Senior Practitioner - Children & Young People’s Placement Service – Placement Finding Team

Senior Practitioner - Children & Young People’s Placement Service – Placement Finding Team

Permanent, Full Time

£48,205 to £57,988 Per Annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Fixed-base worker

Closing Date: Thursday 9th July

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people, and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers, and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The role

The Placement Finding Team, within the Children & Young People’s Service (CYPPS), operational responsibility is to provide an effective response to placement referral requests and ensure appropriate placements are made. This includes placements with:

• In-house foster placements -which includes short breaks and respite
• In-house Supported Lodging Carers
• External placements (IFA/Residential) and Semi-Independent Accommodation Placements (SIA)
• No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) accommodation- post 18 and families
• Welfare Secure Accommodation

Within the Placement Finding Team we are looking for a Senior Practitioner who will be part of the daily organisation and running of the team, on a rota basis, including office based and working home. You will need to be confident in overseeing duty, in a fast paced environment, as well as managing the day-to-day functions for the team for example, overseeing incoming placement requests and providing quality assurance of the content, allocating referrals to Placement Officers to undertake placement searches, and assessing suitability of placement offers.

You will be required to provide supervision to Placement Officers as part of supporting them with their allocated work and development / training needs.

You will have assigned links with one the four quadrants to build relationships with Fostering, and other Social Work teams, supporting good communication, and working together to identify suitable carers. Senior Practitioners within the Placement Finding Team each have a lead area and contribute to the development of the service.

Driving Licence and use of car for travel to other local offices across Essex required as part of post requirements.

The role requires an experienced social work practitioner, who is able:

• To manage higher levels of risk, mentor and advise staff, manage performance and deliver improvements.
• Build strong working relationships with key partners and stakeholders is essential and to have a sound knowledge of the CIC processes.
• Be linked to a quadrant to promote the relationship with the respective child care and fostering teams, to promote the in-house fostering business plan and engage with in-house carers through a range of mediums.
• Take the lead in assigned work to ensure the continued review and development of the service and will have a sound knowledge of the CIC process.
• Be responsible for providing a source of expert advice and professional supervision for Placement Officers and contributing to the development of practice standards.
• Accountable for being involved in the assessment of complex social care needs and development of support for vulnerable people, children and families as part of the placement finding process in the service.
• Responsible for maintaining accurate and timely data, reports and presentations as required.

Skills and knowledge

• Diploma in Social Work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent.
• Registered with Social Work England as a registered Social Worker.
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• As part of the recruitment to this post we are looking for someone who has extensive CIC experience.
• IT/Word Processing Skills
• Evidence of recent practice at an experienced social worker level, supported by comprehensive working knowledge and experience within the field of practice in Children Services
• Preferably with experience of Child Protection work including section 47 investigations and assessments since the implementation of the Children’s Act 1989.
• Considerable, recent experience of communicating with children of all ages and working in partnership with parents and/or carers.
• Experience of Court work in relation to Child Care matters and have an understanding of the legal process.
• Detailed knowledge of current legislation pertinent to Children in Care Guidance and Regulations.
• Knowledge and understanding of child development, relating theory and practice.

To read more about us please visit:  Children & Families

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

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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