Best Start in Life Lead Partnership Practitioner

Overview

Could you be the welcoming and confident lead for Buckinghamshire’s Best Start Family Hub? Are you a warm, solution‑focused professional with a passion for improving outcomes for children and families?

In July 2025, the Government launched its strategy, Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life, with the ambition that 75% of five‑year‑olds in England will achieve a good level of development by 2028. Supporting families with parenting and the Home Learning Environment (HLE) is central to achieving this ambition, alongside a vision for integrated family services that bring together health, education, early years and wider partners.

We are looking for a motivated Lead Partnership Practitioner to coordinate provision within our designated Best Start Family Hub, managing a small team and engaging a wide range of partners across the Family Hub Network.

This is a full time, fixed term/secondment position for 18 months.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council brings together the strengths and expertise of the county’s former councils to create positive change for local people, communities and businesses. We are future‑focused and committed to delivering high‑quality, accessible services for residents.

Buckinghamshire is an ambitious and rapidly growing county, offering outstanding natural beauty, excellent transport links — including rail access to London in under an hour — and a rich cultural heritage as the birthplace of the international Paralympic movement.

About the role

As a Best Start in Life Lead Partnership Practitioner, you will play a key role in delivering the local ambition that 75% of five‑year‑olds achieve a good level of development by 2028.

Based in our designated Best Start Family Hub and the local community, you will coordinate and deliver high‑quality universal and targeted provision, with a strong focus on parenting support and the Home Learning Environment. You will manage a small team of Best Start Family Hub Workers and work closely with partners across the Family Hub Network to ensure families experience a joined‑up early help offer.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading practice within the Best Start Family Hub and wider Family Hub Network.
• Planning, delivering and evaluating universal and targeted support, including evening and weekend sessions.
• Managing and supporting a small team of Best Start Family Hub Workers.
• Developing strong partnerships with statutory, voluntary and community services.
• Contributing to service planning, development and evaluation.
• Capturing outcomes, analysing data and producing clear reports.

About you

You will be creative, organised, thorough and approachable, with significant experience of working with children, young people and families in a community or early help setting.

You will be confident in building and sustaining positive relationships with colleagues and partners and will enjoy working collaboratively to proactively drive improvement.

You will demonstrate:

• A strong understanding of the Best Start in Life agenda and the Buckinghamshire Family Hub Network.
• Significant experience of multi‑agency and partnership working.
• Confidence in analysing outcomes and using evidence to improve practice.
• Alignment with Buckinghamshire Council’s PACT values: Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Other information

For further discussions regarding this role, please contact;

Sarah Barnett [email protected]

Jody Twycross [email protected]

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/