Senior Practitioner

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and compassionate Senior Practitioner to join our mother and Child Assessment and Support House.

This unique service provides intensive, family‑centred support designed to understand, enhance, and strengthen parenting capacity without requiring children to be placed in foster care. Our aim is to create a safe, nurturing environment where mothers and their babies can remain together, thrive, and grow.

Job Details

As Senior Practitioner, you will play a crucial role in supporting vulnerable mothers and their babies within a residential setting. You will provide:

• Specialist support, guidance, and skilled observations to contribute to comprehensive parenting assessments.
• Professional analysis and judgement on parenting capacity, attachment behaviours and child development.
• Development and implementation of personalised support plans, ensuring risk is managed proactively and proportionately.
• Leadership within the staff team, fostering a warm, nurturing and therapeutic environment for families.
• Collaborative working with multi‑agency partners, representing the service at professional forums and advocating strongly for the needs and rights of both mother and child.
• Regulatory responsibilities, ensuring the service maintains high standards of care, safety, and compliance.

This role is central to helping families achieve stability, safety, and long‑term wellbeing through evidence‑based, trauma‑informed practice.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Management

• Provide day‑to‑day leadership within the mother and Child Assessment & Support House.
• Oversee rotas, supervision, attendance management and team meetings.
• Chair meetings, manage professional communications and ensure the delivery of high‑quality care.
• Undertake quality assurance tasks including oversight of care plans, medication audits, budgets, and regulatory requirements.

Direct Support & Assessment

• Ensure a nurturing, stimulating and emotionally attuned environment for mothers and provide high‑quality observations, assessment and analysis to support parenting capacity evaluations.
• Support families to understand and manage risk safely.
• Demonstrate empathy, compassion and an ability to look beyond presenting behaviours.

Collaborative Working

• Work closely with colleagues, families and external agencies to meet the needs of both mother and child.
• Represent the service at multi-agency meetings and contribute to ongoing service development.
• Uphold safeguarding procedures and ensure The Promise Scotland principles are embedded in practice.

Operational Responsibilities

• Maintain accurate and compliant records and documentation.
• Contribute to household tasks (e.g. cooking, cleaning, creating a homely environment).
• Undertake additional duties as directed by senior leadership, which may include oversight of another house.

About You – The Person Specification

We are looking for someone who brings:

• Significant experience of working with young people or families affected by adverse childhood experiences.
• Experience leading staff teams in a residential or similar environment would be highly beneficial but is not essential—we welcome applicants who can demonstrate the potential to develop into this aspect of the role.
• Strong understanding of attachment theory, trauma‑informed practice, and child development.
• Relevant qualifications - Diploma in Social Work desirable but not essential, we will consider equivalent qualifications. You will hold an accredited post-qualifying award (e.g. Certificate in Child Protection, MHO Accreditation, Practice Teacher Award, etc.) or willing to work towards award.
• Registration with SSSC “Workers new to role must gain registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) within six months of start date in this role”
• A full driving licence is preferred, or a willingness to travel throughout Fife using public transport.
• Commitment to the professional standards set by the SSSC and the Care Inspectorate.

Why Join Us?

This is a rare opportunity to contribute to a truly impactful service—one that supports mothers and babies to stay together safely, promotes positive attachment, and helps shape brighter futures. As Senior Practitioner, you will have a meaningful leadership role and the opportunity to influence practice, service development, and outcomes for vulnerable families.

You may be required to obtain a Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Membership or Disclosure Check for this role.