Adolescent Practitioner

The starting salary for this full-time, permanent position is £34,660 per annum based on a 36 hour working week.

The Safer Team provides rapid and intensive support to vulnerable children who go missing, are at risk of, or are experiencing extra-familial harm, and in situations where safer context work is required within local communities. The team also works across and supports the wider functions of the Central Hub within Surrey’s Adolescent Service.

We support hybrid working with the right balance; supporting a mixture of working from home, in the office, and working with children and their networks for the rest of the time.

Our Offer to You

• 26 days’ holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years’ service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Up to 5 days of carer’s leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
• A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents.

About The Role

The Safer Team supports young people and their families through a strengths based, trauma informed approach, delivering intensive interventions for those at risk of or experiencing extra familial harm. This includes Return Home Interviews, contextual safeguarding work within communities, group work in schools and other settings, as well as one to one work with children and carers.

Working alongside Social Workers, Early Help practitioners and wider Children's Services teams, the Safer Team helps ensure support plans are effective in increasing safety for a child, and young people receive the right help at the right time. The team also provides specialist guidance across locality hubs, promoting consistent and effective contextual safeguarding practice.

The biggest impact you will have will be on the lives of children. If you are passionate about wanting to work with children and young people to achieve positive change, then being an Adolescent Practitioner within the Safer Team will provide you with opportunities to support some of the most vulnerable young people in Surrey.

Your Application

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:

• An understanding of the roles and responsibilities of practitioners working with vulnerable young people
• Experience of working in a social work, youth justice, youth work, teaching, or probation environment
• Basic awareness of relevant legislation affecting working with children, including the Children Act (1989) and the Children and Adoption Act (2002)
• IT skills, including use of databases, email, Word and Excel
• Ability to prioritise and work effectively under pressure with minimal supervision
• Willingness to learn and undertake training relevant to the role

To apply, we request that you submit a CV addressing the following 4 questions:

1. Please describe your experience of working with vulnerable adolescents and families. What were the main presenting needs, and what approaches did you use to achieve positive outcomes?
2. This role requires practitioners to engage young people who may be reluctant to work with services. Please provide an example of how you built a positive relationship with a young person or family who was initially resistant to support.
3. Describe a time when you coordinated support from multiple agencies around a child, young person, or family. How did you ensure everyone worked towards shared goals and what was the outcome?
4. Please provide an example of a situation where you identified safeguarding concerns for a child. What actions did you take and how did you balance risk management with maintaining a positive relationship?

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 25/10/2025 with interviews planned to follow.

Contact Us

Please contact Jan Smith or Emma Byrne via email on [email removed] or [email removed] for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation and will move to new authorities in April 2027. This role is currently employed by Surrey County Council and will remain so until then. If you are employed by Surrey County Council on 1 April 2027, your employment will transfer under TUPE arrangements to one of the new councils, with your current terms and conditions protected. The provisional allocation for this post is East Surrey subject to final confirmation through the wider transition process later this year. Please see more information here: Information for applicants on Local Government Reorganisation - Surrey County Council.

Our Commitment

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum shortlisting criteria, as displayed on the advert, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we’re committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.