Senior Practitioner in Grays

If you are looking for something unique and to progress your own knowledge base and skills this is a great role for you. Thurrock Council are seeking to recruit a senior practitioner to join a small supportive team to provide direct support to children and families.

This is an opportunity to shape bespoke services for young people on the edge of care. Join us in our mission to build safety, offer intensive support, and make a lasting impact on the lives of young people and their families.

About the Role

This post will support young people aged 14-17 with duties imposed under different legislation primarily through the Children Act 1989 and associated regulations and guidelines. The post requires an experienced Social Worker who has the skillset to analyse and manage risk and work intensively with young people and their families across CIN, CP and LAC frameworks to reduce risk of familial breakdown and reunify young people with their families. The SW will need to be experienced to enable them to work with complex cases such as young people who are being criminally and/or sexually exploited while working to keep the children with their primary caregivers.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• A passion for working with adolescents aged 14-17.
• An understanding of the complexities faced by young people vulnerable to entering care due to home relationship breakdowns, child exploitation, or outcomes from the youth justice system.

DBS Check: A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an Enhanced level with Children’s Barred List is required for this role.

Benefits of Working with Us

• Innovative Approach: Be a part of a team that values both traditionally and alternatively qualified workers, ensuring that support is intensive, creative, and most importantly, led by the young person.
• Protected Low Caseloads: Our multi-disciplinary team work collaboratively and intensively, allowing you to build meaningful relationships and provide focused support.
• Continuous Learning: We encourage out-of-the-box thinking and offer numerous opportunities for professional growth and development.

Rated Outstanding across all areas in our most recent Ofsted Inspection, Thurrock has a friendly and supportive Children’s Services Department and we work within the Signs of Safety model, use a contextual safeguarding approach and are passionate about developing social work staff with a good training and development offer.

At Thurrock Council, we value our employees and offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Excellent remuneration package inclusive of basic salary and market supplement.
• Generous annual leave entitlement – 25 days rising to 30 after 5 years’ service.
• Career average pension scheme.
• Relocation packages.
• Salary sacrifice schemes such as childcare vouchers and cycle to work schemes.
• Flexible working to enable work-life balance.
• Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave above the statutory minimum.
• Reflective supervision and management support.
• 24-hour health advice and support.
• Excellent training opportunities and an established CPD programme.
• Funded DBS.
• Mileage 45p per mile.

Important Dates

• Closing Date (Redeployment Only): 12th February 2026.
• Closing Date (Internal & External): 22nd February 2026.
• Interview Date: Week commencing TBC.

Additional Information

For any role related questions please contact the hiring Adolescent CE & Missing team manager Seema Moules.

As part of the Safer Recruitment process, Gap Management is required for all Safeguarding roles. Please complete the Gaps in Employment grid provided and upload it under Miscellaneous Documents as part of your application. If the Job Profile and Person Specification list any qualifications as essential, please also upload copies of those relevant qualifications.

Why Thurrock? Working at Thurrock Council gives you the opportunity to join an organisation that is changing at pace, one where you can make a real difference to the lives of the people we serve. Thurrock Council is moving towards a new community leadership approach which involves linking with local partners and communities as we shape our improvement for the years ahead. This is an exciting time to join us, to shape the future success of our changing organisation and to have a positive influence on our borough.

Our location Thurrock is located on the north bank of the river Thames. Our urban centres are a vibrant mix of established towns and new young communities, with a diverse and growing population of around 160,000 residents. We are an emerging cultural and arts centre, home to the production centre for the Royal Opera House and the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills. We have excellent retail and leisure opportunities, including Lakeside Shopping Centre, country parks, forests, and marshes. Thurrock is just half an hour journey away from the centre of London by train and well connected by road.

Staff benefits We offer lots of staff benefits, including a generous annual leave entitlement and hybrid working. We champion flexible working and job share applications are welcome.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Thurrock Council is committed to equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident Employer, disabled people will be offered an interview where they meet all essential criteria on the person specification. We serve a diverse community where people are different yet equal. Diversity underpins everything we do.