We’re Kirklees – Come and Join our team

We’re on an ambitious journey and looking for passionate and committed social workers to join our teams which are already transforming our children and young people services.

Our last Ofsted monitoring visit in December 2018 highlighted the progress stating “the local authority has made significant progress in improving its initial response to children and young people who need help and protection. Improvement is gathering pace and there is now increasing focus on quality as well as ensuring that statutory compliance is met.” We are not complacent and continue our hard work on our improvement plan to ensure that we offer the best service to children and families in Kirklees.

Our progress so far is clear;

• Our partnership with Leeds City Council, a national Partner in Practice, is flourishing and has added strength and stability to the way we work.
• The social work teams are now close to full complement and all leadership and management posts are filled with permanent staff.
• Working in locality teams and building effective relationships with partners.
• We are pioneering a Restorative Practice approach to social work which involves innovation and locality working with high quality relationships at the heart of our approach.

We currently have a vacancy for and Advanced Practitioner. As social work experts, Advanced Practitioners champion social work practice and deliver focused and meaningful coaching to front line social workers. They will work to embed good practice across the service and ensure opportunities for learning and development are integrated into day to day work of teams. Key to your role is supporting the induction of staff, identifying mentoring and coaching needs at all levels and reviewing progress. We’ll expect you to be proactive in your approach to identifying social work developments and be involved in the development of policies and quality standards.

Your experience on the front line of Social Work practice means you understand how hard the job of a Social Worker can be and see the value of expert support and advice outside of management arrangements.

An experienced Social Work practitioner with a strong record of exemplary social work practice, you understand what good social work looks like and are confident to challenge where you find areas that could be improved and promote examples of great social work.

Your passion for the best possible outcomes for children and young people is evident and you lead by example striving for and promoting excellence in practice encouraging others to do the same.

Committed to your own and others professional development you recognise the importance of learning and development opportunities and strive to create those which are relevant and innovative. You encourage others to learn and actively support their CPD.

You will need to be a HCPC registered Social Worker with significant experience in children’s social work and thorough and up to date understanding of legislation, guidance and developments in social work practice. Ideally you will hold Practice educator Award stage 1 and stage 2.

For more information or to have an informal discussion please call 01484 221000 and ask for Charlotte Jackson. 

In order to be short-listed for this job please demonstrate how you meet the Person Checklist as detailed on the attached Job Profile in no more than 4 sides of A4.