Senior Practitioner Intensive Parenting

At Bath & North East Somerset Council we have one overriding purpose – to improve people’s lives.

Temporary Contract (Maternity Cover)

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Practitioner with extensive experience of court proceedings and parenting assessments, to support with this work. The post holder will be providing maternity cover.

You will be part of a GOOD local authority where Ofsted said Children in Bath and North East Somerset receive a good service. Practitioners are creative, thoughtful and effective in making children safer, and keeping families together whenever possible.

About the role:

You will be the service wide lead on assessments and support with other areas of service development.

This is a non-case holding role. You will focus on developing and supporting other staff in their understanding of assessing parenting capacity and help them to develop these skills. You will also undertake and plan auditing and practice improvement, working closely with Team Managers and the Senior Management Team.

You can expect:

• A comprehensive induction
• Managed caseload
• Regular supervision – at a minimum of monthly one to one
• Monthly Peer Circles to ensure strong relationships and support between Senior Practitioners across the teams
• Extensive training opportunities, which include SARI workshops around culturally sensitive practice, opportunities to join a 6-month long training in Systemic Practice delivered by the Centre for Systemic Social Work, attachment-based workshops, and trauma-informed workshops
• Excellent administrative support
• Tri-annual Social Work Conferences with guest speakers who are experts in the field. Examples of previous conferences have included Donald Forrester, Brid Featherstone, Rebecca Carr-Hopkins, ‘Annie’ from Surviving Safeguarding, and Dr Karen Treisman
• Paid Social Work England membership renewals
• Access to Research in Practice
• Laptop and iPhone to promote flexible working, to enhance your work-life balance
• Relocation Payments are available
• A stable leadership team
• A stable and committed team, with low rates of agency workers

To apply you will have:

• A relevant social work qualification
• Significant social work experience
• Experience of pre-proceedings and court proceedings
• Knowledge of the legislative framework that governs children’s services
• Knowledge of theory and practice applicable to social work
• IT skills to enable operation of standard electronic systems
• Passion, commitment, and motivation to support the most vulnerable families in our area

If you are interested in this post and require more details or just to chat through the role and what’s involved, please contact
Felicity Groves, Head of Service Development and Participation on or email fe

Interview date: TBC

No Agencies Please.

Please note that this advert may close earlier than the stated closing date due to high demand. We advise all interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

* Please note, BANES Council operates a policy of prior consideration for roles for any individual on the Council’s at-risk register (redeployee). This means should a redeployee express an interest in this role, providing they meet the essential criteria for the role they will be considered ahead of external applicants.

Working at Bath and North East Somerset provides an opportunity to contribute to your community and make a positive impact on the lives of residents. Our values shape how we work to deliver public services, and how we communicate with the residents we serve. We care about the best outcomes for local people, through our public services.

We offer a wide range of benefits, to ensure that you are paid fairly for your work, have the…