Job Title: Senior Practitioner – Assessment Team
Hours: 37 per week
Salary: HC9 £39,513 – £43,693 (plus £5,000 market rate supplement per year £44,513 - £48,693)
Welcome payment: £5,000 after 6 months completion in post
Relocation package of up to £10,000 available
Contract: permanent
Closing date: 12/01/2025
Come and join us on our Restorative Journey of Improvement to gain the best for children and families in Herefordshire
The Role
If you are passionate about giving children and young people the best start in life then Herefordshire is the place to be.
What do we need? We need you to be part of our journey in ensuring our children’s wellbeing is at the top priority. Our priority is for Herefordshire children to be kept safe, happy and fulfilling their potential.
We need dynamic, dedicated, passionate and professional staff who are committed to our children and eager to work collaboratively with partner agencies to make a positive difference to society. This is an exciting opportunity to join our developing team and contribute to creating a safe and supportive, yet challenging, learning environment for Herefordshire’s work force. You will be supported by an established team with a strong commitment to relationship based practice, flexible working and professional development.
We need practitioners with a minimum of 3 years’ experience to join our pool of experienced workers in delivering positive outcomes for our children. We are committed to keeping local children close to their schools, friends and birth families in high quality foster placements that is well supported by our Social workers. We are committed to offer high quality support to our Special Guardians and children who are in Private arrangements.
As a senior practitioner, you have the opportunity to help us with the ongoing development of our staff in their knowledge, experience and practice. You will closely work with the managers to develop the team and deliver high quality service to our children, young people, foster carers, connected carers and special guardians.
You will provide coaching, mentoring, training and support to apprentices, step up students and traditional students. You will lead on areas of practice development and training within the wider service, and support with the implementation of our practice standards, quality assurance framework, professional values, policies and procedures.
You will be supported by the Social Care Academy to be a work based supervisor with the potential to become a Practice Educator as a development pathway. We have a diverse and comprehensive training offer in place to support you in your role. You will also be supported in and expected to identify areas for your professional development through attending training, learning from latest research and good practice, keeping apprised of current statutory guidance and legislation, and hearing from the experiences and feedback of children and families. You will also be supported in and expected to share your learning experience with other practitioners and managers through such methods as in person or virtual training sessions, e-learning modules, videos, podcasts, or any new ideas you create or have experienced.
You will be fully qualified (DipSW, CQSW, CSS or equivalent), with a minimum of 3 years’ experience in statutory social care and dedicated to delivering positive outcomes for our children. You'll be experienced in assessment skills and supervision roles to help train and support Herefordshire foster carers.
We are committed to keeping local children close to their schools, friends and birth families in high quality foster placements that is well supported by our Social workers. We are committed to offer high quality support to our Special Guardians and children who are in Private arrangements.
This is an exciting opportunity to join our developing team and contribute to creating a safe and supportive, yet challenging, learning environment for Herefordshire’s work force. You will be supported by an established team with a strong commitment to relationship based practice, flexible working and professional development.
Herefordshire is on a journey and we would like you to be part of our next chapter. This is an exciting opportunity to have a genuine impact on the local authority and help improve and protect the children and young people within it.
If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Sophie Roberts (Service Manager for MASH, Assessment & Child Exploitation) by either phone call, 01432 383376, or via email [email protected]
We Offer
A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:
- Senior Practitioner starting salary: £39,513 – £43,693 per annum
- Market rate supplement: plus £5,000 per year
- Welcome payment £5,000 for experienced social workers joining our children’s teams
- Relocation packages: support of up to £10,000
- Pension Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
- Professional development: protected time and budget to support social workers develop themselves and their careers. We have a diverse and comprehensive training offer in place to support you in your role.
- Career progression: clear pathways to progress and supported by the Social Care Academy to be a work based supervisor with the potential to become a Practice Educator as a development pathway.
- Generous Annual Leave: 31 days’ annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum
- Flexible working: flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours and, in some instances, home working
- Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling
- Payment of professional membership fees
- Pick your perks – our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.
About Us
Herefordshire is a beautiful, historic county located in the heart of the Marches on the border with Wales. We are one of the most rural and sparsely populated counties in England with a wealth of unspoilt countryside, distinctive heritage, and lively and attractive market towns.
Our priority in Herefordshire is to keep children safe and give them a great start in life. It’s the priority for the council, our partners and for all of us who work with Children & Young People.
How do we do this? By having dynamic, dedicated, passionate and professional staff who work in a culture that focuses on what we can achieve with children, what they can achieve themselves, and the relationship we build with families and partners to enable this. We have invested heavily in training and developing staff in our relational practice approach with our improvement partner Leeds City Council, so it's an exciting time to join Herefordshire – we believe in investing in you so you can be the best you can be!
Herefordshire has a really strong team ethos. Our teams are passionate about the work they do and the positive difference they and the teams they are in make to people’s lives. This is all underpinned by the focus and support from their managers and the council as a whole.
We will deliver better support to our most vulnerable children and their families, develop stronger relationships with partners across the region, and beyond.
Therefore, we take our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults seriously and expect all of our staff, visitors and volunteers to share in this commitment.
Come to Herefordshire and join the journey.
Herefordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children & young people and vulnerable adults. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced check and further pre-employment checks.
We welcome applicants whatever their personal characteristics or social identity. All requests for flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments will be considered.
The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the post they are applying for:
- Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the “Disability Confident” scheme;
- Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are an Armed Forces Veteran or Reservist. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Covenant; and
- Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are a Herefordshire care leaver. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people leaving our care.
Please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification for more details of this role.
To apply, please submit your CV and complete the supporting statement within the application form, referring to the job description & person specification, detailing how you meet the specific requirements of the role.