Senior Practitioner

Job Description

Senior Practitioner - Childcare Social Work

Clackmannanshire Childcare Services are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Senior Practitioner to join our Childcare team. This is an excellent opportunity to undertake a key leadership role, supporting high-quality practice and driving positive outcomes for children, young people, and their families.

You will provide professional support and guidance to Family Support Workers and Newly Qualified Social Workers, while managing a complex caseload. You will also contribute to the ongoing development of services in line with GIRFEC, The Promise, and relevant Scottish legislation.

The team has a lead role in Pre-Birth Assessments, and you will support the Team Leader by attending Initial Referral Discussions (IRDs) and liaising closely with professionals involved in pre-birth planning and assessment.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and oversee a complex caseload involving children and families
• Provide professional supervision and guidance to family support workers
• Complete high-quality assessments, care planning, and risk management
• Contribute to child protection investigations and multi-agency planning
• Undertake and contribute to Pre-Birth Assessments
• Ensure practice is trauma-informed, strengths-based, and child-centred
• Work collaboratively with partner agencies including health, education, police, and third sector organisations, including attendance at Initial Referral Discussions (IRDs)
• Contribute to service improvement and quality assurance activities

Essential Requirements

• Degree in Social Work (or equivalent recognised qualification)
• Registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)
• Significant post-qualifying experience in Children and Families Social Work
• Strong working knowledge of Scottish child protection legislation and guidance
• Excellent assessment, decision-making, and communication skills
• Ability to work effectively within a fast-paced and complex environment
• Proven experience and sound understanding of completing Pre-Birth Assessments

 

Additional Information

What we offer

In return we offer a supportive team environment, flexible working, commitment to continuous professional development and offer regular supervision and annual appraisal.

We offer a competitive salary, generous Pension Scheme and annual leave entitlement as well as access to a number of additional employee benefits and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

Informal enquiries may be made to Claire Gillespie (Team Leader by telephone on 01259 225000 or by email at childcare@clacks.gov.uk 

You can view the application pack below which contains the job profile outlining the skills, experience and knowledge required for this job. You can also find our recruitment privacy notice and a general information pack about Clackmannanshire Council.

Clackmannanshire Council is currently promoting the recruitment campaign “Get into Care for Adult Care”. Further documents can be viewed below – these do not relate to the job advertised.

Clackmannanshire Council welcomes applications from everyone and we value diversity in our workforce. We are committed to being an exemplar employer with an inclusive culture, developing a workplace environment where all our employees are treated with dignity and respect. For this vacancy, we would welcome applications from ethnic minority groups, who are currently under represented in our workforce.

Clackmannanshire Council operates a flexible hybrid approach for those roles that allow this type of working. Attendance at the office will be required to meet the needs of the business and for example to build team and stakeholder relationships. The exact pattern of working will be agreed with you as part of the recruitment process.

Clackmannanshire Council is a living wage accredited employer.

 

Responsibilities

IF PVG IS REQUIRED

This post is considered Regulated Work with Children and / or Protected Adults under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. You will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check prior to a formal offer of employment being made by Clackmannanshire Council. Further guidance will follow in your conditional offer of employment on how to apply. Please note you will be required to pay for the cost of this application if your salary is over £38,000 per annum, which will be deducted from your first pay. Further information can be found here https://www.mygov.scot/pvg-scheme

Should you have difficulty applying for a job online please call 01259 452244 (24 hrs) and leave your details along with the reference number of the post.

Please note that if you are selected for interview you will be notified by e-mail.

Please click this link to view a short video on what is expected when completing application forms for Clackmannanshire Council - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXaasgoGqmw