Advanced Practitioner Kinship and Initial Viability Assessments in Leicester

This is an exciting time to join Leicester City Council and be part of our Children's Social Work Service, ensuring children remain at the heart of everything we do. We are looking for an experienced and motivated Advanced Practitioner to join our Kinship Service, leading and overseeing the delivery of Initial Viability Assessments (IVAs). This is an excellent opportunity for a skilled social work professional who is passionate about helping children remain safely within their family and friendship networks wherever possible.

Kinship arrangements are often the best outcome for children who are unable to live with their parents. They provide children with greater stability, continuity and the opportunity to maintain important family relationships. This role is central to ensuring that potential kinship carers are assessed effectively and without delay, helping children achieve permanence and stability at the earliest opportunity.

The Initial Viability Assessment Service manages referrals for family members and connected persons who wish to be considered as carers for children. Assessments may be required during pre-proceedings or care proceedings and can often involve urgent timescales. As such, this role combines strategic oversight, quality assurance and practice leadership with the flexibility to respond to changing service demands.

We use Signs of Safety as our model of intervention, with a strong focus on working in partnership with families and building relationships through trauma‑informed practice. We are also proud to be one of the first local authorities to integrate the Lundy Model of Participation across all children's services, ensuring children's voices influence planning and decision‑making at every stage.

We are committed to supporting your professional development and emotional wellbeing. We offer a comprehensive learning and development programme, opportunities for career progression and a range of wellbeing initiatives to help you thrive both professionally and personally. We offer agile and flexible working arrangements that support a healthy work‑life balance. You'll have the ability to work outside normal office hours when required and travel across the city to meet service needs.

What you’ll be doing:

• Act as the lead practitioner overseeing the Initial Viability Assessment pathway within the Kinship Service.
• Screen and prioritise all Initial Viability Assessment referrals, ensuring urgent and court‑directed assessments are appropriately managed.
• Allocate assessments across the IVA workforce, balancing workloads and ensuring statutory and court timescales are met.
• Provide supervision, guidance and matrix management support to practitioners undertaking viability assessments.
• Quality‑assure completed assessments, supporting consistency, analytical rigour and high standards of practice.
• Monitor and track assessment activity, performance and timescales, identifying risks and barriers to progression.
• Attend and contribute to Legal Planning Meetings, Family Network Meetings and other relevant forums.
• Work collaboratively with operational teams, legal services and partner agencies to progress permanence plans for children.
• Provide expert advice and consultation on kinship care, viability assessment practice and permanence planning.
• Support service development by helping to build sustainable systems and processes that respond effectively to increasing demand.
• Undertake Initial Viability Assessments directly when service capacity requires.

What you’ll need:

• You will have significant post‑qualifying experience as a Level 3 Social Worker, with substantial experience in assessment, safeguarding and permanence planning within Children's Social Care.
• Extensive knowledge of children's social care legislation, regulations, policies and guidance, particularly in relation to kinship care, permanence planning and care proceedings.
• Experience completing complex assessments and making evidence‑based recommendations for children and families.
• A strong understanding of Public Law Outline (PLO) processes, care proceedings and family network approaches.
• Experience supporting, coaching or supervising social workers and contributing to practice development.
• The ability to quality‑assure assessments and promote excellent standards of professional practice.
• Strong analytical, organisational and decision‑making skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and respond to urgent timescales.
• Excellent communication and relationship‑building skills, with the confidence to offer professional challenge where required.
• A commitment to relationship‑based practice and achieving the best outcomes for children through family‑led solutions.
• A recognised Social Work qualification (CQSW, DipSW, BA or MA Social Work or equivalent).
• Registration with Social Work England.

Due to the nature of this role, you will be required to complete an Enhanced DBS check and hold a full UK driving licence. You must also have the right to work in the UK.

What we can offer you:

• Generous annual leave entitlement.
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Agile and flexible working arrangements.
• A comprehensive learning and development offer.
• Career progression opportunities.
• Employee wellbeing support and initiatives.
• A range of flexible benefits, including travel discounts and relocation assistance where applicable.

We're committed to recruiting a diverse and highly talented workforce as we continue to build a council that reflects and represents our vibrant city. We've designed our recruitment process to help you feel welcome, supported and able to showcase your skills and experience. We are committed to making our recruitment process as fair and inclusive as possible.

For an informal discussion about this post, please contact Ellie Boswell at Ellie.Boswell@leicester.gov.uk or alternatively Joanne Gibson at Joanne.Gibson@leicester.gov.uk or on 0116 4544622.