Senior Practitioner

Milton Keynes City Council; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Holiday benefits

Local Government Pension Scheme

Family friendly policies

Health cash plan

Bike purchase scheme

Discounts and salary sacrifice car

Job summary

Milton Keynes City Council is seeking a Senior Practitioner to lead practice for children and young people, assess risks, develop care plans and support colleagues in delivering high-quality social work. The role is site-based, with potential home-working arrangements and involvement in safeguarding duties.

You will hold a social work qualification and registration with Social Work England, guiding multi-disciplinary teams and contributing to service improvement.

Qualifications

• Qualified social worker with registration in Social Work England.
• Experience leading complex and high-risk child welfare cases.
• Ability to supervise and support other social workers and students.

Responsibilities

• Manage complex and sensitive cases, taking timely action to improve outcomes for children and young people.
• Complete effective social work assessments, care plans and interventions with cross-team collaboration.
• Supervise and support social workers, students and other childcare professionals, sharing expertise openly.
• Resolve complex or contentious case management issues in partnership with the Team Manager or Deputy Team Manager.
• Lead an area of service development and contribute to partnership working across Children's Services.
• Support caseload allocation, quality audits, current practice and service guidance, and respond to emergencies.

Skills

Leadership

Risk assessment

Decision making

Communication

Mentoring

Education

Diploma in Social Work

CQSW / CQSW-equivalent

Degree in Social Work

Job description

Job Introduction

We're recruiting a Senior Practitioner to help deliver positive and lasting outcomes for children and young people across Milton Keynes.

In this rewarding role, you'll bring professional leadership to our most complex work.

You'll assess risk, develop clear care plans and make well-informed decisions when children and families need effective support.

Your influence will extend beyond your own cases.

You'll guide colleagues, share your expertise and help build confident and consistent social work practice across the team.

We're dedicated, respectful and collaborative in everything we do.

If you're an experienced social worker who is ready to lead practice while remaining close to children and families, this is the role for you.

Site-Based role

This is a Site-Based role, and you'll be expected to work from the designated workplace.

Interviews for this role will be held on 5th November 2026

Additional Payments

A £6,000 Golden Hello payment (pro rata for part-time roles).

Paid as a one-off payment and Retention Payment of up to £4,000 per year, paid retrospectively in two equal instalments of up to £2,000.

Payment of your Social Work England professional registration fee.

All subject to eligibility criteria

At Milton Keynes City Council, we aim to make a difference every day. We're dedicated, respectful and collaborative. We act as one council, and we work hard to create cleaner, safer and healthier communities while tackling inequalities and supporting people to thrive.

Find out more about working with us here: www.mkcounciljobs.org.uk

Main Responsibility

• Manage complex and sensitive cases, taking timely action to address risks and improve outcomes for children and young people.
• Complete effective social work assessments, care plans and interventions, working with other Children's Social Care teams when needed.
• Supervise and support social workers, social work assistants, students and other childcare professionals, while sharing your expertise openly.
• Help resolve complex or contentious case management issues in partnership with the Deputy Team Manager or Team Manager.
• Lead an area of service development and contribute to effective partnership working across Children's Services.
• Support caseload allocation, quality audits, current practice and service guidance, and respond to emergencies when required.

The Ideal Candidate

• You'll be a qualified social worker with a Diploma in Social Work, Certificate of Qualification in Social Work, degree in Social Work or an equivalent qualification, and you must be registered with Social Work England.
• Your specialist knowledge of childcare legislation, policy, practice and research will support sound decisions in challenging situations.
• Clear and confident communication skills will help you question, challenge, solve problems and complete work within deadlines.
• Experience of assessing complex situations and difficult family dynamics will enable you to develop, implement and monitor robust care plans.
• A supportive and collaborative approach will help you supervise colleagues, evaluate practice and contribute to service improvement.
• You'll work flexibly and respond calmly to high-risk situations, including emergencies within your team or elsewhere in the service.

Full UK Driving Licence and access to a vehicle

To be successful in this role, you'll need a full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle. If we offer you the role, we'll ask you to provide evidence of your driving licence and vehicle insurance, including cover for business use. We're unable to confirm an appointment until these documents are received.

Safer Recruitment

Safer Recruitment applies to this role. This means that, before any appointment is confirmed, we'll carry out a range of pre-employment checks to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults. These checks may include identity verification, where candidates will be required to provide original identification documents, including a full birth certificate, employment history and reference checks, qualification checks and an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, (unless you are currently registered with the DBS Update Service). check where required.

Package Description

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of benefits including:

• Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
• Excellent pension - everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
• A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support.
• Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
• Salary sacrifice car scheme - eligible employees can lease an electric or low-emission vehicle at a reduced cost through salary sacrifice, subject to National Minimum Wage and other eligibility requirements.
• Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.

Why join us? Along with more on our Benefits, discover why Working at the City Council could be the right move for you here Working at the Council | Milton Keynes

Roles are either 'site based' or 'home based'.

Site based roles are mainly based at the workplace, with the option to work from home for up to two days a week, depending on service needs.

Home based roles are mainly based at home, with the expectation of attending the workplace up to one day a week.

The working arrangement for each role is set by the manager, based on service requirements.

About The Organisation

Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.

We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference.

We're very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever you background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.

We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organization there are always new opportunities to explore when it's time for a new role.

If you'd like to know more about how we do things and what matters to us, take a look at our short booklet What makes us Milton Keynes City Council, see attached.

Please note that this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must already have an independent and unrestricted right to work in the UK, without the need for employer sponsorship now or in the future.