RAA Adoption Panel Advisor / Improvement Lead (Team Manager)
RAA Adoption Panel Advisor / Improvement Lead (Team Manager)
The Service
Adopt London North is a new Regional Adoption Agency for North London, offering adoption services on behalf of the boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey and Islington. We went live on 1st October 2019, hosted by the London Borough of Islington and based in our new office space in the Laycock Centre, N1 1TH – just 2 minutes walk from Highbury & Islington station. Since March 2020 we have all been primarily based at home, delivering most of our work (including Adoption Panels) virtually. Candidates must be able to work from our office base once guidance in relation to the pandemic allows this.
Before we became an RAA we worked together as part of the North London Adoption Consortium for many years and are thrilled to have the opportunity to further improve our services to adoptive families and to deliver practice innovations in all areas of our work. We are dedicated to the needs of our children in need of adoptive placements and have an ambitious agenda to improve the adopter experience and levels of support for families all the way through our service.
As part of Adopt London, we belong to a pioneering group of four RAAs in London, working closely together to improve and equalise adoption services across 23 boroughs.
You can find out more about us on our website:
And Our Twitter Account
The role
With an experienced and committed staff group in place, we are looking for an Agency Panel Advisor / Improvement Lead to join us at this stage of our journey. This is an unusual and exciting opportunity to play a key role in the development of the new service at Team Manager level. You will work as part of the management team with lead responsibility for Adoption Panel services and improvement work with our partner boroughs. You will become a permanent Islington employee and have a range of benefits on offer, including a retention payment of £1500 per year, a free zone 1-2 travel card and additional payments available for those with qualifying educational awards.
Panel: Our central Adoption Panel at the Laycock Centre will run twice a month and cover all approval and matching cases. You will be responsible for the smooth and effective functioning of the Panel with the support of a dedicated and experienced Panel Business Coordinator. You will work closely with the Panel Chair and Central List members to establish robust arrangements. You will also facilitate affective post-Panel ADM decisions, which for matches will take place in the child’s home borough.
Improvement lead: You will work closely with the ALN management team and practitioners to develop and oversee new ways of working in the service, focusing on implementing best practice and capturing learning through Adoption Panel QA processes, auditing and client feedback. You will also work alongside adoption & permanency leads in our six partner boroughs to support improved adoption knowledge, and best practice in adoption-related work, across children’s social work services.
Team Manager: The Job Description for this post is consistent across all of the Team Managers in our service. Our Team Managers support and provide cover for one another – therefore you will have close involvement with all aspects of the Service and will provide support to other teams when required. You will have an opportunity to consider role rotation in the future to ensure that your knowledge remains up to date.
About You
We welcome applications from those with a strong and evidenced understanding of permanency work and commitment to adoption. You should have experience of Panels and have an excellent understanding of their purpose, and of Panel best practice. It is not essential that you have direct experience as a Panel Advisor, although this would be an advantage.
You should be passionate about supporting social workers develop a greater understanding of adoption work and in implementing research-based best practice. Most importantly, you should be willing to come along on this journey with us – learning and developing alongside us in this new service.
For more information
We warmly welcome requests for an informal discussion if you are considering applying for this role. To arrange a discussion or request further information, please contact Lydia Samuel (Head of Service) and/or Teresa Stratford (Service Manager). Lydia.samuel@islington.gov.uk. Teresa.stratford@islington.gov.uk
We welcome applications from Black and Minority Ethnic candidates and acknowledge our responsibility to mitigate against structural racism.
Islington Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and expects all staff, and volunteers to share this commitment.
Islington Council is also committed to flexible working and will consider requests where possible.
Islington also operates random drug or alcohol testing for safety critical roles or for where there may be just cause.
To apply for this position please use the online application process below. Please note that the council only accepts on-line applications, no CV’s or alternative forms of applications are accepted. If you are unable to use the online process please contact the Recruitment team on 020 7527 2155 or e-mail recruitment@islington.gov.uk
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
Applications from job seekers who require Tier 2 sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. However, non-EEA candidates may not be appointed to a post if a suitably qualified, experienced and skilled EU/EEA candidate is available to take up the post as the employing body is unlikely, in these circumstances, to satisfy the resident labour market test. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires employers to complete this test to show that no suitably qualified EEA or EU worker can fill the post. For further information please visit the
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
