Job Description:

Senior Practitioner – Families First | Family Help Service About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Practitioner to join the Families First – Family Help Service, providing advanced social work practice and professional leadership.

The successful candidate will hold a reduced caseload of the most complex children and families requiring statutory intervention, while providing expert safeguarding advice, practice oversight, mentoring and reflective support to other practitioners.

Working within the Families First model, you will play a key role in step-up and step-down decisions across Child in Need (CIN), Child Protection, Public Law Outline (PLO), care proceedings and permanence planning.

You will champion Signs of Safety, Trauma-Informed Practice and Motivational Interviewing, helping to embed high-quality, relationship-based and evidence-informed practice across the service.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a reduced caseload of complex CIN, Child Protection, PLO, pre-proceedings, care proceedings and permanence cases.

• Provide advanced safeguarding oversight, professional analysis and risk management.

• Undertake complex parenting, risk, viability and permanence assessments.

• Prepare high-quality assessments, reports, statements and court evidence.

• Lead complex multi-agency meetings, including CIN, Core Groups, planning and family network meetings.

• Coordinate multi-agency plans and ensure safeguarding actions, responsibilities and timescales are clear.

• Provide expert advice, case consultation and professional challenge to Social Workers, ASYEs, students and other practitioners.

• Lead pod supervision, providing reflective, case-focused supervision and supporting effective risk management.

• Facilitate reflective practice and multi-disciplinary supervision sessions with partner agencies.

• Mentor and coach practitioners through joint visits, case discussions, observation and feedback.

• Support the Team Manager with quality assurance, service improvement, workforce development and complex decision-making.

• Champion Signs of Safety, Trauma-Informed Practice and Motivational Interviewing.

• Ensure children's wishes, feelings and lived experiences remain central to practice and decision-making.

• Work with families experiencing complex issues including neglect, domestic abuse, exploitation, mental ill health, substance misuse and other safeguarding concerns.

• Undertake comprehensive Family Help Assessments and develop outcome-focused Family Help Plans.

• Complete regular visits and direct work with children, young people and families.

• Identify and build upon family strengths, networks and community resources.

• Promote family-led solutions, motivation for change and sustainable outcomes.

• Maintain accurate, timely and high-quality case records and professional documentation.

• Promote anti-discriminatory, anti-oppressive and culturally competent practice.

Candidate Requirements

The successful candidate will have:

• A recognised Social Work qualification.

• Current Social Work England registration.

• Significant experience within Children's Social Care and safeguarding.

• Strong experience managing complex CIN and Child Protection cases.

• Experience of PLO, care proceedings and permanence planning.

• Strong assessment, analytical and risk management skills.

• Experience preparing reports and presenting evidence within court proceedings.

• Experience providing practice leadership, mentoring, coaching or supervision.

• Strong multi-agency working experience.

• Knowledge of Signs of Safety, Trauma-Informed Practice and/or Motivational Interviewing.

• Excellent communication, professional challenge and decision-making skills.

• A strong commitment to relationship-based, strengths-focused and child-centred practice.

What We're Looking For

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Social Worker ready to take the next step in their career and provide advanced practice leadership while continuing to work directly with children and families.

The ideal candidate will be confident, analytical and supportive, with the ability to challenge practice appropriately, manage complex safeguarding situations and develop the skills of colleagues while keeping children's safety and wellbeing at the heart of every decision.