Senior Practitioner – Children in Care

Essex County Council; Harlow; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in the UK seeks a Senior Practitioner for Children in Care in Harlow. You will provide leadership and mentoring within a supportive team, oversee support services, and engage in professional development. This role requires a recognized social work qualification, registration with Social Work England, and significant social work experience. A driving licence is essential due to mobility requirements.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Support for unpaid carers

Commitment to career development

Qualifications

• Registered with Social Work England as a social worker.
• Evidence of continuing professional development related to social work.
• Understanding of relevant legislation, regulation, and guidance.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and support to junior staff.
• Facilitate group supervision and oversee duty service.
• Deputise for the Team Manager as needed.

Skills

Social work qualification

Mentoring experience

Experience chairing meetings

Relationship building

Decision making

Education

Diploma, degree or master’s in social work

Job description

Overview

Senior Practitioner - Children in Care. Permanent, full time. Salary: £46,574 to £56,027 per annum. Location: Harlow. Working Style: Community-based worker. Closing Date: 15 October 2025.

Essex County Council understand how important flexibility and wellbeing are for colleagues working across children’s social care, and we have developed a nine-day working fortnight for full-time frontline social workers within Children’s services. If you would like more information on this, please follow the link.

We are a friendly, supportive, and hard-working team where we always hold children at the centre of what we do. We have created an open, reflective and learning culture where social workers feel enabled and supported to raise issues, consider different perspectives, challenge authority, and try out different approaches in a safe and non-blaming environment. Good quality reflective supervision is provided to all social workers and senior practitioners.

As a Senior Practitioner you will provide leadership in the team, provide both support and mentoring to newly qualified or less experienced staff, facilitate reflective group supervision, oversee the team’s duty service, deputise for the Team Manager when needed, and have responsibility to lead in a practice area. There will be opportunities for your own professional development and for being part of developing our team and service.

Children in Care
Children in Care (CIC) teams work with children and young people up to the age of 18 who are in care – they are unable to live at home and are either placed with a foster carer or live in residential homes. They work with children and young people to ensure their experiences in care are positive and that the work undertaken prepares them for their transition into leaving care or returning home to family. The CIC teams receive cases in proceedings after the first hearing, visit children and young people in placement, develop permanency plans which include Special Guardianship Order (SGO) and adoption, undertake life-story work to enable a child to understand the reasons for being in care, and support children to return home to birth family.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership in the team and support/mentoring to newly qualified or less experienced staff.
• Facilitate reflective group supervision and oversee the team’s duty service.
• Deputise for the Team Manager when needed and lead in a practice area.
• Contribute to your own professional development and to developing the team and service.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• A recognised social work qualification (Diploma, degree or master’s in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent) with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.
• Evidence of continuing professional development aligned to relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.
• Significant experience of social work with up-to-date understanding of relevant legislation, regulation and guidance.
• Experience mentoring social work students and newly qualified or experienced staff; ability to act as a subject matter expert in professional social work practice.
• Experience chairing meetings involving clients, family members, carers and other multi-agency professionals.
• Ability to develop strong relationships with partners, other agencies and the local community to achieve joint objectives and provide a supportive framework for children, young people and families.
• Understanding of delivering value-for-money interventions balanced against need.
• Proven track record of clear decision making to highlight and limit potential risks associated with intervention.

Why Essex?

Essex is one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, offering a stimulating public service environment. We cover over 1,420 square miles and serve 1.8 million residents, with a focus on transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. We are committed to flexibility, innovation, and supporting career development within the local community.

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, aiming to establish a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. Further information on devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) is available on our careers site.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements under our Job Interview Scheme if reasonable adjustments are needed. We also commit to interview all veterans and care leavers who meet the minimum requirements.

Additional benefits include support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements. We value integrity and ethical behaviour and expect you to embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles throughout the recruitment process.

Mobility is required for this role, including travel around the county and beyond, and the ability to transport service users and belongings in emergencies. A driving licence and car, or alternative mobility arrangements, are essential. If your role requires a DBS check, you will be registered with the DBS update service (annual subscription).

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, please join The Essex Talent Community.

Queries about this role can be emailed to [e-mail]. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Further details are available on our careers page.