Service & Practice Development Officer (Children’s Services)

Vacancy Information

The salary advertised is full time (35 hours per week). Part-time hours will be pro-rated accordingly.

Hourly rate of pay: £23.40 - £26.13

Days and Hours of Work:
Monday - Thursday, 09:00-17:00
Days of working are negotiable, flexi time is applicable, and starting and finishing times are flexible.
To start asap.

East Lothian Children’s Services have an exciting opportunity for a service and practice development officer. This is a unique role within the service development and review team. The candidate will have a varied remit within a team that delivers on performance management, service and practice development, business planning, policy, learning and development, business support, procurement and commissioning.

Candidates should have a sound working knowledge of GIRFEC, UNCRC, Corporate Parenting and The Promise and be able to apply strategic thinking to practice development and delivery. The candidate should also have experience of applying quality assurance and improvement methodology to practice.

The role of Service and practice development officer will involve partnership working with social work teams, council departments and multi-agency partners including the third sector. Candidates should be skilled in working in partnership to lead and deliver on varied project activities to a high standard within agreed timescales.

Candidates should have a sound value base, excellent communication and report writing skills and a comprehensive knowledge about children and families social work legislation, role and responsibilities.

Candidates should work well under pressure and be able to manage competing demands from Scottish Government requests, children's services partners and the children’s services management team.

East Lothian Children’s Services are absolutely committed to keeping the Promise and ensuring the voice of children, and their families’ remain at the heart of everything we do. East Lothian Children’s Services are keen to recruit employees who are passionate children's rights and achieving the best possible outcomes for children, young people and their families.

We are committed to promoting an open and trusting culture at all levels of the organisation and prioritise continuous professional development and learning. Our staff are our greatest asset and we strive to be supportive, inclusive and trauma informed in everything that we do.

Our vision is to support children and young people to live with their families when it is safe to do so. We have redesigned our services to ensure that the right support is offered at the right time and our staff are involved in developing services and implementing improvement activity around this goal.

We have an accessible senior management team who are committed to recruiting the best people to compliment the wide range of knowledge and experience that exists throughout the service.

Children’s Services is located within John Muir House, Haddington with onsite parking and we promote an open, trusting and communicative culture at all levels of the organisation.

If you wish to discuss this job vacancy or working for East Lothian Council, please feel free to contact the recruitment manager on the details below:

Lisa Shine- 07929837319

Home Working Consideration
Applications for homeworking or hybrid working will be considered for this post, subject to a trial period and in accordance with East Lothian Council’s Home Working and Worksmart Policies which can be found here. Home or Hybrid working options can be discussed with candidates invited for interview. All applicants must live in the UK and will be expected to attend Council offices from time to time as required.

Job Details

The main purpose of the job is to contribute to the development of policy, practice and strategic planning and delivery in relation to Children’s Services. The post holder will need to be a champion of the Promise and responsible for ensuring the principles and themes of the Promise are central to the delivery of Children’s Services priorities. 

Please download the Job Outline/Person Specification (available under 'Job Attachments') for the full range of tasks and duties associated with this job. You will need to refer to these in order to complete the application form. You must ensure you meet every 'essential' criteria stated on the Person Specification to be considered for interview.

The East Lothian Way
The ‘East Lothian Way’– values and behaviours we expect our employees to demonstrate in their everyday work. Should you be invited to interview, you may be asked questions based on these behaviours. Please refer to the document via the link to familiarise yourself with them.

Job Requirements

Relevant Qualifications
Educated to degree level or equivalent.

Commitment to own CPD, including willingness to consolidate learning in improvement science.

Additional Information

For additional East Lothian Council employment information please click on the following link: www.eastlothian.gov.uk/nonteachinginfo

If you have any difficulties creating an account on MyJobScotland or applying for this post please contact the MyJobScotland support team via this link https://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/contact-us.

If you require further information about this vacancy, please call 01620 827868, or email us on recruitment@eastlothian.gov.uk

Please note: We do not accept CV's (either electronically or by mail). All our vacancies must be applied for by fully completing the on-line application form. Although there is an ‘import data from my CV’ function on MyJobScotland, this only imports very limited data and should not be relied upon to complete the application form.