Help shape practice. Influence change. Improve children’s lives.

Sheffield City Council is looking for a Knowledge Development Officer / Practice Research Officer to join our Children and Young People’s Services at a pivotal and exciting time.

This is a high‑impact, specialist role for someone who is passionate about evidence‑informed practice, curious about what really works for children and families, and motivated by using insight, research and learning to drive real service improvement.

You’ll work at the heart of children’s social care, translating research, audit findings and practice intelligence into meaningful improvement, supporting frontline practice, influencing leaders, and ensuring the voices of children and young people shape how services are delivered.

Why this role matters

In this role, you won’t sit on the sidelines. You will:

Lead and contribute to social work practice research, audit and evaluation that directly informs service quality
Influence social work practice standards, learning and development, and improvement activity across children’s services
Work closely with social workers, managers, partners and senior leaders
Support Ofted inspection readiness and continuous improvement
Champion children and young people’s participation, ensuring their experiences and views inform change

Your work will help ensure Sheffield’s children’s services are reflective, learning‑focused and committed to high‑quality, ethical and evidence‑based practice.

Who we’re looking for

We’re keen to hear from people who:

Have a background in children’s social work, research, audit, policy or practice development
Are confident working with data, evidence and practice insight — and turning it into action
Can communicate clearly and credibly with a wide range of professionals
Are values‑driven, analytical and committed to improving outcomes for children and families
Are social work qualified

This role would suit an experienced practitioner, researcher or improvement professional who wants to influence at a system level while staying connected to practice.

Why Sheffield?

Sheffield is a city that values collaboration, learning and integrity. You’ll join a supportive service that is ambitious for children and committed to investing in learning, improvement and professional expertise. We offer flexible working, strong professional networks, and the opportunity to make a genuine difference at scale.

Further information from Natalie.Linley@sheffield.gov.uk

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page