Personal Advisor - Children's Social Care (South & West)

We are looking for Personal Advisors to join our Care Experienced team in providing social care support to 16-25 year olds living in, or, leaving care in South & West Devon.

About the Role

We are seeking two dynamic and dedicated Personal Advisors to join our Care Experienced team in South & West Devon. The successful candidates must have a natural ability to develop trusting and supportive relationships with young people between the ages of 16-25 years who are living in care or leaving care.

Personal Advisors provide high quality and effective social care support to young people and young adults to promote, support and improve their life chances, safety, accommodation needs, education and employment, finance and independence skills.

You will be required to manage and monitor a workload of cases as directed and organise work activities, taking into account the need to prioritise tasks and responsibilities and ensure that statutory and service responsibilities are undertaken within timescales. You will also be responsible for writing timely reports for young people, including plans, risk assessments and referrals.

Roles available:

1 x Permanent Personal Advisor.
1 x Fixed-Term Personal Advisor (2 years to cover internal secondment).

Both roles are full-time - 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

About You

Your skills and experience will include:

• Previous experience of working directly with young people, families and carers, to identify needs alongside experience of implementing service plans on the basis of the assessed needs
• Knowledge of applicable legislation including the Children Act (1989), The Children Leaving Care Act (2000) and the Children and Social Work Act (2017)
• A sound understanding of child and adolescent development and the particular difficulties and disadvantages associated with transition to adulthood for children in care
• The ability to negotiate, challenge and manage conflict whilst exercising individual judgement. It is important that you can be empathetic and understanding, as well as persistent and tenacious.
• A non-judgemental and unbiased approach
• Excellent interpersonal skills for listening and offering practical, honest solutions to support and enable positive changes.
• A flexible approach to working hours. You will need to travel around the county and to other parts of the country when required
  

This is a fantastic opportunity to expand and further your career in Social Care. If you feel that you have the relevant experience, knowledge and skills necessary to make a real difference, we would love to hear from you.

Working in Children's Social Care at Devon County Council

Situated about a mile from the main town centre of Totnes, the South & West Care Experienced Team is based at Follaton House. For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.

We offer some fantastic employee benefits, including:

• Generous annual leave, and the ability to purchase additional annual leave.
• Free onsite parking
• Ongoing learning and development opportunities
• Employee Assistance and well-being services for the times you may need some support
• Promotion of a healthy work-life balance and flexible working
• options where possible
• A benefits platform that offers discounts at over 900 national & local high street retailers
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme

For any queries or an informal discussion about this role, please contact Team Manager, Matt Thompson on 01392 383000, or email Matt.Thompson@devon.gov.uk

Applications close on 18 October 2026.
Please note: We strongly encourage you to submit your application early to avoid disappointment as it is possible that the advert may close early if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Internal Applicants, please note: If you are an existing DCC employee, please use your iTrent Employee Self Service (ESS) details to log in and apply.

Additional Information

• Devon County Council is committed to creating an inclusive, safe and diverse workplace where everyone can thrive. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment.
• Personal data will be processed in line with our Applicant privacy notice.
• For details on the use of AI in applications and Devon County Council’s use of AI in Recruitment please see Use of AI in Our Recruitment Processes - Working for Devon
  

This role requires:

• A suitable DBS check.
• A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Confidence and fluency in spoken English.
  

REQ010667 – Children’s Social Care