Policy Practice and Development Officer

North Yorkshire Council; Northallerton; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government council in Northallerton seeks a motivated Policy, Practice & Development Officer for the Children & Families Service. This role focuses on improving service quality, ensuring compliance with legislation, and supporting inspections. Candidates should have safeguarding knowledge, policy development experience, and excellent communication skills. Benefits include generous annual leave, pension scheme, and fitness discounts.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Local government pension scheme

Fitness discounts

Lifestyle savings

Wellbeing support and development opportunities

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement policies and procedures.
• Manage projects to enhance service delivery.
• Support inspection readiness and compliance.
• Deliver presentations and workshops.

Skills

Safeguarding knowledge

Policy development

Quality assurance

Communication skills

Education

Degree-level qualification or equivalent

Job description

Flexible work bases and hybrid working available. Office base is County Hall Northallerton and as a team we meet on a weekly basis in person and more as required for the role.

We’re looking for a motivated individual to join ourChildren & Families Serviceas aPolicy, Practice & Development Officer. This is a key role focused on improving the quality of practice across the service and ensuring our practice is compliant with current legislation, guidance, and best practice. This includes inspection readiness across all the different regimes for children and their families.

You will drive quality assurance and effective practice by identifying areas for development, areas of best practice and latest practice research, and sharing these across the Children & Families Service. You will work closely with senior leaders, practitioners, and external partners to deliver innovative, integrated services that make a real difference, and support preparation for inspections across the service.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement policies, procedures, and guidance in collaboration with senior managers and colleagues.
• Manage and support projects that enhance service delivery and innovation.
• Manage and support work for inspection readiness
• Monitor legislative changes and recommend operational adjustments to ensure compliance.
• Deliver impactful presentations, workshops, and reports to internal and external stakeholders.
• Maintain and quality-assure digital communication platforms including websites and internal networks.
• Lead on commissioned thematic audits and deep dive into practice and analysis outcomes and considering action plans.

What We’re Looking For

We’re seeking a proactive professional with:

• In-depth knowledge of safeguarding, children’s social care frameworks, and partnership working.
• Experience in policy development, quality assurance, and service improvement.
• Excellent communication and influencing abilities.
• A degree-level qualification or equivalent.

Why Join Us?

Working for us

When you join us, you’ll have access to a comprehensive benefits and wellbeing package, including:

• Generous Annual Leave:
  28 days of holiday (pro-rata), increasing to 34 days after 5 years’ service – plus public holidays.
• Pension Scheme:
  Save for your future with our generous Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Fitness Discounts:
  Discounted Gym memberships at various gyms across the county.
• Lifestyle Savings:
  Enjoy a wide range of discounts at hundreds of popular high-street and online retailers.
• And more:
  Additional wellbeing support, employee assistance, and development opportunities.

The Children & Families Service provides services which follow specific legislation, including the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004 as well as other Government guidance and policy. We are committed to providing high quality services to support children, young people and their families.

We look forward to hearing from you.

For an informal discussion about this role please contact Joanna Miles/Sam Clayton on [e-mail]

To apply please click theApply Nowlink below.