Sessional Lead Practitioner Missing from Care

The Children's Society; Manchester; On-site; GBP 46,838,000 - 49,594,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Enhanced maternity/paternity leave

We match up to 8% pension

Free counselling service

Opportunities to develop and widen你的你的

Job summary

The Children’s Society in Greater Manchester is seeking a Sessional Lead Practitioner for Missing from Care. The role delivers the Missing From Home Return Interview Service within a multidisciplinary team to keep children safe and reduce missing episodes.

You will support line management of student social workers and assist the team with safeguarding in the line manager’s absence. The post is on a sessional basis with funding until March 2027 and offers a salary of £16.81 per hour with pension

Qualifications

• Negotiation, facilitation and advocacy skills.
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of children and young people, families, colleagues and partner agencies.
• Assessment and evaluation skills.
• IT skills in Microsoft Office.
• Ability to work on own initiative and to reflect on own practice and performance

Responsibilities

• To deliver the Missing From Home Return Interview Service.
• Lead Practitioner will support with the line management of student social workers, and to support the team with safeguarding incidents in the line manager’s absence.

Skills

Negotiation

Facilitation

Advocacy

Communication

Assessment

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Sessional Lead Practitioner Missing from Care (6176)

Sessional Lead Missing from Care Practitioner

Greater Manchester

Sessional Contract, as and when needed

Permanent with funding until March 2027

£16.81 per hour

To deliver the Missing From Home Return Interview Service. The successful applicant will work within a multi-disciplinary approach in response to children missing from care. Ensuring that children and young people who are at risk of or are missing, are kept safe and supported to reduce or prevent missing episodes.

Lead Practitioner will support with the line management of student social workers, and to support the team with safeguarding incidents in the line manager’s absence.

Benefits include but not limited to:

• Enhanced maternity/paternity leave
• We match up to 8% pension
• Free counselling service
• Opportunities to develop and widen your skills
• 2 days of paid volunteering time per annum to support another part of the organisation

About us:
The Children’s Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We deliver essential local services that provide safe, trusted support to children and young people during times of significant need.

Our Youth Impact domain creates impact for children and young people. With highly skilled and experienced staff working across England and Wales, we provide direct support to children, young people, parents and carers, as well as conduct research and influence Government to make changes. We also provide training for professionals. Our value driven team change the lives of children in this country for the better - and with your help and expertise, tomorrow we can support even more.

• Negotiation, facilitation and advocacy skills.
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of children and young people, families, colleagues and partner agencies.
• Assessment and evaluation skills.
• IT skills in Microsoft Office .
• Ability to work on own initiative and to reflect on own practice and performance

Experience

• Experience of working directly with vulnerable children particularly Who are missing and in care of local authorities
• Substantial experience of undertaking assessments of need and risk and planning interventions.
• Significant experience of multi‑agency working.
• Experience of supporting the learning of other

Closing date: Midnight on 26th August 2026

Interviews: Interview date yet to be confirmed

The Children’s Society is committed to safeguarding and protection of the children and young people we work with. As such, our safer recruitment process includes a Basic or Enhanced DBS check, 5 years of references, and additional vetting checks relevant to the role. We have a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices across all areas of our organisation.
In support of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, shortlisting is carried out on an anonymised basis. Personal details are hidden from the shortlisting panel, and candidates are referenced by a candidate number only. As part of this process, we ask that your CV is anonymised before submission - this means removing personal information such as your name, contact details, age, and any other identifying details.

AI tools can support your application but only when used appropriately. You’re welcome to use them to improve clarity, structure, and research. However, overuse or misuse (e.g. inventing experience or using AI during assessments) may lead to rejection at any stage. We want to hear the real you - authenticity matters