Senior Practitioner - Family Help

Luton Borough Council; Luton; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A local council in the UK is seeking a dedicated Social Worker to join their team. In this role, you'll work directly with children and families, supporting those with complex needs. The ideal candidate will have substantial experience in children and family services, strong communication skills, and the ability to make sound decisions in challenging situations. This position offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits, including flexible working options to promote work/life balance.

Benefits

25 to 32 days' annual leave

Career Pathways

Pension scheme with generous contributions

Generous relocation package

Employee Assistance Programme

Flexible working options

Unlimited access to development courses

Staff discounts

Arriva Travel Club discounts

Friday Funday Socials

Qualifications

• Substantial post-qualifying experience in social work, ideally within Children and Family Services.
• Proven ability to make sound professional judgements in challenging, multi-disciplinary environments.
• Experience working on complex cases involving vulnerability and risk, with minimal supervision.
• Strong communication skills - both written and verbal - with the ability to engage diverse audiences, including children and professionals.
• In-depth knowledge of legislation and statutory responsibilities relevant to children's services.
• A thorough understanding of social disadvantage, child development, and family dynamics.
• Clear awareness of eligibility criteria and thresholds concerning need and risk of significant harm.
• Registration with Social Work England.
• A recognised Social Work degree, diploma, or equivalent qualification.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with children, young people, and their families to provide targeted support and protection.
• Conduct in-depth assessments, including parenting assessments and statutory visits.
• Plan and implement appropriate, multi-agency interventions and service provisions.
• Mentor and coach less experienced social workers, offering guidance and joint working opportunities.
• Collaborate effectively with internal colleagues and external partner agencies.
• Support the development of best practices and procedures aligned with Social Work Professional Standards.
• Assist Managers in meeting key performance indicators and delivering high-quality outcomes.

Job description

About the job

Salary: £42,839 - £46,142 a year plus £5,500 market supplement allowance and £963 essential car user allowance (subject to criteria)
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Permanent

Are you a dedicated and experienced Social Worker ready to take the next step in your career? Join our passionate and supportive team working with children, young people, and families to make a real and lasting difference.

Responsibilities

We are seeking an experienced Social Worker to support children and young people with complex needs and risks. In this dynamic and rewarding role, you will:

• Work directly with children, young people, and their families to provide targeted support and protection.
• Conduct in-depth assessments, including parenting assessments and statutory visits.
• Plan and implement appropriate, multi-agency interventions and service provisions.
• Mentor and coach less experienced social workers, offering guidance and joint working opportunities.
• Collaborate effectively with internal colleagues and external partner agencies.
• Support the development of best practices and procedures aligned with Social Work Professional Standards.
• Assist Managers in meeting key performance indicators and delivering high-quality outcomes.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

About you

We are looking for a confident, compassionate professional with the ability to manage complex cases independently. You will have:

• Substantial post-qualifying experience in social work, ideally within Children and Family Services.
• Proven ability to make sound professional judgements in challenging, multi-disciplinary environments.
• Experience working on complex cases involving vulnerability and risk, with minimal supervision.
• Strong communication skills - both written and verbal - with the ability to engage diverse audiences, including children and professionals.
• In-depth knowledge of legislation and statutory responsibilities relevant to children's services.
• A thorough understanding of social disadvantage, child development, and family dynamics.
• Clear awareness of eligibility criteria and thresholds concerning need and risk of significant harm.
• Registration with Social Work England.
• A recognised Social Work degree, diploma, or equivalent qualification.

About us

Luton Council has been selected to deliver the government's Families First for Children Pathfinder programme.

Luton is one of seven new areas in the second wave to be chosen with the aim of protecting vulnerable children from harm and improving services to help more children stay with their families in safe and loving homes.

The programme is an amazing opportunity for Luton to shape future social care practice, which includes closer working relationships with our health, police, education and voluntary sector partners.

Children are at the heart of everything we do in Luton, and we are very proud of the tremendous work that is already taking place together with our partners, including the development of our Family Hubs and working towards making Luton a child-friendly town where our children and young people can grow up feeling happy, healthy and secure.

Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision - that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty - is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council - and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

We welcome applications from all sections of the community and are committed to developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough.

Application process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person's criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.

Additional information

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

• From 25 to 32 days' annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
• Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
• Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
• Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
• Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
• Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
• Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
• Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
• Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
• Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel
• Friday Funday Socials: One Friday every 2 months where we encourage our staff to get together to socialise after work