Senior Practitioner-Ref:CH06826

We Manage Jobs(WMJobs); Walsall; On-site; GBP 53,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Walsall Council is seeking an experienced Senior Practitioner to join the East Locality Family Safeguarding team. You will support the Team Manager, handle complex decisions, and promote restorative practice to safeguard and promote welfare for children and families in Walsall.

You will benefit from a structured training program, supportive management, and a focus on work-life balance, with a 9-day fortnight and flexible working where possible.

Qualifications

• Enhanced DBS clearance required for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
• Fluent spoken and written English as the post requires communication with customers and giving information.
• Experience in safeguarding and family support within a local authority setting is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Support the Team Manager in managing social work teams and ensure responsive services for vulnerable children and families.
• Promote and contribute to developments for children and families using a restorative approach.
• Make highly complex decisions relating to social service provision for children and families within Walsall.

Job description

We have a current opportunity for an experienced social worker to work as a Senior Practitioner within our East Locality.

East Locality Family Safeguarding Senior Practitioner Ref: CH06826

G11: £53,051 - £56,293 per annum (+10% Retention Payments after 2 years, increasing at 4 and 6 years)

'Children are at the heart of Walsall local authority. They receive support, help and services that reduce risks for them and meet their needs.' (Ofsted, 2025)

Do you want to join our OUTSTANDING local authority?

If so, we have a current opportunity for an experienced social worker to work as a Senior Practitioner within our East Locality.

Children and families are at the heart of our practice in Walsall as identified within our recent Ofsted inspection:

'Children benefit from positive, trusting relationships with their social workers. Social workers enable children, through direct work, to share their lived experiences, hopes and aspirations.'

About the job

In the role of Senior Practitioner, you will be part of a team that continues to provide “Outstanding” support for our children and families.

You will be part of a social work team that has ‘created a learning organization that has effective and accountable relationships with each other and with partners’ (Ofsted, 2025).

As a Senior Practitioner, you will hold a reduced workload with children and families, enabling you to support the Team Manager in the management of social work team(s) and to help ensure that vulnerable children and their families receive responsive services that safeguard and promote their welfare. This will include actively promoting and contributing to developments for children and families in Walsall, working within a restorative approach.

This role will involve making highly complex decisions relating to social service provision for children, young people and their families within Walsall.

Our Offer:

To provide the right conditions for you, we are committed to manageable workloads, high support from managers, essential paperwork only, enabling technologies.

Within Walsall we offer a comprehensive training and development programme which contributed to our OUTSTANDING Ofsted grading in May 2025.

'There is a comprehensive training offer for workers in Walsall. There is an impressive offer to workers in gaining a social work qualification and for newly qualified social workers developing their knowledge of frontline practice. The general training offer is wide ranging and gives workers the opportunity to learn incrementally about their role.'

Wellbeing is at the heart of our work. We offer specialised clinical supervision, a 9-day fortnight to support work/life balance, flexible working and specialist employee assistance and therapeutic support when it is needed. We know we need to make social work a career people want to stay in.

Would you like to talk to a senior practitioner about the realities of working in Walsall?

We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this job vacancy. We are not accepting agency applications or referrals at this time.

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.

At Walsall Council, we appreciate that AI can be a useful tool for ideas or guidance. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. Over-reliance on AI can make responses feel less personal, and we really want to understand what makes you unique. Your experiences, skills, and perspective are what set you apart, so please ensure your application as a whole - particularly your ‘Supporting Information’ - reflects your own voice.

Walsall Council’s Children’s Services are the only Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ local authority in the Black Country. During a visit in May 2025, Inspectors described Walsall Council as a place where children were at the heart of. The council’s journey of continuous improvement started in 2017 and has since transformed into a service with a clear vision, clear priorities and a clear plan, all informed by the views of our staff and children. Staff are at the core of delivering great outcomes for children and young people in Walsall, which is underpinned by our Walsall Right 4 Children vision. The latest Ofsted inspection demonstrated that staff in children’s services are proud to work for Walsall Council and feel supported to do great work.

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to any time they were overseas.