Practitioner - Childrens & Families HUB

Based in Colchester, the Children & Families Hub is the single point of contact for members of the public and professionals to raise concerns about the welfare and safety of children or make a referral. The Opportunity Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people, and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse.

Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers, and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future. The Senior Practitioner role provides leadership in the team, providing both support and mentoring to Social Workers and Alternatively Qualified staff and deputising for the Team Managers when needed.

They will oversee the quality and timely progression of Early Help and Social Work triage undertaken by staff at the Hub. The Senior Practitioner role is key in undertaking quality assurance activities to ensure the best possible service is offered to children and families in Essex. There will be good opportunities for your own professional development and for being part of developing our team and service.

There is an ethos of openness to the development of new ideas, particularly to reinforce our relationship based focus, both with our service users and within the staff group. The successful candidate will be expected to bring skill and high standards of social work to their own work as well as providing modelling, advice and support to colleagues. They will be committed to systemic, relationship based social work, providing effective, innovative interventions and with the ability to build good partnerships, both with our external partners and within the organisation.

Accountabilities Responsible for providing a source of expert advice and professional supervision for social workers and alternatively qualified staff; contributing to the development of practice standards. Accountable for working within the statutory legal framework, policy and guidance and determining when the threshold for statutory intervention has been reached. Responsible for maintaining accurate, timely and robust oversight of Requests for Support, ensuring that contacts and early help triage steps are reviewed, progressed and concluded within statutory and local timescales.

Builds strong effective working relationships across the Council, with partners and members of voluntary agencies to help people get the best start in life and age well. Delivers a high level of expertise in particular areas of practice and leads on those areas, contributing to the development. Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK., A recognised social work qualification i.e., Diploma, degree or Masters in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker. Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.

Significant experience of social work, demonstrating a comprehensive and up to date understanding of all relevant legislation, regulation, and guidance. Experience of mentoring both Social Work students and newly qualified and experienced Social Work staff, being a subject matter expert in professional social work practice. Experience of chairing meetings involving clients, family members and/or carers and other multi-agency professionals.

Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies, and the local community to achieve joint objectives and offer a supportive framewo