Senior Practitioner

Role Responsibility

‘Kent County Council’s Strengthening Independence Service is recognised for the outstanding support provided by its Social Workers whose care and commitment shines through their work’ (Ofsted 2022).

An opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated Senior Practitioner to join the Disabled Children’s Team.  Our team consists of Social Workers, Social Work Assistants and Occupational Therapists and we pride ourselves on being committed to promoting the welfare of disabled children.  We work in close partnership with families and other agencies in providing packages of care and support, whilst ensuring disabled children are safeguarded.

Kent County Council offers a hybrid working model with a combination of home and office working. The contractual bases are Brook House, Whitstable and Green Banks, Margate. The team covers a large geographical area and there would be an expectation that you are able to work flexibly across the whole area covered by the team.

The successful candidate will be experienced in working with Child protection, Child in Need, Children in care/court proceedings and have a passion for working with children with disabilities. 

A role model for good practice and champion for your area of expertise, you will set performance expectations, supervise, coach and mentor less experienced staff. You will supervise social workers and social work assistants and take the lead in delivering reflective practice sessions to the team.

You will support the team manager, providing cover in their absence, for example chairing team meetings and overseeing the work of the team.

You need to be Social Work England registered with a social work degree, and in addition you should have substantial and varied experience of working with children and their carers and families. Experience in Children’s Services is essential, including child protection an in-depth knowledge of relevant legislation and policies.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position.  The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker.