Permanence Senior Social Work Practitioner

ESPO Trading Limited; Glenfield; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Leicestershire County Council seeks a Senior Practitioner to lead the Permanence Team, managing complex cases, delivering thorough Child Permanence Reports, and coordinating with fieldwork colleagues on care plans, adoption matching, and placement support. The role emphasizes trauma-informed practice and strong regulatory knowledge.

The successful candidate will chair permanence meetings, supervise staff, and drive service development, with a focus on high-quality direct work with children and

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in statutory social work practice.
• Excellent analytical ability evidenced in child care assessments.
• Good working knowledge of adoption regulations and related research.
• Proven track record in applying knowledge to direct work with children and families.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operation of the Permanence Team and deputise for the Team Manager.
• Chair matching meetings for long-term fostering to provide oversight.
• Lead practice development including embedding trauma-informed practice.
• Complete Child Permanence Reports, Adoption Support Plans and Annex A’s to high standards and within deadlines.
• Demonstrate creative, relationship-based social work with families and professionals, using Signs of Safety where applicable.
• Supervise workers and/or students and support team development.

Skills

Statutory social work

Analytical ability

Signs of Safety

Supervision experience

Trauma-informed practice

Education

Social Work degree

Registered with Social Work England

Job description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, LE3 8RA

Salary: £47,559 - £51,657 per annum (inclusive of market premia at £2,250) (pro rata for part-time)

Working Hours:37 hours per week

Contract Type: Fixed-term for 12 months

Closing Date: 25th September 2026

Interview Date(s): TBC

The Senior Practitioner in the Permanence Team will have a case load of complex cases whereby they will work alongside the fieldwork teams when care plans are being twin tracked with a plan of adoption. The Senior Practitioner will complete Child Permanence Reports and Sibling Assessments during court proceedings and will take the lead for ensuring that the child is fully prepared and that adopters are well supported by providing all relevant paperwork that gives detailed and robust analysis of the child’s predicted needs based on their past experiences. This will inform matching, introduction and placement support.

About the Role

The applicant will need to demonstrate substantial experience in statutory social work practice and excellent analytical ability evidenced in child care assessments and to manage the competing demands of working within both care proceedings and family finding and adoption placement support simultaneously. They will need to have a good working knowledge of adoption regulations, and the research base underpinning our work and a proven track record in transferring this knowledge into high standard of direct work with children and families.
We are looking for someone who has experience of supervising the work of others, supporting the team’s development as well supporting the team managers to deliver service development across our practice.

The Senior Practitioner will also chair the matching meetings for long-term fostering cases to provide an additional level of oversight to those matches. Ideally the applicant will be able to demonstrate a clear understanding of our continuous improvement journey, including becomes a trauma informed service and areas for development going forward.

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

Please ensure that you cover all 7 points in your application and provide clear examples and evidence of how each point has been met.

• Under the direction of the Team Manager, to be responsible overseeing the day-to-day operation of the Permanence Team, including deputising for the Team Manager where needed.


• To be a practice leader for signs of safety, chairing pod meetings, family finding tracking internally, on link maker and within the FAL region and to offer reflective support for social work and support staff within the team.


• To be a driver in practice development in line with our service delivery plans, including our work to embed trauma informed practice across our service delivery.


• Be able to complete reports such as Child Permanence Reports, Adoption Support plans and Annex A’s to a high standard and working within tight deadlines where needed.


• Be able to evidence your skills and knowledge of creative, innovative, and relationship-based social work, working in collaboration with families and professionals. Ideally you will already be confident in the application of the Signs of Safety methodology.


• Have a Social Work degree or equivalent, e.g. CQSW, DipSW (with specialism in children’s services) and be registered with Social Work England. As well as experience of supervising workers and/or students.


• Have a full valid driving licence and access to a vehicle.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion,please contact:

Michelle Robinson, Assistant Service Manager

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]