Senior Practitioner - Children in Care

Cambridgeshire County Council; Huntingdon; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Practitioner for their Children in Care Team in Huntingdon. This hybrid role offers the opportunity to lead complex cases, support new social workers, and make a significant impact on the lives of children and families. The ideal candidate will be a qualified Social Worker with a passion for community service, capable of working independently and collaboratively. With a strong emphasis on professional development and a comprehensive wellbeing package, this position promises a fulfilling career path in a supportive environment. Join a team dedicated to making a difference in the lives of vulnerable children and families.

Benefits

Wellbeing package

Protected time for CPD

Relocation package

Retention payments

Refer a Friend Scheme

Access to Cambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence

Qualifications

• Qualified Social Worker with Social Work England registration.
• Experience in leading complex cases and supervising staff.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership in complex cases involving children and families.
• Support NQSWs and supervise Student Social Workers.
• Collaborate with the Team Manager for case audits.

Skills

Social Work

Leadership

Report Writing

Case Management

Supervision

Education

Qualified Social Worker

Job description

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About the role

Are you an experienced Social Worker looking for the next step in your career? We're looking for a Senior Practitioner to join us in the Children in Care Team based at Scott House in Huntingdon. The role is hybrid with a mix of office and home working.

Our aim in Children in Care is to achieve permanence for children and young people who become Looked After and to ensure that they are in a home which meets their needs, reflects their right to safety and security, and encourage them to reach their full potential at every stage of their development. We encourage all Looked After children and young people to meet their full educational potential and to promote both their physical and mental health.

If this sounds like an role that suits your skill set, we would love to hear from you! For more information, call Nathalie on 01223 475920 or email [e-mail].

Closing date 18th May. Interviews will be held week commencing 26th May.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

What will you be doing?

Day-to-day responsibilities of a Senior Practitioner in Children in Care include:

• Provide leadership in high complex cases which involve risk, complexity and safety of children, young people, carers and families.
• Provide written and verbal reports for a variety of settings, including court, that are concise, informative and based on analysis of complex evidence.
• To lead, guide and direct Social Workers and Child Practitioners, supporting with their performance and development, including supervision.
• To support NQSWs in their ASYE and act as assessor; and to support Student Social Workers as their Onsite Supervisor or Practice Educator.
• Support in planning, allocation and review of cases.
• Support with the recruitment and induction of staff.
• To work closely with the Team Manager to complete case audits and participate in management tasks as delegated by the Team Manager.

About you

We're looking for confident and dynamic individuals who enjoy making a difference in their local community, are curious and spot things that others might not see, enjoys building relationships and likes to explore possibilities.

You must:

• Be a qualified Social Worker with a Social Work England registration
• Have the ability to work from a variety of locations and travel countywide independently

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage...

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• 6 days of protected time each year to support in maintaining your Continuous Professional Development
• A relocation package of up to £8,000 (eligibility applies)
• Scalable retention payments of up to £8850 over a 3 year period, starting after your first full year of employment
• A Refer a Friend Scheme where if you refer another Social Worker to us who is subsequently employed by us as a result of that introduction, we'll pay you an introduction fee of £350
• Access to our Cambridgeshire Academy for Reaching Excellence (CARE) who will support your development, enabling you to become the best practitioner you can be

For more information and to see our other benefits, take a look at the benefits brochure attached to this advert.

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don't meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don't be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.

http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-career

Attached documents

• Practice Handbook August24 (7).pdf
• CCC CSC Senior Practitioner (3).pdf
• CSW Benefits Brochure 02-2025 (1).pdf