Knowsley Council is an award winning Local Authority, named Local Authority of the Year in the Municipal Journal Awards 2024 and is an Accredited employer under the Liverpool City Region Fair Employment Charter, demonstrating that we are committed to the principle of fair employment and we are dedicated to providing a healthy, fair, inclusive and just workplace.Come join us and be part of our success.

Are you passionate about helping families thrive in the face of complex challenges? Do you have the skills and experience to deliver life-changing therapeutic interventions around exploitation and family dynamics that make a real difference? Do you enjoy working directly with families to empower them and build lasting resilience? If so, you may be the perfect candidate for this exciting opportunity to join the Shield Team as an Advanced Social Worker.

As the Shield Team’s practice has developed in relation to exploitation, we are seeing harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) at times intertwine with both sexual and criminal exploitation. The remit of the team is therefore being expanded to offer specialist support in these areas, including targeted parenting and therapeutic interventions that address a range of exploitation-related harms.

The primary focus of this role is to deliver a mix of therapeutic interventions with both children and their parents or carers, addressing complex issues related to harmful sexual behaviour and forms of exploitation such as sexual and criminal exploitation. This is a key role in delivering coordinated and impactful interventions to families with children and young people aged 0–25, where challenges may include developmental trauma, peer dynamics, and wider contextual risks.

You should have a good understanding of child development, safeguarding, and the challenges families face when dealing with exploitation and other external harms. Strong communication, planning, and 

partnership working skills are essential, as is the ability to build trusted relationships with parents and carers.

The targeted interventions will help parents and carers develop the skills and confidence they need to support their children’s wellbeing and development. You will deliver hands-on support and therapeutic interventions, with a strong emphasis on relationship-based and trauma-informed practice, aiming to improve outcomes for the whole family. You will also support parents in managing challenging behaviour and preventing escalation, helping them respond confidently and constructively to complex situations at home.

You will also undertake holistic assessments in relation to a variety of risks of harm and lead on the development and delivery of outcome-focused family plans. You will work closely with families, professionals, and partner agencies to reduce harms associated with harmful sexual behaviour and exploitation and anti-social behaviour. In this role, you will be expected to contribute to safeguarding processes and risk management and take the lead in coordinating support, ensuring services are responsive and effective.

A key aspect of the role is working in partnership with the police and other agencies to identify and respond to threats and risks in the community. This includes supporting intelligence gathering, mapping activity, and attending multi-agency forums to ensure timely action and joined-up working.

As part of the Advanced Social Worker role, you will assist and deputise in the absence of the Team Manager, and provide high-quality professional supervision, reflective supervision, appraisal, and support to others as appropriate, helping to identify and develop potential within the team.

At Knowsley Council we will consider requests for flexible working.  For most roles, the following types of flexibility are usually possible: flexible hours, working from home, compressed hours, part-time.

We promote applications from all sections of the community, regardless of background, belief, or identity, recognising the value that diversity brings to our organisation. We particularly welcome applications from individuals from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and candidates with disabilities as we acknowledge their underrepresentation in our workforce.

See the benefits of working for Knowsley MBC https://www.knowsley.gov.uk/yes.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applicants.

At Knowsley we value our applicants and want them to feel well-informed and welcomed. If you have any questions about this specific job role or what it is like to work at Knowsley, please contact: 

Chloe Vose, Shield Team Manager: 07810053551  Email:chloe.vose@knowsley.gov.uk 

Interviews to be held - 31st October 2025

If you are interested in this vacancy, please upload your CV along with a supporting statement as one document in PDF or Word format. Your CV and supporting statement should be tailored to reflect the competencies within the person specification.

Please note if a CV and supporting statement does not reflect the person specification it is unlikely to be shortlisted.