Specialist Practitioner (Safeguarding)

This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.

• Job Title: Specialist Practitioner (Safeguarding)
• Job Location: Gloucester
• Salary: £43,149 - £48,738 per annum
• Hours per Week: 37.00
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Closing Date: 27/09/2026
• Job Requisition Number: 14591
• This post is not open to job share

Are you passionate about working with people to promote independence and dedicated to making a difference? We would love to hear from you!

We have a full-time Specialist Practitioner opportunity available in our Safeguarding Adults team.

About the role:

The Specialist Practitioner role in the Safeguarding Adults team provides specialist advice and support service to front line workers across partnership organisations. Specialist Practitioners have a key role in delivering the Screening and Triage service operated by the team, which ensures consistency across the county in the way initial safeguarding assessments are carried out and decisions are made. This requires close working with an extensive multi-agency network to ensure the best possible outcome for every adult. The team also contributes to the work of the Safeguarding Adults Board, helping to ensure continuous improvement in safeguarding practice across the county.

About us:

This is a fantastic opportunity to join Gloucestershire County Council. The Safeguarding Adults team is based at Shire Hall in Gloucester, working as part of an agile working offer (which includes working from home combined with time in the office). If you join us, you can be confident of becoming part of a welcoming, supportive, passionate, innovative, and experienced team. The suitable candidate will be well supported within their role and will receive regular supervision.

To find out more about working in the Safeguarding Team, visit 'Meet Our Teams' by clicking here.

About you:

We are looking for someone with an appropriate professional qualification who has experience of working effectively with safeguarding cases in a multi-agency context. Understanding of the need for a person-centred approach to safeguarding is important, as is up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation and policy.

Excellent communication skills, the ability to build sound working relationships with professionals across all relevant disciplines and a team-focused approach are all important attributes needed for this role.

Please note that you need to have a social work degree and SWE registration (both are essential criteria).

What’s in it for you?

You’ll be entitled to our full benefits package, including:

• 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays
• Membership of a Local Government Pension Scheme
• Free offsite car parking
• Safe, supportive and positive working environment
• Regular formal and informal support
• Training and development opportunities
• Staff discount scheme that offers access to great savings including discounts with major supermarket chains and high street retailers
• GCC's Cycle to Work Salary Sacrifice Scheme
• Gloucestershire Salary Sacrifice Green Car Scheme (T&C's apply)
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone
• Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) network and the Young Employees Network

Applying:

Please write your application with consideration for the essential criteria on the Job Profile. This should include examples why you should be considered; the experience, skills and knowledge that you would bring to the post.

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion with the Team Manager, please email ASCrecruitment@gloucestershire.gov.uk

The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months’ employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer.

Additional Information

To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:

Safeguarding Support Officer - Job Profile

This Position is subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early due to the volume of applications received. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.

If you are an Internal applicant and consider yourself to have a disability* as per the Equality Act (2010), please declare this in an email to recruitment@gloucestershire.gov.uk, as this is NOT currently covered in the application due to a technical error.

By providing this information, you can choose to be considered for a guaranteed interview under our Disability Confident pledge if you meet all essential criteria. It also enables the recruiting manager to arrange any reasonable adjustments you may need during the process.

*a disability is defined as: a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term (more than 12 months) adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

Applications from any Gloucestershire County Council's employees who are currently on the redeployment register or at risk of redundancy will be considered first at shortlisting stage.