As an Enhanced Practitioner, you will blend the skills of a case holding senior social worker with those of mentoring newly qualified colleagues. You will build effective relationships with children, young people, and families and ensure that children and young people lead their care planning. You will advocate and appreciate individual need to achieve outcomes based on evidence-based assessments. You will spend quality time with children in our care, understanding their views, their life events and supporting them to understand and recover from what has happened. You will consistently model exceptional social work practise and skill to inspire and guide our Newly Qualified Social Workers, providing ongoing advise and support to them. Working closely with the Practice Leads in the Social Work Academy and the Team Manager, you will ensure to ensure that the NQSWs have appropriate caseloads in terms of number and complexity, and that their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) progresses well. You will guide the team, supporting the Team Manager and be a point of contact in their absence. You will be part of a strong multi-agency team including education, health and our own therapeutic service Full Circle. You will be part of a that is constantly seeking to improve outcomes for children in our care and be part of developing this service further. Your ideas and aspirations will be very important to us. WHAT IS INVOLVED? We work with children and young people aged 0 – 18 who are looked after, living with foster carers or with family and friend carers, or in a children’s home. We care plan with children, their carers and family to ensure the child’s needs are met well, and we plan for their future. The views of the child and their family are imbedded within our care plans and lead everything we do. Relationships with children and their families are very important to us, as is our relationships with the multi-agency teams we work with. We take a trauma informed approach, seeking to help the child recover and maintain relationships with important people in their lives. We work under a Signs of Safety framework which takes a strength-based approach and works towards the child and family goals. We encourage you to contact Natasha Gray via email at Natasha.Gray@durham.gov.uk to arrange an informal discussion about the role. HOW WILL I BE SUPPORTED? We are passionate about social work in County Durham. We are committed to providing a culture where good practice can flourish. We ensure our social workers are highly supported and encourage flexible working to achieve a good work-life balance. You will benefit from a range of training opportunities and professional development through personalised induction, professional supervision, and mentoring. Take a closer look: https://www.durham.gov.uk/childrenssocialwork WHAT WILL I NEED? You will need: A degree in social work or equivalent social work qualification Current Social Work England registration. Significant experience of social work with children, young people and their families. Commitment to work towards Practice assessor qualification PA1 and 2 in line with skills for care good practice. We encourage applications from a diverse range of candidates and aim to have a workforce that represents the society that we serve. Please refer to the attached person specification for the full criteria. If successful, you will be required to apply for a Disclosure and Barring Service Enhanced Disclosure. INTERVIEWS Interviews will be held on 29th January 2026. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran. OUR OFFER TO YOU We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years’ continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website This post is eligible for a recruitment/retention allowance of £2,500 over 12 months (pro-rata for part tiem workers). Payments are made in equal instalments across a 12-month period alongside your pay. The allowances are subject to tax, National Insurance and pension contributions. Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people and offer support throughout the recruitment process. HOW TO APPLY We welcome applications from disabled people and those who are or consider themselves to be neurodivergent. Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the ‘Person Specification’ section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted. For guidance on completing your application, visit our website If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27, or via email RecruitmentCYPS@durham.gov.uk All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from donotreply@northeastjobs.org.uk. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you don’t miss any updates. CONNECT WITH US Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook Visit our website VPRS/161