Description Senior Practitioner – Family Help West Locality CH10225 Grade: G11; £51,356 - £54,495 per annum. Permanent Children are at the heart of Walsall local authority. They receive support, help and services that reduce risks for them and meet their needs. (Ofsted, 2025) Do you want to join our OUTSTANDING local authority? This is a fast-paced and rewarding role where you’ll work closely with families and professionals to assess risk, build safety plans, and help children thrive. If you're passionate about making a real difference to children and families at the earliest point of intervention, we’d love to hear from you. It has never been a more exciting time to join us in Walsall! We are excited to hear from social workers who feel ready, with support, to work with a small number of children within a complex situation, support their Team Manager with specific tasks, help improve team performance and through sharing their experience and knowledge, help colleagues reflect and develop their practice. Children and families are at the heart of our practice in Walsall as identified within our recent Ofsted inspection: Children benefit from positive, trusting relationships with their social workers. Social workers enable children, through direct work, to share their lived experiences, hopes and aspirations. About the job Within the role of senior practitioner, you will be responsible for ensuring we continue to provide “Outstanding” support for our children and families, through the support you provide the practitioner within your team. You will part of a leadership team that has “created a learning organisation that has effective and accountable relationships with each other and with partners (Ofsted, 2025). Within the role of a Senior Practitioner, you will be responsible for ensuring we continue to provide “Outstanding” support and protection for our children and families. In doing so, you will an integral part of a family’s journey by undertaking quality social work assessments (called Understanding Our Family Assessment) and developing child focused plans with families. As a Senior Practitioner, you will lead on child protection investigations and support families on a short-term basis who are in need of help and protection. You will work collaboratively with our families, partners and team members within the family help and protection teams, bringing together and coordinating the team around the child to ensure a multi-disciplinary approach to safeguarding and support, as well as Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review. You will support your team manager by also chairing Strategy Meetings, Team Meetings and also support with the day-day management of the team. As outlined in our recent Ofsted inspection report in May 2025 The ‘Our family’ assessments are detailed and provide a strong understanding of both the children’s and their family’s needs. These needs are then clearly articulated in plans. The quality of social work assessments of children’s needs is a particular strength. The voice of the child is evidenced through direct work, cultural genograms and an exploration with children and parents of the family’s history. This leads to a clear understanding of the child, their world and the areas of strength, weakness and risk within the family network” CLOSING DATE: 29TH MARCH 2026 View: Job Description and Employee Specification This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English. Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas. Important note: When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification. If you do not include a supporting information statement, you will not be shortlisted. Please also ensure that you complete the work history and qualifications sections of your application form. Please do not add a CV as we do not accept them. Please see our Information for Applicants leaflet for further information. We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this job vacancy. We are not accepting agency applications or referrals at this time. At Walsall Council, we appreciate that AI can be a useful tool for ideas or guidance. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. Over-reliance on AI can make responses feel less personal, and we really want to understand what makes you unique. Your experiences, skills, and perspective are what set you apart, so please ensure your application as a whole – particularly your ‘Supporting Information’ – reflects your own voice. Walsall Council’s Children’s Services are the only Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ local authority in the Black Country. During a visit in May 2025, Inspectors described Walsall Council as a place where children were at the heart of. The council’s journey of continuous improvement started in 2017 and has since transformed into a service with a clear vision, clear priorities and a clear plan, all informed by the views of our staff and children. Staff are at the core of delivering great outcomes for children and young people in Walsall, which is underpinned by our Walsall Right 4 Children vision. The latest Ofsted inspection demonstrated that staff in children’s services are proud to work for Walsall Council and feel supported to do great work.