Personal Advisor WCC623358

Job Details:

Salary range: £34,359 - £37,509 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience
Work location: 101 Orchardson Street, London NW8 8EA
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: x2 Permanent
Vetting requirements: Enhanced DBS Check 
Closing date: 27 Februray 2026
Interview date: 6 March 2026

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF EMPOWERED FAMILIES

Children’s Services at Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories where compassionate people bring everything to their work, including their own experiences of parenting.

Take Melissa, a Senior Social Worker in our Assessment Team. She’s one of the first people families meet when accessing our services, so building rapport is critical. And that’s where Melissa’s life experience really counts. She had her first child as a young adult and knows just how judgemental others can be.

Melissa has something unique to offer and it can’t be found in a textbook: her own experience of raising two children as a single parent. She’s committed to empowering others: giving them the skills, resources and confidence they need, from housing support to baby supplies. And if the family has older kids? Well, she’s been there too. Her youngest is now 15 and Melissa knows the challenges of helping young people navigate inner-city life.

Melissa first learnt her craft as a support worker, then completed her statutory training as social worker – all while raising her family single-handed. And she’s not done yet. Supported by her managers, she’s been training in systemic therapy and is already looking forward to her next development opportunity.

Melissa’s more than a social worker; she’s a shining example to the families she works with every day.

The Role:

As Personal Adviser, you too can make a powerful contribution. You’ll be responsible for ensuring that carer leavers (ages 18-25) have a successful transition to independent adulthood.

We guide young people through the transition with Pathway Plans. You’ll contribute to the assessments, formulation, implementation and review of these.

Plus, you’ll assist and advise care leavers on practical skills necessary for living independently, such as holding a tenancy and developing financial capabilities. Alongside this, you’ll offer motivational support to build confidence and self-esteem. As this is a relationally led role, you have the opportunity to be creative and autonomous in the impact that you make.

You’ll keep in contact with carer leavers, checking that they have suitable accommodation, are in education, or have secured employment that is appropriate to their abilities and aspirations. To push this forward, you’ll collaborate with colleagues across agencies to ensure that provisions are well coordinated.

As Personal Adviser, you’ll need to be comfortable working with a variety of young people. Differing aspirations, educations, and some with significant challenges, like their mental health and offending history. Multiculturalism runs through Westminster, so you’ll regularly work with people with a background different to your own.

Our team is rated outstanding by Ofsted, and we don’t want to lose a notch of that success, we just want to build on it. We offer a high level of support, regular supervision, and manageable caseloads. Plus, our extensive training opportunities provides routes into social work and systemic practice. Inclusivity and shared values are prioritised in all that we do, as well as innovation. Together, we work to ensure that every young person receives high quality, tailored support for their transition into independence.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

To be a good fit, you’ll bring experience of working with vulnerable children, young adults and families according to statutory guidance, either directly in or in partnership with local authority children’s services. You know how to offer safeguarding support, in accordance with the expectations set out in the Children Act 1989 and the Leaving Care Act 2000. You’ll have collaborated with young people, families and relevant services to work towards positive outcomes, addressing underlying vulnerabilities. If you do not have direct experience working with young adults, then you will have transferable skills from settings such as health, housing, youth and employment. You’ll be familiar with assessing and engaging with families, no matter their cultural or ethnic background.

Strong communication (written and verbal) is key to the role. At times, you’ll have conversations with young people who are feeling particularly distressed or vulnerable. Organisation is also your strength – you’ll manage time effectively and balance competing demands.

Plus, you’ll be able to analyse information to move forward with SMART plans of action. You’re able to learn and use models of practice to support meaningful interventions and to manage the personal impact of the work.

You’ll be educated to A level (or equivalent). If not, you’ll bring extensive experience directly working with children, young people, their parents and carers to effect positive change.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

Please clearly state in your application which team you would prefer to join: the Children Looked After & Leaving Care Team, or the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children & Leaving Care Team.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.