Job title: Workforce Development Officer

Salary: PO1 £38,220 – £40,777 pro rata

Hours: 22 hours

Contract: Permanent

Location: Hybrid working arrangement

About the role

Adoption England brings together Regional Adoption Agencies across the country, supported by a national team hosted by Leeds City Council. Our aim is to strengthen adoption practice and improve support for children, adopted people and families.

We are looking for a Workforce Development Officer to help design and deliver high‑quality learning for the national adoption workforce. Working with Adoption England’s senior leadership team and project managers, you will create, deliver and evaluate learning events that reflect our strategic priorities. You will collaborate with colleagues across agencies, contribute to leadership development, support national conferences and use evidence and technology to ensure our learning offer is inclusive, accessible and impactful.

About you

You will bring experience in workforce development, training design or practice improvement within adoption/children’s services or a related field. You can design and deliver engaging learning both online and in person and create accessible resources that meet a range of learning needs.

You can use Microsoft 365 tools effectively to plan, communicate and evaluate learning activity. You are confident identifying learning needs, shaping learning outcomes and managing competing priorities. You can commission training within financial regulations and support quality assurance processes.

You build strong relationships quickly and communicate clearly with practitioners, managers, leaders and partners. You understand the national policy context for children and families and value restorative, relational approaches to learning.

You also model inclusive practice. You understand how inequality and bias affect children, families and the workforce, and you are committed to anti‑discriminatory approaches in all aspects of learning and development. You uphold Leeds City Council’s values and help create a culture where everyone feels respected, supported and able to thrive.

If you are passionate about developing the adoption workforce and excited to contribute to national improvement, we would love to hear from you.

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.

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 as those from 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.

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role, please contact Saema Mohammad on saema.mohammad@adoptionengland.co.uk

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable 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 usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose: To work with Adoption England’s senior leadership team and project managers to design, develop, deliver, monitor and evaluate learning events for the workforce based on the Adoption England’s strategic priorities.

Responsibilities

To design, develop, deliver, monitor and evaluate learning events for Adoption England, based on the Adoption England Strategy and programmes of work.
To deliver learning and development events using evidence-based practice regionally and national basis.
To work collaboratively with others across the programmes of work including colleagues in regional adoption agencies and partner agencies to support practice development by developing implementation plans that take the practice development programme from concept to completion.
To contribute to the development of management and leadership development programmes.
To lead or contribute as required to projects / specific conferences or learning events to improve learning and development.
To develop strategies/programmes/resources for identifying and meeting learning and development needs, using available technology as appropriate.
To commission training from approved Leeds City Council (LCC) suppliers within LCC financial regulations, as Adoption England are hosted by LCC.
Plan and manage the execution of a quality assurance framework including collating and analysing data and feedback to monitor the effectiveness of the implementation and learning programmes.
To undertake/contribute to the evaluation of learning events, processes and plans maximising the use of Microsoft 365 and other technology available
To effectively promote and market learning and development events using available technology such as Microsoft 365.
To promote a learning culture within which learning, and development activities support priorities such as the Adoption England values.
To support the programme managers in building a culture of learning and development across Adoption England.
To work flexibly and be adaptable to change whilst supporting others to meet the needs of the service and team.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities as necessary to ensure up to date knowledge and skills.
Improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and appropriate CPD programmes.
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 equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse of equal opportunities, ensuring compliance with relevant policies and procedures.
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. The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Qualifications

The successful postholder will be expected to undertake a relevant training qualification such as NVQ level 3/4 in Training and Development or PTTLS.

Working Context: Post holders will work flexibly both at home and at various locations across the City and nationally at times. All colleagues should work in line with our hybrid working principles and spend regular time in the workplace to support service delivery, meeting the needs of the team and the requirements of their individual role. The hours are worked mainly Monday to Friday. However, the post holder will be expected to work outside normal working hours on occasion if required to meet the needs of the service.

Essential requirements It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

Ability to identify development and training needs to establish Learning outcomes and training design
Ability to use Microsoft 365 to monitor projects, plan and communicate workforce development resources
Ability to design bespoke online learning programme and or packages that are inclusive and accessible and able to meet a range of abilities
Ability to support the management of training budgets including commissioning services.
Ability to manage competing and diverse deadlines for projects/priorities.
Ability to model good practice through understanding and demonstrating key qualities and behaviours.
Ability to support the implementation of Adoption England vision and values through creating flexible learning and development opportunities.
Good communication skills and the ability to communicate complex or politically sensitive issues to a range of partners including elected members.
Skilled in quickly developing productive, working relationships with internal and external partners that command respect, trust and confidence and achieve positive outcomes.
Able to work flexibly across different work locations and areas as appropriate.
Training delivery, presentation and facilitation skills

Knowledge required

Knowledge and understanding of national policy implications and legislation in relation to children and young people
Knowledge and understanding of national policy relating to development of the children and young people workforce
Good knowledge and understanding of individual responsibility for health and safety
To undertake a training qualification such as NVQ level 3/4 in Training and Development or PTTLS.
Understanding of the full training cycle in design and delivery
Understanding of the main themes of Restorative Practice and can adopt a WITH approach to working with people and building relationships
Good knowledge of the needs of locality partners in terms of access to learning and development opportunities.
A good understanding of and commitment to sustainability in service delivery

Experience required

Experience of providing services to children/ young people/families.
Experience and ability to support internal and external meetings/events.
Experience of engaging and consulting stakeholder groups to effectively identify need and of shaping services accordingly.
Significant experience of supporting, developing and implementing learning and development strategies and processes.
Experience of developing and delivering formal and structured training to a range of colleagues within the children and families workforce.
Experience of managing risk in relation to an area of work.
Experience and skills in Learning outcomes and training design
Experience of managing own workload and balancing competing priorities

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics

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 Leeds Ambitions of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies 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 It is desirable that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates are not required to meet all the desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates

Skills required

Ability to use technology such as video and animation to develop workforce development resources.

Knowledge required

A degree relevant to working in Children/Family Services such as Youth Work, Social Work, Teaching or equivalent occupational qualification
Possession of a training qualification such as NVQ level 3/4 in Training and Development or PTTLS.
Relevant assessor qualifications and internal verifier qualifications

Experience required

Experience of delivering successful cross sector or cross service projects and initiatives with limited resources
Experience of working in a workforce development or training environment.