Lambeth Council
Practice Development Lead
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Practice Development Lead (2 Posts)
PO5: £54,360 rising in annual increments £57,495 pa incl. LW
Permanent / Full Time
Hybrid Working
About Us:
Located in the heart of South London, Lambeth Borough is a vibrant community of over 317,600 residents. Stretching from the dynamic neighbourhood of Streatham in the South to the iconic landmarks of Waterloo in the North, we are proud to be the 9th largest borough in London. Our diversity is our strength, with more than 130 languages spoken, making Lambeth the home of the Windrush generation, London's largest LGBTQ+ community, and a thriving Portuguese-speaking community.
It is an exciting time to join Lambeth Council, we have bold ambitions for the future of Lambeth’s communities and residents through our Lambeth 2030 Plan ‘Our Future, Our Lambeth. [https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/better-fairer-lambeth/projects/lambeth-2030-our-future-our-lambeth]
With exceptional schools, lush green spaces including Brockwell Park, cultural gems like the Black Cultural Archives, and world-renowned institutions such as St Thomas's Hospital, Lambeth offers an enriching and dynamic environment.
Please have a look at our dedicated One Lambeth Values and Behaviours page. [https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/jobs-skills/careers-lambeth-council/lambeths-behaviours]
About the Team:
An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Lambeth Social Care Academy due to the promotion of the current post holder. We are seeking an experienced and passionate Practice Development Lead to join our ambitious and forward-thinking team
This is an excellent opportunity for a highly skilled social worker who is committed to improving outcomes for children and families through practice excellence, workforce development, and continuous learning.
About the Role
As a Practice Development Lead, you will be a key member of the Lambeth Social Care Academy, working closely with the Principal Social Worker, Service Managers, Advanced Practitioners, and frontline teams to drive practice improvement across Children's Social Care.
You will play a central role in embedding Lambeth's Signs of Safety practice model, ensuring that practitioners are supported, challenged, and developed to deliver relationship-based, strengths-focused practice that keeps children safe and achieves lasting change for families.
The role combines practice leadership, quality assurance, workforce development, coaching, and organisational learning. You will act as an agent of change, championing what good practice looks like and supporting services to achieve and sustain high standards through reflective learning, audit activity, supervision, consultation, and training.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Working collaboratively with operational services and partner agencies, you will identify strengths, analyse themes and trends, and help translate learning into meaningful improvements that enhance outcomes for children and young people.
You will bring:
- Strong and credible frontline social work experience with a track record of excellent practice.
- A passion for practice development, learning, and supporting others to grow.
- Experience of coaching, mentoring, supervising, or developing social workers, including students, ASYEs, and experienced practitioners.
- A sound understanding of Signs of Safety and the ability to support practitioners to apply the model confidently in their work with children and families.
- Experience of quality assurance activity, including auditing, case consultation, reflective learning, and practice improvement.
- The ability to analyse complex information, identify themes and learning, and influence change at both practitioner and service level.
- Excellent communication, relationship-building, and facilitation skills.
Why Join Us?
Lambeth is committed to creating a learning culture where practitioners are supported to do their best work with children and families. The Social Care Academy is at the heart of this ambition, providing innovative learning opportunities, professional development pathways, and practice leadership across the directorate.
You will be joining a dynamic, creative, and highly regarded team that values curiosity, collaboration, reflective practice, and continuous improvement. Together, we are working to ensure that every child receives the right help at the right time and that our workforce feels confident, supported, and empowered to make a difference.
If you are passionate about developing others, championing excellent social work practice, and embedding Signs of Safety across Children's Services, we would love to hear from you.
Please note you must be registered with Social Work England at the time of application.
How to Apply:
To be considered for interview, your CV and supporting statement will clearly evidence how you meet the shortlisting criteria on the personal specification marked “A” for application:
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
JD and Person Specification [https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-06/Practice Development Lead - JD & PS (Mar 2024).pdf]
We operate an anonymised application process, so be sure to remove personal details when uploading your CV or personal statement.
Recruitment Timelines:
Advert closing date: 11:59pm on 23/08/2026
Shortlisting: 3/09/2026
Interviews: 9-10/09/2026
Please click here to view: Lambeth Staff Benefits
[https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-11/Staff Benefits.pdf]
Successful candidates will be asked to apply for an Enhanced Certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Further information about the DBS can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/dbs [https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/agencies-public-bodies/dbs&data=04|01|SBridgit@lambeth.gov.uk|b68acb6252eb4d873b8b08d941fc8e99|c4f22780485f4507af4a60a971d6f7fe|0|0|637613375243465355|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0=|1000&sdata=XBPg6pRPw3Bzw2k8iMquvPBzrcaqRTAHBJh+Y/SrsqE=&reserved=0]
You will be required to undertake a Cifas check. Further information about Cifas can be found here Cifas [https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https://www.cifas.org.uk/about-cifas/what-is-cifas&data=05|02|MWilliams6@lambeth.gov.uk|c7e358722ea44836119e08de1c520a1f|c4f22780485f4507af4a60a971d6f7fe|0|0|638979335849571942|Unknown|TWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ==|0|||&sdata=mSkV5fzN3k/XEm81l1V9pq2jPU4c96EltSodWMctFxs=&reserved=0]
Contact Information:
If you would like to have an informal discussion, please email Rina Wood, Principal Social Worker at RWood@Lambeth.gov.uk [RWood@Lambeth.gov.uk]
At Lambeth, we are dedicated to providing quality services and equal opportunities for all. We are committed to safer recruitment and are proud to be a Stonewall diversity champion, a Living Wage Employer, and to guarantee interviews for all disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria of the role. For a full list of our accreditations, please click here [https://beta.lambeth.gov.uk/about-council/lambeth-council-accreditations].
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location