Advanced Practitioner - Children With Disabilities, Family South

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities! We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK's first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

This is a unique opportunity for a skilled and reflective Advanced Practitioner to work creatively and innovatively with children with disabilities and their families, ensuring they receive the right help at the right time. Working within a diversified team of advanced practitioners, social workers, and family practitioners, this pivotal role combines a focused caseload with duty oversight responsibilities and active deputising for the team manager.

• Working directly with children and families under child in need, child protection and/or legal frameworks
• Collaborating with other professionals and agencies to ensure a coordinated approach to supporting children and adolescents
• Deputising for the team manager and providing leadership and support to a team of social workers
• Supporting the team manager to monitor team performance, identifying areas for improvement and implementing necessary changes
• Providing line supervision for social work apprentices and senior family practitioners, and mentoring team members in complex cases

The role is primarily based at Kaleidoscope, Catford, 32 Rushey Green, London, SE6 4JF
. A hybrid working approach is in place, with regular working both in the office and from home.

Lewisham is looking for a confident, dynamic, and forward-thinking practitioner with the expertise and passion to help shape their service and drive positive outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. The successful candidate will bring strong leadership skills alongside excellent technical knowledge of statutory safeguarding practice. The ideal candidate will:

• Hold a social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England
• Have substantial experience working with children with disabilities within a statutory safeguarding context
• Demonstrate excellent knowledge of child in need, child protection, and looked-after children frameworks
• Be experienced in supervising, mentoring, and supporting social workers and other practitioners
• Possess strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire, motivate, and support a team
• Be motivated, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic with the confidence to work innovatively with children and families

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer and welcomes applications from candidates of all abilities. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the recruitment process. This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

Welcome to Lewisham – a vibrant and culturally diverse borough that is bursting with fantastic things to see and do. As a truly international borough with over 170 languages spoken in our homes and businesses, a thriving cultural scene, and a treasure trove of indie shops, bustling markets and more, it’s a great place to start and build a career.

Social work in Lewisham is changing and we have set out our vision and values for how we practice. In Lewisham Children’s Social Care (CSC), we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between 15-20 children. Our ‘Signs of Safety’ practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths…