Social Work Senior Practitioner - Lowmoss Prison - EAD09755

This post is only available to all permanent and temporary employees and agency workers currently on assignment within East Dunbartonshire Council.

Senior Practitioner – HMP Low Moss Prison-Based Social Work Team Lead the Future of Prison-Based Social Work. An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Prison-Based Social Work Team at HMP Low Moss as a Senior Practitioner during a significant period of service expansion and development. Recent collaboration between the Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Government, Social Work Scotland and Local Authorities has reaffirmed the vital role that Prison-Based Social Work plays in supporting individuals throughout their custodial sentence and preparing them for successful reintegration into communities.

As a result of this national recognition and investment, we are strengthening our leadership capacity and are recruiting: 2 x Senior Practitioners – Prison-Based Social Work. These posts will play a key role in supporting the development of a strengthened casework model, bringing prison-based practice more closely in line with community justice social work and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, relationship-based interventions within a complex and challenging environment.

The Senior Practitioner posts will provide additional professional leadership capacity within the service, supporting a growing workforce and helping to ensure the effective management of increasingly complex public protection and risk management responsibilities. Senior Practitioners will act as the deputy to the Social Work Team Manager, providing operational leadership, professional oversight and decision-making support when required, whilst maintaining responsibility for a complex caseload and contributing to the strategic development of the service.

Why Choose Prison-Based Social Work? Prison-Based Social Work offers a unique opportunity to work with people during some of the most significant periods of change in their lives. As a Senior Practitioner, you will:

• Provide professional leadership and guidance to social work staff within the team.
• Act as deputy to the Social Work Team Manager and provide operational management support when required.
• Hold and manage complex and high-risk cases.
• Contribute to risk assessment, risk management and public protection processes.
• Support quality assurance, service development and continuous improvement activities.
• Mentor less experienced staff.
• Lead on complex case discussions and provide consultation, mentoring and practice support to colleagues.
• Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary environment alongside prison staff, psychology, healthcare and community-based colleagues.
• Support individuals to address offending behaviour, strengthen protective factors and prepare for release.
• Play a key role in shaping service development and embedding best practice.

What Makes This Role Different? Unlike many social work settings, prison-based practice offers the opportunity to work intensively with individuals over extended periods of time, allowing practitioners to:

• Build sustained professional relationships.
• Witness progress and change over time.
• Engage in purposeful interventions.
• Influence sentence progression and reintegration planning.
• Contribute directly to community safety and reducing reoffending.
• Develop specialist expertise in complex risk assessment and management.
• Lead practice development and provide professional support within a growing specialist service.

This is challenging, rewarding and highly skilled social work leadership.

What We Are Looking For We are seeking experienced, motivated and resilient practitioners who:

• Hold a recognised Social Work qualification and registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).
• Demonstrate substantial experience in social work practice, preferably within criminal justice, public protection or related services.
• Possess strong assessment, analytical and decision-making skills.
• Have experience of managing complex and high-risk cases.
• Can provide professional leadership, mentoring and support to colleagues.
• Are committed to relationship-based practice and achieving positive outcomes.
• Have excellent communication and partnership-working skills.
• Can balance support, challenge and accountability in their practice.
• Are committed to continuous learning, service improvement and the development of others.

Experience of criminal justice social work, public protection processes, MAPPA, risk assessment and risk management is highly desirable.

What We Offer A supportive and experienced management team. Opportunities for leadership development and specialist training. Exposure to complex and varied practice. Regular supervision and reflective practice. Opportunities to influence service development and future models of practice. The chance to play a key role in shaping Prison-Based Social Work in Scotland. This is an exciting time to join HMP Low Moss. As our service grows and develops, successful candidates will have the opportunity to contribute to the future direction of prison-based social work, provide leadership and support to colleagues, and help deliver a model of service that is recognised nationally as an essential part of Scotland's justice system. Join us and help lead positive change where it matters most.