ASP Professional Social Work Adviser in Edinburgh

Looking to make a real impact in safeguarding and public protection across Scotland? We are inviting applications for a professional adviser to provide policy support and professional advice to the Scottish Government Adult Support and Protection (ASP) and Public Protection Unit. This is a Fixed Term Appointment opportunity for 23 months, with the option for Secondment if preferred.

The Unit drives delivery of work on a number of high profile and politically sensitive adult and public protection policy areas, working in a fast‑paced environment with a high degree of Ministerial, internal, and external stakeholder engagement. The Unit’s aim, working collaboratively with a range of policy teams, is to ensure that those vulnerable to harm get the right support at the right time; and that our work individually and collectively supports response, protection, and recovery from harm.

Work of the ASP Professional Social Work Adviser will contribute to aims of the wider public protection unit, to identify linkages, risks and opportunities across a wide range of policy developments, taking a whole system, life‑span approach. This includes mental health law and operations; adults with incapacity; substance use; child protection; MAPPA; violence against women and girls; and suicide prevention, as well as missing people, homelessness and other emergent priorities.

Current ASP‑specific priorities include revision of national guidance for general practice; development and implementation of a learning and improvement programme, building on local and national evidence; data use to underpin learning and improvement at local and national level; and undertaking and embedding learning arising from learning reviews.

• Provide social work input and advice across the Unit, liaising with sources of advice and expertise, including working with partners to ensure voices of frontline social workers and people who use services inform current, holistic advice.
• Contribute to workforce intelligence and national ASP priorities, driving collaboration with other policy areas to raise awareness of ASP and embed key messages to promote identification and protection of adults at risk.
• Play a key role in supporting the dissemination and embedding of the ASP Learning and Development Framework and development of national resources, in partnership with the National Adult Support and Protection Co‑ordinator and key partners, including the ASP Learning and Development Network, the National Implementation Group and its subgroups, and Iriss.
• Support implementation and monitoring of adaptations to local practice and procedures in line with new and emergent national adult protection guidance and related continuous improvement workstreams.
• Provide social work input to implementing ASP practice improvement using robust qualitative and quantitative data; collaborate with Iriss on analysis, reporting and use of data at local and national levels; provide significant input to the National ASP Data Reference Group; implement self‑evaluation tools/techniques for local and national improvement; support development and embedding of best practices relating to ASP processes, the role of the Council Officer, chronologies, and learning reviews.
• Contribute to the drafting of national guidance, reports and responses to issues raised by Ministers, stakeholders and the public.
• Support the work of the National Social Work Agency and work closely with the Senior Professional Social Work Adviser for Adults, who will provide professional supervision.
• Collaborate with Adult Protection Committee Convenors, Social Work Scotland’s ASP Sub‑group, NHS Public Protection Leads Group, Police Scotland Strategic Forum and other networks to inform and influence policy and practice developments.