Advanced Practitioner - REQ003778

Job title: Advanced Practitioner – Social Work

Salary: PO5 £47,754 - £50,788 pro rata

Hours: 37 and 18.5 hour positions available

Contract: Permanent and Temporary roles available in area social work and Children looked after

Location: Leeds (various office bases)

The Advanced Practitioner role will involve managing a complex caseload, supporting the Team Manager on day-to-day operational issues and mentoring of less experienced workers to ensure practice is of the highest quality and consistency and to disseminate learning. You will be passionate about working to bring everyone together to create a Child Friendly Leeds and be aligned with the Best City Ambition. In this role you will model skills in relationship building, developing positive working partnerships and demonstrate your social work values throughout your work. You will look to ensuring best practice and being innovative in your approach.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As an Advanced Practitioner, you will:

Be child centred in your approach, work restoratively and be committed to family led decision making, to achieve best outcomes for children and young people
Be experienced in leading practice to ensure the welfare of children and young people is safeguarded and promoted and statutory duties are met.
Have excellent interpersonal skills and be a critical thinker.
Have a positive can-do attitude to challenges and changes and the ability to enthuse and motivate others.
Be ambitious for your service, have excellent organisational skills and be able to share your skills and knowledge to develop others.
Have extensive post qualifying experience in Children and Families Work in a Local Authority setting with demonstrable experience in a child protection setting as a senior social worker level.
Have and maintain Practice Educator Level 2 on commencement of post
Have experience developing inter agency and multi-disciplinary approaches to work with children and families
Have experience of providing structured supervision for social work staff/students
Have experience of supervising, mentoring and coaching staff through assessment and care planning processes and court proceedings
Have experience of preparing and presenting high quality reports on complex issues to a range of different audiences
Have extensive experience of using a range of social work interventions to undertake assessments of complex family situations
Be able to work flexibly across different work locations and areas as appropriate.

About the role

As an Advanced Practitioner, you will deal the most complex of cases and be a senior social worker of considerable experience with a wide knowledge base and excellent social work skills. You will support our newly qualified social workers and our students through informal and formal supervision and by providing informal and formal training, coworking and support. You will lead research informed and evidence based best practice and sharing this with your colleagues to ensure the highest standard of social work are consistently delivered. You will have strong knowledge, theoretical and practice base and will lead and contribute to strategic developments and support the embedding of excellent practice across the city.

You will be joining a highly motivated and committed team. Our vision is for Leeds to be the best city in the UK and the best city for children and young people to grow up in. Through our vision and obsessions, we invest in children and young people to help build an increasingly prosperous and successful city. We aim to improve outcomes for all our children whilst recognising the need for outcomes to improve faster for children and young people from vulnerable and deprived backgrounds.

Children’s Social Work in Leeds is underpinned by a culture of restorative practice and working with our children and families.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further.

How to apply

Please complete the online application form preference Temporary or permanent.

Read our guidancefor further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal discussion about the area roles, please contact Fiona Tharme 0113 3784007 or Gemma Hill 0113 3784957. For an informal discussion about a role in Children Looked After service please contact Janine Craven 01133785371.

The closing date for application is Monday 25th November 2024 with a view to holding an assessment centre 12 or 13th December and interviews will take place on 19th and 20th December.

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usua

Job Description

Job purpose The Advanced Practitioner role is to deal with the most complex cases requiring a social worker of considerable experience with a wide knowledge base and excellent skills. The role will predominantly manage a complex caseload, support the team manager on day to day operational issues and work on complex cases with less experienced workers to ensure quality and consistency and to disseminate learning.

The post holder must at all times carry out the responsibilities within the City Council’s Policies and Procedures, and also within the Social Work England Code of Practice.

Responsibilities

Manage a caseload of the most complex cases. Case allocation will be determined based on their complexity, level of risk, profile and potential publicity surrounding a case.
Undertake complex case assessments
This post demands increased level of autonomy and decision making, based on experience and knowledge, around the case allocated and report to the Team Manager on case progress, risks, and outcomes.
Ensure that your practice adopts an anti-racist and anti-discriminatory approach.
To co-work and coach less experienced social workers on cases so they can benefit from the greater experience and expertise of an Advanced Practitioner
Support Team Managers in

overseeing and decision making with regard to allocation of cases and workloads
ensuring case work is appropriately planned, critically evaluated, and reviewed
achieving timescales and targets in respect to performance indicators

Mentor, coach and advise newly qualified and less experienced social work staff
Carry out the role of Practice Educator to directly supervise students, mentor new practice Educator and mentor NQSW and less experienced staff with your team
Deliver informal and formal learning within teams and across the service
Provide consultation, coworking support and development in the areas of social care staff requiring skills development.
Chairing planning and review meetings e.g., supervision order reviews, child and family support meetings and other relevant meetings in respect of children in need or at risk
Lead and contribute to strategic developments and support the embedding of excellent practice across the city.
To effective use and manage appropriate financial resources within available budgets.
Flexible working arrangements, including evening and/or weekends, may be necessary on occasion to complete on-going casework, emergency situations, evening visits or meetings
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade
Lead on and participate in appraisal, training and development activities as necessary to ensure up to date knowledge and skills to meet national standards
To improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and development programmes.
To work collaboratively with colleagues, knowing when to seek help and advice.
Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and aims of the service by attending relevant meetings, training days/events as requested.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures e.g. child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding and promoting the values, standards and equal opportunities of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment or victimisation and any form of abuse of equal opportunities, ensuring compliance with relevant policies and procedures.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.
The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.
Work to and within the Post qualifying standards of social work
The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications

The post requires an appropriate professional qualification (DipSW, Degree, CQSW or equivalent). You should be registered with Social Work England upon commencement of the post and maintain registration. To have and maintain Practice Educator level 2 on commencement of post.

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Extensive post qualifying experience in Children and Families Work in a Local Authority setting with demonstrable experience in a child protection setting as a senior social worker level.
Of developing inter agency and multi-disciplinary approaches to work with children and families
Of providing structured supervision for social work staff/students
Of supervising, mentoring and coaching staff through assessment and care planning processes and court proceedings
Of preparing and presenting high quality reports on complex issues to a range of different audiences
Extensive experience of using a range of social work interventions to undertake assessments of complex family situations
Able to work flexibly across different work locations and areas as appropriate.
Able to critically apply social work theory in practice
Able to identify indicators of risk and carry out effective risk assessment
Able to communicate, negotiate and influence a wide range of practitioners, managers, and partners from other agencies
Able to present and disseminate information to support learning and development of social care staff and partners
Able to chair meetings
Competent in the use of IT systems including Microsoft Office, Internet, and Email

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics

Ability to inspire and motivate self and colleagues
To be committed to deliver high quality social care services
To deliver services to children and young people with a clear child centred approach and philosophy
Taking ownership for informed decisions and delivering quality outcomes
Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Willingness to actively participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Desirable requirements Candidates are not required to meet all the desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

Possession of a full current driving licence

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