Children and Families Advanced Practitioner

Gloucestershire County Council; Gloucester; Hybrid; GBP 48,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

A local council in Gloucester is seeking an Advanced Practitioner to enhance the quality of practice within the team. You will provide leadership and support for social workers and students, manage casework, and ensure adherence to practice standards. Ideal candidates will be qualified social workers with experience, a driving license, and an understanding of reflective supervision. The role offers a competitive salary and benefits including flexible working options.

Benefits

Welcome payment up to £4,000

Annual retention payment of £2,000

Relocation package up to £8,000

Flexible working opportunities

25.5 days annual leave

Supportive working environment

Career development opportunities

Local Government Pension Scheme

Qualifications

• Registered with Social Work England or Wales.
• Experience at Senior Social Worker level.
• Full driving licence and willingness to drive.
• Enhanced DBS clearance.

Responsibilities

• Provide direction to team members around improving the quality of practice.
• Quality-assure assessments and attend joint visits with social workers.
• Provide reflective supervision to Newly Qualified Social Workers.
• Support Social Work students.

Skills

Team leadership

Quality assurance

Reflective supervision

Support for social work students

Communication

Education

Recognised qualification in Social Work

Registered with Social Work England or Wales

Completed ASYE year if qualified after 2012

Job description

Overview

You will model Gloucestershire's relational systemic practice model and help promote Gloucestershire's practice standards across the team. As an Advanced Practitioner you will provide direction to team members around improving the quality of practice, which may include activities such as quality‑assuring an assessment or attending joint visits with social workers to support their learning. You may also provide monthly reflective supervision to Newly Qualified Social Workers and undertake observations of practice, while managing these duties with the support of Team Managers. You will support Social Work students, jointly lead a particular area of practice, offering a weekly consultation to practitioners across the service, and work closely with the Social Work Academy through regular forums and training to ensure standardised practice across the teams.

To find out more about this role take a look at our video here: https://youtu.be/_F58gxejBqY

Responsibilities

• Provide direction to team members around improving the quality of practice.
• Quality‑assure assessments and attend joint visits with social workers to support learning.
• Provide reflective supervision to Newly Qualified Social Workers.
• Support Social Work students.
• Serve as joint lead for a specific area of practice, offering weekly consultations to practitioners.
• Work closely with the Social Work Academy through forums and training to ensure standardised practice.
• Hold a small number of cases, ensuring dedicated time to follow other duties.

Qualifications

• Registered with Social Work England or Wales.
• Experience at Senior Social Worker level.
• Recognised qualification in Social Work.
• Completed ASYE year if qualified after 2012.
• Full driving licence and willingness to drive.
• Enhanced DBS clearance.

We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to serve all of Gloucestershire's diverse communities. Our promise is to provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary: £48,226 – £51,356 per annum, subject to experience.

• Welcome payment up to £4,000.
• Annual retention payment of £2,000.
• Relocation package up to £8,000.
• Flexible and agile working opportunities.
• 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years continuous service.
• Option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part‑time staff).
• Family‑friendly policies and benefits.
• Supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing free, confidential counselling and advice 24 hours a day, online and by telephone.
• An in‑house Occupational Health service.
• Employee discount scheme.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) and the Young Employees Network.
• Career development and qualification opportunities.
• Access to our Social Work Academy.
• Paid SWE registration renewal.

Application & EEO

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must demonstrate the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.

Interviews for this role will be held in person at our Stroud locality office week commencing 15 December.

Please note, all our welcome payments and retention payments are non‑contractual, pro‑rata for part‑time staff and subject to National Insurance and tax deductions.

We reserve the right to close an advertisement earlier than the stated closing date if we receive a suitable number of applications or fill the vacancy/vacancies. The council will consider sponsorship for this role, in line with Home Office regulations and subject to satisfactory pre‑employment checks.

Under the terms of our Safer Recruitment Policy, if you are invited to interview, we will take up safeguarding references prior to your interview to understand your suitability to work with vulnerable children. These references will then be discussed in your interview. Please give details of at least two referees, one of whom must be your present and/or last employer and the other from a previous employer(s). These will need to cover the last three years of employment/education. In the case of applicants leaving full time education or not having worked since doing so, the Head of School, College or University should be one of the named referees. We do not accept references from friends or family members or workplace colleagues (who are not more senior). To ensure we process your application in a speedy and efficient way, we will contact your referees by DocuSign. Where appropriate, please inform them of your application.

Our vision is: Right child, right support, right time, every time. In our recent inspection in June 2025, our Children’s Services were officially judged as ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ elements. Ofsted also said ‘Leaders have set out a clear vision for delivering success for children…risk is managed confidently with bottom lines clearly set out.’ This marks an important step in our journey to improve outcomes for our children and young people, and we remain focused on our mission: to continue building on this success and ensuring that every child and young person in our county has the opportunity to thrive.

Gloucestershire offers a range of opportunities to develop your career, supported by a phenomenal Social Work Academy offer, a developing systemic practice methodology, an ambitious leadership team and an award‑winning workforce. We are a local authority adopting, and training all colleagues in, systemic social work practice. If you would like to be part of an authority that takes a relational approach to working with families and focuses on what needs to change in the system around a child and family to enable children to thrive, consider a role with GCC.