Workforce Development Manager (Practice Lead)

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.

Introduction

As a Practice Lead within Workforce Development Service, you will lead on the training and embedding of our Family Led (Signs of Safety) practice model and Family Led Decision Making (FLDM) within Lewisham. You will also work alongside senior leaders on the ongoing embedding and development of our FGC Champions model. This is an exciting role which will involve training delivery, 1-1 support for teams and practitioners, developing practice guidance and supporting social workers to embed Signs of Safety practice and our FLDM practice throughout their work with children and families.

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams. Our caseloads are on average between 15-20 children. Using Signs of Safety, we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. Promoting opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice are important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as Thinking Spaces, case mapping, listening circles and group supervision. We are also committed to embedding Family Led Decision Making (FLDM) across our services, providing staff with dedicated training and ongoing support to confidently facilitate family networks, empower families to develop their own plans, and achieve sustainable outcomes for children.

We have a senior management team who are visible and approachable. We have a dedicated principal social worker and workforce team supporting professional development across the service. You will be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscription to Research in Practice. You will receive regular supervision and appraisal. We offer 1-1 practice development coaching to case holding staff and professional development coaching to team managers as part of an established leadership development programme. Our staff have access to a variety of external leadership development opportunities.

We have a strong working relationship with Goldsmiths, University of London as part of the South East London Teaching Partnership. Our practitioners have the opportunity to teach on social work courses as teaching consultants. We host both Step Up and traditional route students and social workers have the opportunity to become practice educators.

What’s the role? …

This role is based in our Workforce Development Service providing learning and development to our children’s social care workforce. The service is responsible for the implementation of Signs of Safety and Family Led Decision Making, learning and development, leadership development, management of the ASYE and student and apprenticeship programmes and all other aspects of practice improvement work. We are looking for a leader with excellent children’s social work practice knowledge and experience of workforce development. You will have experience of delivering learning and development to the workforce and a good understanding of the current context of social work practice. You may have previously managed a team or are looking for a development opportunity and to take the next step in your career. You will have an excellent knowledge of Signs of Safety practice and experience of working with families using this model. A good level of knowledge and practice experience using Signs of Safety is necessary for this role. Being an experienced Practice Educator is also highly desirable for this role.

• Working closely with the Workforce Development Group Manager to deliver training to the workforce.
• Supporting senior managers within the operational service areas to develop and embed FLDM and Signs of Safety practice across the workforce.
• Working closely with the Family Group Conference Champions and service areas to deliver training and embed practice within the workforce.
• Supporting practice improvement through coaching, group supervision, case mapping and other 1-1 practice development work.
• Supporting workforce development leads to support and develop our students, apprentices and newly qualified social workers.

What’s in it for you?

Excellent training and development opportunities, plus a range of benefits including:

• Generous holiday allowance
• Local Government Pension scheme
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Season ticket and bicycle loans
• A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
• Supportive staff networks

What we’re looking for

Lewisham was the 2022 London Borough of Culture and if you want to work in a thriving borough and our social work vision connects with your professional values, then we are interested in hearing from you. We are looking for people to join our team who:

• value the importance of communication and seeking feedback
• can inspire and motivate those they work with, manage and lead
• are committed to developing their skills and expertise to deliver an excellent service
• are committed to anti-racist practice
• are professionally curious and value thinking slowly and calmly in a balanced way
• work inclusively, collaboratively with others recognising their strengths
• take responsibility and make a positive contribution by focusing on solutions
• are transparent, are appreciative in enquiry, reflect and learn.

Location

The job is primarily based in Laurence House, Catford, London, SE6 4RU. There are 2 local train stations 3-5 minutes’ walk from the office, and the train journey from London Bridge is approximately 15 minutes.

There are also numerous bus routes that stop right by the office.

Special conditions

• The post holder must have a social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England
• The job is subject to a DBS check (Enhanced)

The recruitment process is anonymous and we don’t accept CVs.

Applicant handbook - please read the guidance in this handbook when applying. It is essential that you complete the application fully and that your supporting statement covers how you meet each of the person specification criteria listed.

For an informal discussion about this job, please contact [email protected]

Please click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification

Salary

£62,634 - £64,815 per annum (SCP 45 to SCP 47)

N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at

The Council reserves the right to close adverts early if there is a large response.

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