Family Practitioner - Building Safer Relationships, MACPT

Job Description

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

Introduction

We are looking for a Family Practitioner to join the Building Safer Relationships team within the Multi-Agency Child Protection Service. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a specialist service supporting families where domestic abuse is a factor in their lives.

The role will involve direct work with parents and carers who have perpetrated, experienced, or been impacted by domestic abuse, with a particular focus on engaging fathers and male carers. We are especially interested in practitioners who can build safe, respectful and purposeful relationships with men, supporting accountability, behaviour change and safer family relationships, while keeping the needs and safety of children at the centre of the work.

What’s the role?

The Building Safer Relationships team works with children and families affected by domestic abuse, supporting safer family relationships and helping parents and carers understand the impact of harmful behaviours on children. The team works alongside social workers and partner agencies to provide targeted, relationship-based intervention that promotes safety, accountability and change.

The role requires confidence in engaging people who may be reluctant, defensive or ambivalent about change, while maintaining a clear focus on risk, safeguarding and the voice of the child.

What’s in it for you?

Excellent training and development opportunities, plus a range of benefits including:

• Generous holiday allowance
• Local Government Pension scheme
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Season ticket and bicycle loans
• A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
• Supportive staff networks

What we’re looking for

The ideal candidate will have experience of working with children, parents, carers and professional networks where there are safeguarding concerns, and ideally experience of working with domestic abuse.

You will be confident in engaging fathers and male carers, including those who may have perpetrated or experienced domestic abuse, and able to work in a way that is respectful, boundary and focused on safety and accountability. You will be able to form constructive working relationships while remaining professionally curious, child-focused and alert to risk.

You will bring strong communication skills, emotional resilience and the ability to work collaboratively with social workers, specialist services and multi-agency partners. You will be committed to anti-racist, trauma-informed and strengths-based practice, and to helping families make meaningful and sustainable change.

Location

The job is primarily based in Laurence House in Catford SE6. There are 2 local train stations 3-5 minutes’ walk from the office, and the train journey from London Bridge is approximately 15 minutes. There are also numerous bus routes that stop right by the office.

We operate a hybrid approach where you will be required to work both in the office and from home on a regular basis.

Special conditions

• The job is subject to a DBS check (Enhanced)

The recruitment process is anonymous and we don’t accept CVs.

Applicant handbook - please read the guidance in this handbook when applying. It is essential that you complete the application fully and that your supporting statement covers how you meet each of the person specification criteria listed.

For an informal discussion about this job, please contact (Manager’s contact details)

Please click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification

Salary

£41,739 -£43,014 per annum (SO1)

N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

The Council reserves the right to close adverts early if there is a large response.

Let’s stay connected, follow us on social media:

LinkedIn Facebook X Instagram TikTok YouTube