Advanced Practitioner – Early Resolution (Adults)

Overview

Are you an experienced and confident social work professional ready to take the next step in your career? We are seeking a committed Advanced Practitioner to support high‑quality, strengths‑based practice across our Adult Social Care services.

This is an opportunity to play a key leadership role within frontline services, providing expert practice guidance, supporting reflective supervision and contributing to service development, while continuing to manage a complex caseload. The role includes undertaking complex casework, elements of safeguarding practice, and work within the Court of Protection, alongside supporting colleagues to build on their strengths and experience. You will work in an organisation that values professional judgement, invests in learning and development, and actively promotes strength‑based practice and positive risk‑taking to enable excellent social work outcomes.

You will be part of a dedicated, collaborative and enthusiastic team of Social Work professionals who are proud of their practice and committed to supporting and safeguarding our most vulnerable residents across the County. The team is passionate about promoting autonomy and ensuring practice remains aligned with the principles of Making Safeguarding Personal.

In addition to the salary advertised you will receive a market premium of £2,525 per annum.

We also offer a Golden Hello payment of £2,500 paid on successful completion of your probationary period (for external candidates only).

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

Why work with us

We recognise the critical role Advanced Practitioners play in maintaining practice standards and developing our workforce. When you join us, you can expect:

• Professional investment – Payment of annual Social Work England registration fees, access to a wide range of internal and external learning opportunities, and professional resources to support continued development and specialism.
• Excellent transport links – Our county‑wide locations benefit from strong road connections, including easy access to the M25, M40 and A‑road networks, making our services easily commutable from surrounding counties. We are also outside of the ULEZ zone.
• A strong focus on wellbeing – We actively promote staff wellbeing through wellbeing initiatives, team‑building activities, volunteering opportunities and an open, supportive culture.
• Robust induction & ongoing support – A structured induction including a named buddy, planned shadowing opportunities and management support to help you settle confidently into your role. We have a clear career progression pathway to give you opportunities to grow and flourish.
• Hybrid working – A flexible, mobile working model supported by appropriate IT equipment, enabling effective working across locations while maintaining service quality.
• Staff benefits – Free parking and an essential car user allowance, access to discounts across cafés, restaurants and shops, and automatic enrolment into our generous pension scheme. We also offer a salary sacrifice personal car lease scheme to those who are eligible and have passed their probation period.

About the role

As an Advanced Practitioner, you will provide professional leadership and expert practice support across adult social care. You will model high‑quality, strengths‑based practice, support staff development through supervision and coaching, and contribute to service improvement and safeguarding quality assurance.

Alongside managing a complex caseload, you will act as a source of specialist knowledge, supporting practitioners in complex decision‑making, risk management and lawful, proportionate practice.

You will:

• Manage a complex caseload, completing proportionate, strengths‑based and outcome‑focused assessments, plans and reviews
• Provide professional leadership and reflective supervision to colleagues, including newly qualified practitioners
• Support and lead on complex safeguarding enquiries, including section 42 work and court‑related activity where required
• Ensure practice complies with legislation, statutory guidance and local policies, including the Care Act and Mental Capacity Act
• Model and promote strengths‑based, relationship‑focused practice in line with the Better Lives framework
• Contribute to quality assurance, audit activity and service development initiatives
• Build strong partnerships with adults, families, carers and multi‑agency partners
• Maintain high‑quality records and produce clear, professional reports
• Act as an ambassador for high professional standards and continuous improvement across the service

About you

You must hold a Social Work degree and be registered with Social Work England. Ideally you will have experience of working within Adult Social Care in the UK.

You will have substantial post‑qualifying experience working with adults in a statutory setting. You bring strong, up‑to‑date knowledge of adult social care legislation, safeguarding arrangements and strengths‑based practice and are confident supporting complex decision‑making and positive risk‑taking. You can work flexibly to meet service needs, balance leadership responsibilities alongside your own casework.

As a skilled practitioner and role model, you will be comfortable providing professional guidance, supervision and support to colleagues, using reflective approaches to promote learning and development. Organised, resilient and outcome‑focused, you will maintain high standards of recording and report writing and are committed to continuous professional development.

For further details, please refer to the full job summary attached.

Other information

A full UK driving licence with access to a vehicle is an essential requirement for this role.

For more information about these exciting roles, please contact Ricarda Aguinha, [email protected]

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining us, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

We know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Service Area

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to ensuring that our residents stay as independent as they can, for as long as possible. Everyone has the right to live a fulfilling and nourishing life, and for many people, social care plays a key role in achieving that.

We are looking for dynamic Social Workers who are passionate about enabling clients to fulfil their potential, whilst promoting self-determination, and who are passionate, supportive, motivated, and confident when supporting and communicating with people - either on the telephone or face to face.

Your work will include carrying out needs assessments, creating person-centred and strengths-based care plans, ensuring delivery of services, and reviewing outcomes with the individual, their personal networks, and support providers.

You will work in partnership with other professionals and organisations to support our residents effectively and holistically. Our Social Workers will endorse and act by the principles of personalisation, ensuring that care and support plans are person-centred, and as far as is safely possible, you will put the people with whom you work in control of their lives.

You will also demonstrate emotional resilience and intelligence - which is the ability to maintain focus and to ‘keep going’ despite setbacks and stressful situations, a real desire to enable clients to achieve or maintain their goals of living independently and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment.

 So, if you are looking for a new challenge, want to become part of a team that places a premium on listening and learning, and which is determined to make a difference – we want to hear from you!

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/