Practice Manager - Adoption in Northampton

An exciting opportunity has arisen for the role of Practice Manager within the Adopter Recruitment, Assessment and Family Finding Team within Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Voluntary Adoption Agency.

As a practice manager you will supervise and support social workers undertaking adopter assessments and family finding for children with a plan of adoption and implementing practice developments in line with local and national needs and the modernising adoption agenda, building on the progress made in achieving the Ofsted judgement of GOOD with outstanding features in February 2025.

You will be joining a motivated and skilled team of practitioners and managers who aspire to developing and delivering services in line with learning from research, feedback and best practice models.

What will you be doing?

• You will work with the team manager to support the service in its role of recruiting, training, and assessing prospective adoptive parents and supporting them through the matching and placement process.
• You will work closely with colleagues with the Children’s Trust in respect of leading on family finding and permanence planning for children with a plan of adoption.
• As a practice manager, you will supervise and support social workers undertaking adopter assessments and family finding for children with a plan of adoption to ensure the promotion of high quality, evidenced based interventions for children, young people and their families.
• You will maintain an oversight of practice standards and compliance using case auditing and monitoring of service KPI’s and work collaboratively with the service and team manager to develop and improve practice in line with the service plan.

About you

We are looking for someone who is passionate about developing and delivering high quality services for Children, Young People, and their Families. Northamptonshire Children’s Trust have a Relational Practice Approach and the pillars that empower best practice include Trauma Informed Approach, Systemic Practice and Signs of Safety.

You will need to have experience of adoption assessment work, service development and understand the legal framework and associated NMS in relation to care planning and adoption for children.

We are looking for someone who can develop and maintain respectful, collaborative working relationships with key stakeholders both internal and external to the agency.

You will have had previous experience of working within a social care setting including within adoption services and as such a working knowledge of the Adoption Regulations, NMS and the legislative framework within which Adoption services operate, including permanence planning for children.

Experience of providing supervision to staff and or students would be beneficial. You will be a qualified social worker registered with Social Work England.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Barred List check.

Our benefits

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.

We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• SWE Registration paid yearly (social care colleagues)
• Recruitment Welcome Bonus of £4,000
• Relocation costs of up to £8,000
• Retention bonus payments for established personnel
• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme

About us

At Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, children, young people and families are at the heart of all we do – in every decision we make and every action we take. Our mission is driven by the unwavering commitment to achieving the best outcomes for them. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils.

Our workforce are our most valuable asset and are pivotal to making the services and support we offer to children, young people and families who need us to be the absolute best we can be.

We value our colleagues and empower them to be able to do the best job of their lives every single day, working in a culture of support and kindness where achievements are celebrated and creativity is very much welcomed.

At NCT equality, diversity and inclusion are part of us and in everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and thrive in our organisation. We are a disability confident employer and have a commitment to care leavers who we guarantee an interview if they meet the essential criteria.

Join our dedicated team and be a part of an organisation where your work makes a real difference.