Senior Family Practitioner
Salary: £33,000 per annum
Service: Residential Family Assessment Centre
Reports to: Lead Practitioner / Deputy Manager
Role Purpose
The Senior Practitioner is a key leadership role within the organisation’s therapeutic residential family centre. The post holder provides consistent, values‑led leadership on the floor, ensuring that high‑quality, trauma‑informed practice is delivered at all times and that assessment activity remains robust, ethical, and defensible.
Senior Practitioners are responsible for supervising and supporting less experienced staff, leading complex assessment interactions, and exercising advanced safeguarding judgement. The role requires the ability to manage emotionally complex and high‑risk situations while maintaining a calm, reflective, and therapeutic approach.
This role directly supports the organisation’s commitment to safeguarding babies, promoting secure early attachment, and delivering high‑quality, evidence‑based assessments that inform multi‑agency decision‑making.
Key Responsibilities
Leadership and Practice Oversight
* Provide strong, consistent leadership during shifts, ensuring safe staffing, effective routines and high practice standards
* Act as a visible role model for trauma‑informed, reflective and ethical practice
* Support and guide staff during challenging situations, including complex parental behaviours and emotional dysregulation
* Promote a culture of learning, reflection and accountability within the staff team
Supervision, Coaching and Staff Development
* Provide day‑to‑day supervision, coaching and mentoring to junior practitioners
* Support the development of staff competence in observation, recording and safeguarding practice
* Contribute to the induction and training of new staff members
* Identify learning needs within the team and escalate development requirements appropriately
Assessment and Therapeutic Practice
* Lead and support complex assessment sessions involving parenting capacity, emotional availability and capacity to change
* Support staff to balance therapeutic engagement with appropriate professional challenge
* Ensure assessment practice remains child‑focused, ethically sound and evidence‑based
* Contribute to the consistency and integrity of assessment evidence across the service
Safeguarding and Risk Management
* Exercise advanced safeguarding judgement in line with the organisation policies and statutory guidance
* Act as a key decision‑maker during safeguarding incidents or emerging risk situations
* Ensure safeguarding actions are implemented, recorded and followed through appropriately
* Support staff to understand thresholds and respond proportionately to risk
Recording, Quality Assurance and Governance
* Review and quality‑check records, observations and assessment evidence produced by the team
* Contribute to audits, quality assurance activity and service improvement planning
* Support senior leaders in identifying themes, patterns and learning from practice
Multi‑Disciplinary and Professional Working
* Liaise with external professionals as required, under the guidance of senior management
* Support effective information sharing and professional communication
* Contribute to meetings and discussions that support assessment and safeguarding outcomes
Professional Standards and Conduct
* Adhere to all the organisation policies, procedures and regulatory requirements
* Maintain high standards of professional conduct, boundaries and confidentiality
* Uphold the organisation’s values, ethos and therapeutic model in all aspects of leadership and practice
Essential Requirements
* Substantial experience within residential, assessment‑based or child and family services
* Advanced safeguarding knowledge and professional judgement
* Demonstrated ability to supervise, coach and support staff
* Strong decision‑making skills and emotional resilience
* Ability to lead complex practice confidently and calmly
* High standards of written and verbal communication
Desirable Requirements
* Formal supervisory or leadership training
* Experience contributing to formal assessment reports
* Advanced training in trauma‑informed or therapeutic practice
Additional Information
* This role requires flexibility to work shifts, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays
* All appointments are subject to enhanced DBS clearance and safer recruitment checks
* Ongoing professional development, supervision and leadership training are integral to this role
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