Senior Practitioner Children in Care (Internal Applicants Only)

PLEASE NOTE THIS POST IS ONLY OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall Glenfield LE3 8RA

Worker Category: Hybrid Worker

Salary: Grade(inclusive of market premia at 2250) per annum (pro rata for part-time)

Working Hours:18.5 hours per week (to include working Thursdays & Fridays)

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 8th February 2026

Interview Date(s): 25th February 2026

Our recent Ofsted inspection praised Leicestershires work to build strong and long-lasting relationships with children and families which lead to many families achieving positive changes in their lives. They highlighted an ambitious and child-focused senior leadership that has successfully created a culture where the experiences and progress of children at the heart of social work practice.

About the Role

The role of a senior practitioner is so important to the children and families we work with as well as the team around you. You will be a part of the Team and work alongside another senior practitioner who is also part-time. The role is to have a smaller caseload of children presenting complex needs as well as support PODS development of new staff and newly qualified staff as well as being a deputy to the team manager.

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders please see our policy statement.

This role is a safety critical post and consequently subject to random drug and alcohol testing in accordance with our policies and procedures. A copy of our Substance Testing Policy Procedure and Guidance is available upon request.

About You

To apply for this post you must:

• Be a qualified Social Worker holding a Social Work degree or equivalent e.g. CQSW DipSW (with specialism in childrens services) and be registered with Social Work England.
• Extensive knowledge experience and application of social work legislation methodologies social care policies guidance procedures and case reviews. This includes demonstrating your experiences with regards to complex case work and court work in private and public law.
• Demonstrate the ability and experienceof supporting with the service performance and the learning and development of the team and individuals as well as acommitment to your continuous professional development.
• You must also understand and commitment to equality diversity and inclusion and demonstrate this in your practice with Children Young People Families and your peers.
• Understand and demonstrate experience of the importance of multi-agency working and the differing roles responsibilities remit and functions of other parts of the wider service and agencies.
• The ability to communicate clearly and accurately both orally and in writing with a wide range of people including representatives from other agencies and court completing reports and assessments to a high standard thus being a model of good practice.
• Excellent demonstration of the ability to prioritise effectively manage competing demands to meet deadlines and the flexibility to respond to changing requirements. This includes stepping in and supporting staff in the absence of the Team Manager.

You must hold a valid driving licence and have access to a vehicle

You must also have an understanding of and commitment toequality diversity and inclusion.

In addition we also expect you to shareour commitment to our valuesand will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.

Interested in Flexible Working

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore wherever possible we will consider working arrangements that suit an individuals personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working part-time hours compressed hours flexible start and finish times home/remote working etc.

Every role within the Council has a defined working style which determines where they can work. The worker category applicable to this post is detailed in the above advert. You can find out more about our worker categories in the Our Working Stylespage on our career site.

For more information or an informal discussionplease contact:

Nicola Ward - Children in Care Team Manager - To contact me by email please click here .

Telephone:

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality diversity and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ Plus communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the About You section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

To apply for this job please click on the apply button. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the About You section above. For more information see the How to Applysection on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore if you are interested please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning0(select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: applying for this post you agree to ourTerms and Conditions.