our communities, we can take pride in improving lives.Let'smake a better Barnsley for everyone.

A lot to look forward to

Here at Barnsley, we live and work by four important values: honesty, teamwork, excellent service, and taking pride in what we do. As part of our team, you can be sure we ' ll do all we can to support you in being truly excellent. Our dedicated Practice Development Hub will support you to prioritise learning and enabling you to achieve your potential. We ' ve created a development process that lets you grow in the way that suits you - whether that ' s training to be a leader or learning flexibly online. If you feel that you have the skills, knowledge and experience which will help us to achieve positive outcomes for our children, youngpeopleand families in Barnsley then we would like to hear from you.

If you would like to know more, please contact our Practice Development Hub on

Visit our dedicated webpage to hear from our social workers, our Executive Director, and learn more about the role and Children's Services:

Job Profile

Please ensure you view the job profile for this role, as you will need to demonstrate in your application form how you meet the required criteria.

Vacancy Exposure Profile

We welcome the opportunity to have a chat about the role and are happy to address any questions you may have about flexible working arrangements, including as a result of caring responsibilities.

We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued and everyone truly feels able to be themselves. If you have any support needs during the recruitment process, please let us know.

CV's are not accepted for this role.

At Barnsley Council, we believe in second chances and value diversity. Our recruitment process is inclusive, and we welcome applicants with past convictions. We're committed to fairness and do not discriminate. Join us in building a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. #InclusiveHiring #SecondChances

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