Senior Practitioner - Fostering Kinship and Post Order team

Are you passionate about supporting children and families through kinship care? Do you have the experience and drive to lead complex casework and contribute to service development? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

About the role

We are seeking a dedicated and experienced Senior Practitioner / Senior Social Worker to join our Kinship Team, where you will play a key role in supporting and assessing kinship carers, ensuring children can remain safely within their extended families or networks.

You will work closely with colleagues across children’s services, legal teams, and external partners to deliver high-quality, child-centred practice. This is a fantastic opportunity to influence positive outcomes for children and young people while developing your leadership and mentoring skills.

Key responsibilities

• Undertake complex kinship assessments (including viability, SGO, and fostering assessments)
• Provide support and supervision to kinship carers
• Contribute to care planning and permanence decisions
• Offer guidance and mentoring to less experienced staff
• Represent the service in court proceedings and multi-agency meetings
• Support service development and quality assurance initiatives

About you

We’re looking for someone who:

• Is a qualified social worker with SWE registration
• You will hold a recognised Social Work qualification eg. Degree in Social Work, PGC in Social Work, CQSW, DipSW or equivalent and be registered with Social Work England.
• You will have successfully completed your ASYE
• You will have a full driving licence and access to a vehicle for work purposes.
• Has substantial post-qualifying experience in children’s social care
• Demonstrates strong assessment, analytical, and communication skills
• Understands the legal and policy framework around kinship care
• Is committed to anti-discriminatory practice and inclusive service delivery
• Thrives in a collaborative, supportive team environment

Our offer

We are proud to offer a range of benefits including –

• A market allowance of £3,000 per annum (payable in 12 equal instalments)
• A retention payment of £2,000 per annum (payable in April, following 2 years’ service in Medway)
• A generous annual leave entitlement up to 30 days plus bank holidays
• An excellent local government pension scheme
• An essential car user allowance with option to apply for a lease car after six months.
• Free car parking
• Hybrid working - enabling you to work from home/office (minimum of 2 days per week will be required in the office). Assessment Teams are office based for duty weeks.
• Relocation package of up to £8,000
• A range of staff benefits and discounts including access to fantastic discounts and savings on shops and services, travel discounts, health and wellbeing support, and an employee assistance service.
• Access to professional development and support including Community Care Inform.
• Hybrid working style

For further information on the qualifications, skills and experience required, please refer to the Job Profile and Person Specification.

This position is subject to an Enhanced Children’s DBS Check.

How to apply

To apply please click on the ‘Apply Online’ button at the top of this advert.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy at any time prior to the closing date.

For more information on our roles within Children’s Services please visit https://www.medway.gov.uk/childrenservicesjobs

To find out more about Medway the place please click here.

Please consider the application guidance when submitting your application.

Please note that all recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email, if you require documentation/correspondence in hard copy format, please contact the Children's Services Recruitment Team on 01634 332211 or email cscrecruitment@medway.gov.uk

If you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted.

Please visit http://www.mindfulemployer.net/ for information on how Medway Council put good practices in place to ensure employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support.

Equal Opportunities Commitment Statement

Medway Council is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All appropriately qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age.

For further information please refer to the Medway information pack available as a download or to view online.