Senior Practitioner – Family Support & Protection, North Essex

About the Role

Fixed Term / Secondment opportunity, 12 month contract

Full Time, 37 hours per week

Salary: £48,205 to £57,988 per annum

Location: Tendring

Working Style: Community-based worker

Closing Date: 25th May 2026

Essex County Council understands 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. Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us having received our 2nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row. Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity and compassion; promoting the development and wellbeing of children, young people and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

Responsibilities

• A Senior Practitioner manages a complex caseload and provides expert supervision and coaching for colleagues, to achieve positive change for children, young people and families.
• Deputising for the Team Manager, leading the team and managing duty services.
• An experienced social work practitioner, able to manage higher levels of risk, mentor and advise staff, manage performance and deliver improvements.
• Building strong working relationships with key partners and stakeholders is essential.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for providing a source of expert advice and professional supervision for social workers and contributing to the development of practice standards.
• Accountable for assessment of complex social care needs and development of support for vulnerable people, children and families.
• Accountable for working within the statutory legal framework, policy and guidance and determining when the threshold for statutory intervention has been reached.
• Responsible for managing a complex caseload, maintaining accurate and timely data, reports and presentations as required.
• Participates in a range of case conferences, meetings and statutory reviews, pro-actively taking the lead when a social care perspective is required.
• Accountable for conducting assessments and planning responses to safeguard and promote a child’s welfare including appropriate intervention as determined by need.
• Builds strong effective working relationships across the Council, with partners and members of voluntary agencies to help people get the best start in life and age well.
• Delivers a high level of expertise in particular areas of practice and leads on those areas, contributing to the development.

Essential Qualifications and Experience

• A recognised social work qualification i.e. Diploma, degree or Masters in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) 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.

Desirable Qualifications and Experience

• 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 families.
• In 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.

Other Requirements

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.

Benefits and Working Arrangements

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

DBS Check and Updates

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.

Code of Conduct and Principles

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.