Job Title and Grade: Advanced Practitioner - Grade 9

Salary: £54,267 - £58,461pa

Service Area: Children with Disabilities

As an Advanced Practitioner within the Children with Disabilities Service, you will play a key role in delivering high‑quality statutory social work to children and young people with disabilities and complex health needs, from early childhood through to transition into adulthood. You will hold a reduced but complex caseload, working with children who may have profound and multiple learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities and associated health and behavioural needs.

Alongside direct case responsibility, you will provide practice leadership, professional guidance and support to Social Workers across the service. You will model excellent practice in assessment, care planning, safeguarding and child‑centred decision‑making, ensuring that children’s voices, lived experiences and family contexts are central to all interventions.

You will provide expert oversight in complex areas of practice, including child protection, children in need, short breaks, looked after children, joint working with health and education, and transition planning for young people with disabilities approaching adulthood. You will support colleagues to balance safeguarding responsibilities with strengths‑based, proportionate and inclusive approaches that promote family resilience and positive outcomes.

The role involves contributing to quality assurance and defensible decision‑making, supporting reflective supervision, offering consultation on complex cases and helping to ensure that statutory duties under the Children Act 1989, Children and Families Act 2014 and related guidance are met. You will support high standards of recording, analysis and risk management, particularly where there are intersecting safeguarding, health and disability‑related needs.

You will work closely with a wide range of multi‑agency partners, including health professionals, education providers, SEND services, short breaks providers and adult social care colleagues, to ensure coordinated and seamless support for children and families. You will also contribute to service development and improvement, using learning from audits, performance data, feedback from families and national best practice to strengthen the Children with Disabilities offer.

Havering provides a supportive and learning‑focused environment, with strong management oversight, regular supervision and access to professional development through the Social Care Academy. This role offers an excellent opportunity for an experienced practitioner to develop specialist expertise in disability social work, influence practice standards and make a meaningful difference to the lives of children with disabilities and their families.

Key aims and objectives of the role include:

Delivering high‑quality, child‑centred statutory social work to children with disabilities and complex needs

Providing practice leadership and professional support to Social Workers within the Children with Disabilities Service

Promoting inclusive, strengths‑based and outcome‑focused care planning

Supporting effective safeguarding and risk management in complex family situations

Contributing to quality assurance, learning and continuous service improvement within the service

About You

You will be an experienced, confident and highly skilled social work practitioner with a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people with disabilities and their families. You will bring advanced professional judgement, a strengths‑based, trauma‑informed and family‑centred approach, and the ability to support high‑quality practice in complex and emotionally demanding circumstances.

You will be a qualified Social Worker, holding a CQSW, Diploma in Social Work or equivalent qualification, and be registered with Social Work England. You will have substantial post‑qualifying experience within children’s social care, with significant experience of working with children with disabilities and complex needs, including child in need and child protection work, looked after children, short breaks, and joint working with health and education partners.

As an Advanced Practitioner, you will have demonstrable experience of providing practice leadership, including supporting and mentoring Social Workers, contributing to reflective supervision, quality assurance activity and service development. You will be confident in offering professional consultation, modelling best practice and supporting colleagues to develop analytical, child‑focused and outcome‑driven work with children and families.

You will have a strong working knowledge of relevant legislation, statutory guidance and local policy, including the Children Act 1989, Children and Families Act 2014, SEND legislation and safeguarding frameworks. You will be skilled in applying this knowledge to complex cases, including those involving overlapping safeguarding, health, disability and family stress factors, and in supporting defensible and proportionate decision‑making.

You will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, enabling you to build effective relationships with children, parents and carers, and to work collaboratively with a wide range of multi‑agency partners, including health professionals, education providers, SEND services and adult social care colleagues. You will be confident in contributing to multi‑agency planning, reviews and transition discussions, ensuring that children’s voices, lived experiences and family circumstances are central to all decision‑making.

Non‑negotiable qualities for this role include:

A clear and unwavering commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children with disabilities

Advanced professional judgement and confidence in managing complex risk and safeguarding situations

Strong practice leadership skills, with the ability to support, challenge and develop others

High standards of professional integrity, accountability and reflective practice

A values‑led, inclusive and compassionate approach aligned with Havering’s commitment to learning, development and workforce wellbeing

If you are a skilled, reflective and motivated practitioner who is passionate about improving the lives of children with disabilities and supporting families to thrive, we would welcome your application.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Francisca Adediran via email at: Francisca.Adediran@havering.gov.uk

Closing Date: 31^st August 2026

Please view Job Profile here

Additional Information

We want everyone to choose Havering. When you apply for a job with us, your application is considered on its merits regardless of your age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender identity or sexual orientation. Our residents and service users come from all walks of life, and so do our employees. Find out what it means to Choose Havering.

The London Borough of Havering has important responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are appointed to a job that involves working with these groups, you may be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

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