Adoption Practice and Development Managers

We are now recruiting an Adoption Practice and Development Managers to play a key role in supporting the delivery and implementation of national practice improvement projects across England. You will work closely with the Adoption Practice Lead, project managers, workstream leads, and regional and voluntary adoption agencies to ensure that agreed improvements are effectively embedded into practice. You will coordinate and manage improvement activity, develop national implementation plans, and support agencies to translate change into day‑to‑day practice.

This will include working with local leaders and staff to analyse current practice, identify gaps and help deliver sustainable improvements. Post holders will work flexibly both at home and will be available to attend an in person meeting approximately once a month in Leeds and be able to attend in person meetings at other events/conferences across the country as required.

We particularly encourage applications from candidates who identify as Black, Asian or from an ethnic minority background, and those from the LGBTQ+ community, as these groups are underrepresented in our adoption workforce. This role is available on a secondment basis, and you will need your manager's agreement to apply on this basis. 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.

We will be a qualified social worker, registered with Social Work England, with strong knowledge of adoption practice, legislation and the lived experiences of adopted people and families. You understand the importance of modernising adoption and bring a thoughtful, compassionate approach to the complexities for adopted children, the adults they become, and their families affected by adoption.

You will bring significant experience of managing and delivering projects, particularly those involving practice and cultural change, and be confident in supporting implementation across complex systems. You are highly organised and able to manage competing priorities, work to tight deadlines and adapt to changing circumstances. You are skilled in building effective working relationships and influencing across a wide range of partners and stakeholders.

You demonstrate strong leadership behaviours, including the ability to support and lead change, and are committed to continuous improvement and inclusive, anti-discriminatory practice. If you are motivated by improving outcomes for adopted people, passionate about embedding change in practice and confident working collaboratively in a national role, we would love to hear from you.

• Co-ordinate and manage the implementation of practice improvement projects across England working with the Adoption Practice Lead and the central team, the workstream lead and the regional and voluntary adoption agencies to support change in culture and practice.
• Work with Adoption England Team, the practice lead and other managers and the workstream lead to create clear description of the practice change and an effective communications plan. Create clear KPIs to track the success of the implementation and a plan to act if the KPIs are not met.
• Create a national implementation plan which plots out the steps to implement the new process across all agencies in England.
• Work in partnership with the local leaders and champions using the national implementation plan, develop realistic local implementation plan, including analysing current local practice, gaps with the proposed new practice and a plan to bridge the gaps.
• Provide…