Senior Practitioner - Children in Care, South

Senior Practitioner - Children in Care, South Essex Permanent, Full Time
* 48,205 to 57,988 per annum

Location:

Basildon Working Style:
Community-based worker

Closing Date: 15th September 2026
* Essex County Council understand how important flexibility and wellbeing is for our colleagues working across children's Social Care and that we need to think differently. We have therefore developed a nine-day working fortnight for full time frontline Social Workers within Children’s services.

We are a friendly, supportive, and hard-working team where we always hold children at the centre of what we do. We have created an open, reflective and learning culture where social workers feel enabled and supported to raise issues, consider different perspectives, challenge authority, and try out different approaches in a safe and non-blaming environment. Good quality reflective supervision is provided to all social workers and senior practitioners.

As a Senior Practitioner you will provide leadership in the team, provide both support and mentoring to newly qualified or less experienced staff, facilitate reflective group supervision, oversee the team’s duty service, deputise for the Team Manager when needed and have responsibility to lead in a practice area.

There will be opportunities for your own professional development and for being part of developing our team and service.

Children in Care Children in Care (CIC) teams work with children and young people up to the age of 18 who are in care– they’re unable to live at home and are either placed with a foster carer or live in residential homes. They work with children and young people to ensure their experiences in care is a good one and that the work undertaken prepares them for their transition into leaving care or return home to family.

The CIC teams receive cases in proceedings after the first hearing, they visit children and young people in placement, develop permanency plans which include Special Guardianship Order (SGO) and adoption, undertake life-story work to enable a child to understand the reasons for being in care and also support children to return home to birth family.

Skills, knowledge and ExperienceA recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or masters in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.

Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.

Significant experience of social work, demonstrating a comprehensive and up to date understanding of all relevant legislation, regulation and guidance.

Experience of mentoring both Social Work students and newly qualified and experienced Social Work staff, being a subject matter expert in professional social work practice.

Experience of chairing meetings involving clients, family members and/or carers and other multi-agency professionals.

Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies and the local community to achieve joint objectives and offer a supportive framework for children, young people and  depth understanding of delivery of value for money interventions balanced against need.

Proven track record of clear decision making in order to highlight and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

To read more about us please visit:
Children & Families…