Please note that this vacancy is not part of Surrey County Council, we are advertising this on behalf of a partnership organisation.
Adoption South East, a Regional Adoption Agency, is recruiting a part-time Agency Advisor to manage our Adoption Panel Team and provide a key quality assurance role in the recruitment of prospective adoptive parents and in our adoption matching practice.
This is an exciting opportunity to lead its Panel Service and play a critical role in developing and supporting improved practice.
You will play a central role in ensuring that the ASE Adoption Panel operates effectively and efficiently, giving written and verbal advice to the Adoption Service, the Adoption Panel and to the Agency Decision Makers across the ASE Partnership.
ASE Panels are held online using MS Teams on Local Authority networks and and this post can largely be undertaken remotely, with infrequent travel to the ASE area for face to face annual or half annual Panel and agency training. You may work from anywhere in the UK but will be responsible for your own travel costs for Panel in person training. Flexible working is available but the post-holder needs to be available on Panel days - currently a Tuesday or Wednesday.
ASE operates as a partnership between East and West Sussex, Surrey and Brighton and Hove Local Authorities. In addition to your responsibilities as the Agency Advisor, you will also be the link manager to Brighton and Hove Unitary Council, taking responsibility for ensuring HR processes for our Brighton and Hove employed staff are current and compliant.
As the Agency Advisor you will:
Manage the ASE Adoption Panel Team which comprises the Business Support Lead who manages the Panel Administration Team and two part time Panel Advisors.
Lead on the recruitment, retention, training, support and appraisal of the members of the Panel Central List.
Maintain and develop practice and process in relation to the work of the Agency Decision Makers and Adoption Panels, ensuring safe management of records and information.
Work in partnership with the three Independent Panel Chairs and Panel Advisors to deliver a fluid and effective Quality Assurance process which recognises helpful practice and provides constructive feedback to the professionals within the system.
Manage the ASE Adoption Panel Team and processes to ensure sufficiency and efficiency, prioritising timeliness for Adoption Matches and Adoption Suitability Applications.
Maintain an overview of the quality of the agency's reports to the Panel, identifying learning and contributing to service wide and team specific continuous professional development.
Coordinate the ASE disruptions process in partnership with the relevant teams in the Local Authority Children's Teams further to adoption disruptions.
Coordinate learning reviews where these are considered to be useful.
Liaise with the ASE Senior Leadership Team, Panel Chairs and Agency Decision Makers to coordinate training events for Panel Members and Social Work Teams to ensure a current and shared knowledge base.
Ensure that panel submissions demonstrate:
Compliance with the relevant regulatory frameworks and local policies and practice requirements
Family centred thinking and inclusive practice which is strengths based and engages meaningfully with assessed risks and support needs
Trauma aware thinking and practice
Ensure in partnership with the independent Chairs of the Adoption Panel, that Panel processes deliver:
Sound and compliant recommendations to the Agency Decision Makers
Respectful and robust panel meetings which hold the agency to the highest professional standards
Respectful and kind feedback to professionals and service users alike.
You will be offered support, supervision and relevant training in this role and be working with an established team in a successful Regional Adoption Agency committed to inclusive and anti-oppressive practice.
Encouraging a Diverse Workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.
Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce.
Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
be connected
be confident
be innovative and creative
be diverse and inclusive
be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.
How To Apply
Please apply by following the link to the Brighton and Hove City Council career site
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you've submitted your application and at interview.
As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview.
Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.
This advert closes on 15/03/2026.
Interview Date: In person in Lewes, East Sussex, 25th March 2026.
For an informal discussion, please contact (Head of Service ASE) or pascale.- (Current Post Holder)
Successful candidate will be able to start on or after 1st April 2026 subject to pre-employment checks being complete.
AI Advice for Candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.
We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.
All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process.
Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants' responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.
Additional Information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.
Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.
We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.