Senior Practitioner (2 posts)

Newcastle City Council; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Supervision & development

Generous annual leave

LGPS

Flexible working

Workforce wellbeing

Job summary

Newcastle City Council is seeking a Senior Social Work Practitioner to join our New Reunification Team. You will lead on complex assessments and support social workers with specialist reunification planning, contributing to practice development and ensuring evidence-informed work with families.

Based in Newcastle, this role offers flexible and supportive working arrangements, supervision, and a commitment to wellbeing while delivering positive outcomes for children and young people returning

Qualifications

• Experience in permanency and reunification practice.
• Ability to lead on assessments and planning.
• Commitment to evidence-informed practice and safeguarding.

Responsibilities

• Lead on complex assessments for reunification.
• Support social workers with specialist reunification planning.
• Contribute to practice development across the team.
• Embed high-quality, evidence-informed practice.
• Collaborate with children, families and partner agencies.

Skills

Complex assessments

Reunification planning

Practice development

Evidence-informed practice

Interagency collaboration

Job description

This is your moment. Shape the Future. Feel Supported. Belong in Newcastle.

Newcastle is more than a workplace - it’s a community. A vibrant, multicultural city where creativity, kindness, and resilience run deep. From the Quayside to Jesmond Dene, from Ouseburn’s indie cafés to our world class universities, this is a city that welcomes you and your ideas with open arms.

We are seeking an exceptional practitioner and leader to join us as a Senior Social Work Practitioner within our New Reunification Team.

Are you passionate about helping children and young people successfully return home from care?

Newcastle City Council is committed to providing the right support at the right time to enable children and young people to thrive within their families and communities. As part of our continued investment in evidence-based services, we are establishing a new Reunification Team to strengthen our commitment to helping children return safely, successfully and sustainably to the care of their families, where this is in their best interests.

The new team is being developed to provide specialist assessment, intervention and support throughout the reunification journey, ensuring children and families receive focused help before, during and after a return home. The team forms part of a wider strategic investment in reunification practice across the city.

Alongside the new Reunification Team, Newcastle is also introducing an MST Return Home Team, creating a unique partnership between specialist social work and intensive therapeutic family intervention. Together, these services will provide a comprehensive reunification pathway, combining robust assessment, planning and permanence work with evidence-based support designed to strengthen family relationships, build resilience and reduce the risk of children re-entering care.

About the Role

As a Senior Social Work Practitioner, you will play a key role in shaping this innovative service from the outset. Working alongside experienced colleagues, you will lead on complex assessments, support social workers with specialist reunification planning, contribute to practice development and help embed a culture of high-quality, evidence-informed practice. You will work closely with children, families, partner agencies and therapeutic services to ensure that when children return home, they do so safely and with the right support around them.

About you

We are looking for ambitious and skilled practitioners who are passionate about permanence, relationship‑based practice and achieving better outcomes for children and families. If you want to be part of a new service that will help shape the future of reunification practice in Newcastle and make a lasting difference to children's lives, we would love to hear from you.

What we offer:

• A unique opportunity to establish and shape an innovative new service.
• Regular professional supervision and development opportunities.
• Generous annual leave entitlement.
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Flexible and supportive working arrangements.
• A strong organisational commitment to workforce wellbeing.

Why Join us?

This is a rare opportunity to play a role in establishing an innovative and evidence-based service that will help children safely return home and remain with their families. If you want to be part of a new service that will help shape the future of reunification practice in Newcastle and make a lasting difference to children's lives, we would love to hear from you.

Contact Information

For an information conversation about the role, please email Angela Jacobson, Team Manager at [e-mail]

We are committed to protecting and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. This post is working in regulated activity. If you are successful we will undertake additional recruitment checks which will include a check to see if you have had any criminal convictions, a check of police information and we will check the barred list(s). It is a criminal offence for a barred individual to apply for a job in regulated activity.