Senior Practitioner - Woodlands Family Centre, West Essex

Fixed Term, Full Time

£48,205.00 to £57,988.00 Per Annum

Location: Chelmsford

Closing Date: 9th July 2026

Please note this vacancy is available as a fixed term contract or secondment opportunity for up to 12 months.

If you're a qualified Social Worker with a passion for supporting children and families but don't yet feel ready to step into a Senior Practitioner position, we encourage you to apply.

We recognise that talented social workers develop at different rates, and we're committed to supporting career progression. Where applicants demonstrate the right values, skills and potential, we may consider them for alternative opportunities within our Family Centre service, providing valuable experience and development to help prepare them for future Senior Practitioner roles.

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us having received our 2nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.

In Essex County Council we are “Serious about Social Work”. Having recently won the Best Social Work Employer of the Year Award 2018 and been awarded ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted this is an exciting time to join us. As if that wasn’t enough, Essex has also been announced as a Partner in Practice by the Department of Education, and the Essex Social Care Academy (ESCA) is the only Local Authority team in the country to be accredited by BASW as a CPD provider. We have invested in our workforce and created a positive environment for our social workers to make a difference and achieve change for our most vulnerable children and families through direct relationship-based social work practice. We have supported our staff to have an understanding of systemic theoretical framework and models underpinning our interventions; to have access to the right tools, equipment and resources; and also, the right supervision, training and learning opportunities they need to be strong practitioners.

The Role

The Family Centres provide interventions to bring about positive change within families, help adults provide positive parenting, and increase the resilience of children so that they can stay with their families where it’s safe to do so. The Family Centres provide support to social workers in the court arena to strengthen the child and family assessment and where required complete court directed parenting assessments. Family Centres will also deliver a variety of group work sessions and bespoke direct work to vulnerable children and families.

Essex Family Centre Service are responsible for managing a caseload of specific targeted intervention work, to achieve positive and improved outcomes for children. The post holder is responsible for bringing to bear the highest possible standards of practice ability and skills to work in line with policies and procedures.

Whilst this will include investigation, assessment and purposeful intervention, the primary role within Children and Families is to achieve positive change within families wherever possible, with the aim of enabling children to remain within their home. This will be achieved through implementation of the Child Protection, Child in Need plan and achieving permanency through care planning for Children in Care.

To read more about our business area, please visit:

Children & Families

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

The Opportunity

This is an excellent opportunity for Social Worker/Senior Practitioner to gain experience in the family centre environment. Individualised, complex interventions including PLO and Court Assessments, ParentAsess/AIM/SORA, Direct work with children/adults and complete family systems and Group Co-Facilitation with Children.

Accountabilities

Responsible for complex cases, seeking management support and accessing supervision as required.
Responsible for providing professional guidance to colleagues and support and feedback to the team manager.
To maintain an up to date record of activity on case files, produce reports, attend court and give verbal presentations as required. To participate actively in case discussions, legal case discussions, Child Protection conferences, Statutory Reviews, etc.
Represent ECC in court proceedings
Participate in quality assurance processes, for example undertaking case file audits and diagnostic exercises.
Critically appraise the quality of own/others practice and challenge this within identified forums.
To maintain a current and active interest and knowledge in legislation and policy changes, research findings and practice developments, from a wide field, as are relevant to the development of interventions and support to service users.
Responsible for own professional development including training and other development opportunities.
To act as a source of expert advice and consultation for staff within Schools, Children and Families, on professional issues relating to Child Protection situations (particularly Section 47 investigations) and assessments of risk to the child or young person affected.
Ensure child protection plans are implemented and reviewed.
Participating in and/or chairing team meetings and deputising for the Team Manager in the day-to-day running and supervision of the team when necessary.
Any other duties commensurate with the grade that may, from time to time, be required.
To undertake occasional evening work and be available for very occasional weekend activities as required by the Schools, Children and Families Directorate.
They also deliver a variety of group work sessions and bespoke direct work to vulnerable children and families.

The Experience You Will Bring

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 framework for children, young people and families.
In depth understanding of delivery of value for money interventions balanced against need.
Proven track record of clear decision making in order to highlight and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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