Senior Practitioner - Social Work Academy

Coventry City Council; Coventry; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Coventry City Council’s Social Work Academy within Children’s Services seeks a qualified social work professional to guide Newly Qualified Social Workers, supporting supervision and practical development while contributing to service improvement. The role emphasizes leadership, safeguarding, and high standards of practice to benefit children and families.

You will work with experienced teams, providing guidance to less experienced colleagues, and uphold Coventry’s One Coventry values within

Qualifications

• A relevant Social Work qualification is essential for this role.
• Extensive experience with children, young people and families, including complex cases such as Child Protection, Child in Need, Care Proceedings and the Public Law Outline.

Responsibilities

• Guide Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) to develop in their practice and contribute to service and professional development.
• Support the Team Manager in supervision, management and development of the NQSW team.
• Shape the future of the team’s practice and help drive service improvement.

Skills

Social work

Mentoring

Team collaboration

Education

Social Work qualification

Job description

Contract Type: Full Time Permanent

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

At Coventry City Council, we are embarking on an incredible journey to create a brighter future for Coventry's children. As an 'Outstanding' Local Authority, we believe in pushing boundaries and delivering excellence for children and families. Our vision is clear, and our social workers are unwavering in their commitment to putting children and families at the centre of their practice.

Be part of our inspiring team, making a meaningful difference in the lives of Coventry's children. Together, let's create a nurturing environment where every child's potential can flourish.

What is the job role?

This role is part of the Social Work Academy within Children’s Services, offering a unique chance to combine hands-on practice with leadership and development responsibilities. You will play a key role in guiding Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs), helping them grow in their practice while contributing to both service and professional development.

With significant post-qualification experience, you’ll support the Team Manager in the supervision, management, and development of the Newly Qualified Social Worker team. Your social work expertise will be critical in shaping the future of our team’s practice and supporting service improvement.

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

You will have a strong background in working with children, young people, and their families. You should have extensive experience in handling complex cases, including Child Protection, Child in Need, Care Proceedings, and the Public Law Outline.

You will have previously supported children and families when children have been taken into care and will have experience providing guidance and supervision to less experienced colleagues. A relevant Social Work qualification is essential for this role.

If you are passionate about mentoring the next generation of social workers and have a proven track record in children's services, we would love to hear from you.

Encouraging Diverse Applications:

The children, families and young people we work with come from a variety of backgrounds and in order to deliver the best possible care it is vital that we have a workforce that represents and understands their unique experiences and perspectives.

In order to shape and deliver our services in an effective way, we want to ensure that we have employees from a range of different backgrounds, identities and different lived experiences so that we are able to meet the needs of all the communities that we serve.

Our workforce data shows that men, people from minority ethnic backgrounds, people with a disability or those who identify as being from the LGBT+ community are under-represented at management level and we encourage applicants from these backgrounds to apply. This does not prevent individuals with or without other protected characteristics as set out within the Equality Act 2010 from applying for this post.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

Interview date: w/c 19 October 2026

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse. At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

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