Advanced Practitioner

We can offer a diverse career where the positive impacts of your work will extend a long way beyond your day-to-day role. Helping to keep a child safe means that you are giving them a better chance of a happy, healthy, and thriving future. At Dorset Council, every child matters and every voice counts.

Our Locality teams are based within 6 communities across Dorset - Chesil, West, Dorchester, Purbeck, East and North. As an Advanced Practitioner, you'll benefit from a strong team culture centred around shared learning. Most students who have completed their placements in these localities want to stay and grow, which is a testament to the strength of the teams that you'll become a part of.

You'll find a variety of exciting challenges, working with our children, families, and partners, in a workplace that inspires you to grow professionally and personally. You will be part of a friendly and dedicated team that shares your passion and commitment. You'll also be working with talented individuals who openly support and develop each other, going out of our way to offer knowledge, time, and practical support.

Our Children's Services have recently been judged as Good with Outstanding Leadership by Ofsted, an achievement we are incredibly proud of.

What you will be doing:

In our dynamic locality teams, you'll have the chance to make a real impact on the lives of families in your community. With a small caseload of up to three families, you'll have the opportunity to build strong relationships and deliver positive outcomes that truly matter.
As a leader in your role, you'll be instrumental in driving improvement across our service. You'll serve as a vital link between the principal social worker and the wider teams, ensuring effective communication and collaboration for the benefit of all.
Acting as a positive role model, you'll find numerous opportunities to share your knowledge and insights through regular reflective workshops and engaging information sharing events.
Your contributions will contribute to the professional development of your colleagues, fostering growth through the provision of group and peer supervision. You'll also act as a mentor to newly qualified colleagues, supporting them in their journey to develop their skills and knowledge.

You must have a Social Work qualification, be registered with Social Work England for more than three years, and able to fulfil the travel requirements of the post. If you have significant experience of working in statutory social care services, strong leadership skills and a great working knowledge of statutory legislation, we would like to hear from you.

Dorset Council: A great place to work

We're passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception.

At Dorset Council we:

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents


• have ambitious aspirations


• are excited about our future


• care about Dorset and all the people who live here


• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success


You will:

• have access to a range of employee benefits


• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed


• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression


We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

A generous relocation package is payable, of which up to £8,000 (of HMRC eligible elements) are free of tax. We can offer you help to move whether you are looking to buy or rent, depending on your circumstances.

Our package includes:

• an initial advance of up to £2,500 payable when you start


• help towards fees associated with buying/selling (up to £6,500)


• an option to receive help towards your rent or mortgage in the first two years


This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.