Professional Lead
| Posting date: | 19 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £48,072 to £54,994 per year, pro rata |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 10 June 2026 |
| Location: | Macclesfield, Cheshire |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Cheshire East |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | E3572 |
Summary
An exciting opportunity has become available to work within Social Care Reform, Practice Assurance and Development in the Adult Social Care Department, within Adults Health and Integration Directorate. The position is for 30 hours per week.
About you
You will act as a champion of excellence in Adult Social Care social work practice, providing expert professional leadership, scrutiny and challenge to ensure high‑quality, safe and effective practice across the organisation. You will work closely with Practice Managers, Social Workers and partner agencies to embed nationally recognised standards, strengthen professional capability and drive continuous improvement.
You will lead and support workforce development activity by identifying practice and skills gaps through training needs analysis, contributing to the Adult Social Care workforce strategy and annual training plan, and commissioning or delivering targeted learning solutions. This includes overseeing the professional development of specialist roles (such as Practice Educators, Approved Mental Health Professionals and Best Interest Assessors), facilitating practice excellence forums and action learning, and embedding research‑informed practice.
As part of the role, you will provide professional advice, supervision and peer support, particularly to newly qualified staff and those in specialist roles, and contribute to quality assurance through observation of practice, audit, and learning from complaints and reviews. You will ensure learning and development policies and provision meet local, regional and national priorities, align with regulatory and legislative requirements, and support safe, person‑centred and outcome‑focused practice.
The role is diverse with no one day the same, for more information on the role please view the 'In this job you will' section within the attached job description specification document.
The successful candidate will have:
Substantial post qualifying experience as a frontline Social Worker or Approved Mental Health Professional, preferably working in a Local Authority setting;
Experience of Practice Education/student supervision, training delivery or coaching;
Experience of performance and change management;
A high degree of interpersonal skills;
Theoretical and practical knowledge of social work practice;
A flexible approach to work;
Knowledge of the legislation and statutory and policy framework in relation to Adult Social Care.
To find out more about the essential and desirable criteria for the role please view the attached job description specification document.
Cheshire East is an amazing place to live and work. As one of the largest employers in the borough, we are able to offer you a wide range of challenging and rewarding career opportunities.
We are working for a brighter future – together and our commitment to you is that our workplace culture will provide a shared purpose, a well-led organisation with valued people succeeding together as one team and one council to deliver the best service for our customers and communities.
If you want to be part of our award-winning council and contribute to our ongoing success, have the flexibility and drive to enable us to innovate, are committed to working as part of a team and striving to deliver exceptional service wherever you can, we would especially like to hear from you.
As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our local communities so that we can all work for a brighter future - together.
Applicants should ensure all sections of the application form are completed as failure to do so will result in their application being rejected. Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date then it is likely that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion, however, please do not be discouraged from applying again.
For any technical enquiries please email sourcingteam@ecwip.co.uk
Please quote job reference number in all correspondence.
For further information, please contact the Strategic Practice Assurance and Development Manager, Naomi Pearce on 07929664469 or email naomi.pearce@cheshireeast.gov.uk
We reserve the right to close any vacancy sooner than the advertised closing date, should a suitable candidate be found. Early application is therefore advisable.
About you
You will act as a champion of excellence in Adult Social Care social work practice, providing expert professional leadership, scrutiny and challenge to ensure high‑quality, safe and effective practice across the organisation. You will work closely with Practice Managers, Social Workers and partner agencies to embed nationally recognised standards, strengthen professional capability and drive continuous improvement.
You will lead and support workforce development activity by identifying practice and skills gaps through training needs analysis, contributing to the Adult Social Care workforce strategy and annual training plan, and commissioning or delivering targeted learning solutions. This includes overseeing the professional development of specialist roles (such as Practice Educators, Approved Mental Health Professionals and Best Interest Assessors), facilitating practice excellence forums and action learning, and embedding research‑informed practice.
As part of the role, you will provide professional advice, supervision and peer support, particularly to newly qualified staff and those in specialist roles, and contribute to quality assurance through observation of practice, audit, and learning from complaints and reviews. You will ensure learning and development policies and provision meet local, regional and national priorities, align with regulatory and legislative requirements, and support safe, person‑centred and outcome‑focused practice.
The role is diverse with no one day the same, for more information on the role please view the 'In this job you will' section within the attached job description specification document.
The successful candidate will have:
Substantial post qualifying experience as a frontline Social Worker or Approved Mental Health Professional, preferably working in a Local Authority setting;
Experience of Practice Education/student supervision, training delivery or coaching;
Experience of performance and change management;
A high degree of interpersonal skills;
Theoretical and practical knowledge of social work practice;
A flexible approach to work;
Knowledge of the legislation and statutory and policy framework in relation to Adult Social Care.
To find out more about the essential and desirable criteria for the role please view the attached job description specification document.
Cheshire East is an amazing place to live and work. As one of the largest employers in the borough, we are able to offer you a wide range of challenging and rewarding career opportunities.
We are working for a brighter future – together and our commitment to you is that our workplace culture will provide a shared purpose, a well-led organisation with valued people succeeding together as one team and one council to deliver the best service for our customers and communities.
If you want to be part of our award-winning council and contribute to our ongoing success, have the flexibility and drive to enable us to innovate, are committed to working as part of a team and striving to deliver exceptional service wherever you can, we would especially like to hear from you.
As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our local communities so that we can all work for a brighter future - together.
Applicants should ensure all sections of the application form are completed as failure to do so will result in their application being rejected. Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date then it is likely that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion, however, please do not be discouraged from applying again.
For any technical enquiries please email sourcingteam@ecwip.co.uk
Please quote job reference number in all correspondence.
For further information, please contact the Strategic Practice Assurance and Development Manager, Naomi Pearce on 07929664469 or email naomi.pearce@cheshireeast.gov.uk
We reserve the right to close any vacancy sooner than the advertised closing date, should a suitable candidate be found. Early application is therefore advisable.