TESS Therapeutic Senior Practitioner

THERAPEUTIC & EMOTIONAL SUPPORT SERVICE (TESS)

TESS is an emotional wellbeing service that offers assessment and a wide range of individual, dyadic and group interventions to Birmingham’s children in care, their parents and carers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and care experienced young adults up to the age of 25 years. TESS also provides consultation and support to the professional and care network.

Our work is relationship-based, trauma-informed and attachment-focused, supporting young people who present with complex emotional needs. We deliver creative, flexible therapeutic interventions and work closely with social care, residential services, health, and education partners to build emotionally safe and stable care environments.

We are seeking an experienced and skilled Senior Practitioner to join our service. This is a therapeutic post with additional leadership and development responsibilities, with a focus on service delivery for children and young people up to the age of 18.

You will hold a complex therapeutic caseload while also providing practice leadership, supporting team development, contributing to service improvement projects, and offering supervision to support our outreach workers.

This role is ideal for a social work practitioner who wants to grow into leadership, influence service development, and remain closely connected to frontline therapeutic work.

As a TESS Senior Practitioner, you will:

• Deliver high-quality, trauma-informed and attachment-focused therapeutic interventions with children and young people in care
• Use creative and flexible approaches to engagement, including relational, play-based and non-traditional methods
• Contribute to therapeutic assessments, formulations, and care planning
• Work directly with carers and professionals to strengthen the care network around children and young people

Post holders will be joining a friendly, supportive, very well established and highly regarded multi-disciplinary team of clinical psychology, systemic family therapy, play and art therapy, and other therapeutic Social Workers trained in a variety of models (e.g. DDP, CBT, DBT, etc). A wide range of approaches and models are utilised within the service to best meet the needs of our care experienced children and young adults, and innovative and creative work is encouraged.

We are looking for someone who has experience working therapeutically with children and young people who have experienced trauma, loss, and attachment disruption and is confident working within a multidisciplinary team, grounded in trauma-informed, attachment-focused, and relational approaches.

We work with children, young people and care experienced young adults who reside in Birmingham and out of the city, who are from a wide range of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Our workforce represents the diverse families of Birmingham that we support.

Children and young people who are referred for support experience a wide spectrum of concerns, including issues of separation and loss, emotional, behavioural and neurodevelopmental difficulties, mental health issues and developmental trauma. We work closely with our children, young people, care networks and other agencies. An ability to demonstrate team and multi-agency working are crucial elements to this role.

We are looking for someone who:

• Is an experienced therapeutic practitioner with a strong grounding in trauma, attachment and relational practice
• Has experience working with children and young people in care and their carers
• Is confident managing complexity and risk within a social care context
• Has emerging leadership skills and a desire to support and develop others
• Can balance direct therapeutic work with wider service responsibilities
• Values collaboration, creativity, and reflective practice

This is a great opportunity to join a developing specialist therapeutic team with space for creativity, innovation, and reflective leadership. This is a chance to be part of a specialist, values-led therapeutic service with protected time for direct therapeutic work and opportunities to shape service development and projects. TESS has a strong emphasis on staff wellbeing, supervision and reflective practice and offer a supportive leadership and a collaborative team culture.

You will help shape emerging areas of TESS, including supporting children and young people to move from residential care in to foster care, delivering short term and early response interventions to stabilise placements, and offering focused consultation to care networks. This work is about timely, relationship-led responses that prevent escalation and strengthen care around children and young people.

We will provide you with access to training, regular professional supervision, and on-going support.

If you have experience of working with care experienced children and young people, are positive, passionate and committed to making a difference and enjoy the challenge this brings, we would like to hear from you. We are looking for applicants who can demonstrate an interest in evidence-based practice and research and who are keen to develop their knowledge.

In order to be considered for this role please include a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the competencies required as outlined in the attached person specification.

For more information please contact Sherril Duffy, TESS Team Manager on; Sherril.Duffy@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk or Lee Vince, TESS Head of Service on; Lee.Vince@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk

We have been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted, following a 2023 inspection. This is a fantastic achievement for Birmingham Children's Trust, with many positive highlights focusing on areas including the quality of staff leadership, partnership working, safeguarding and corporate parenting.

This is a hybrid role based in Birmingham so you must reside within a suitable commutable distance around Birmingham and have the correct right-to-work documents to work in the UK. Sadly, we do not support those who require sponsorship.

Benefits

Help us to change children and young people’s lives!

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to making a positive impact on the lives of over 10,000 children and young people in our city every day. Our mission is to support the most disadvantaged children and young people in Birmingham, ensuring they are safe, happy, and healthy.

Why Join Us?

• Impactful Work - be part of a team that makes a real difference in the lives of the city’s most vulnerable children.
• Supportive Environment - enjoy a supportive and collaborative work culture where your contributions are valued.
• Career Development - benefit from tailored development programs, supportive supervision, and a range of learning opportunities to enhance your skills and advance your career.
• Generous Benefits - take advantage of our competitive reward package including generous leave allowance, Local Government pension scheme, and additional benefits.

Our Values

We approach our work with care and compassion, actively listening to the needs of the children and young people we serve. We involve them in the decisions that affect their lives, ensuring their voices are heard and respected.

We are committed to using our resources wisely, ensuring that every penny is spent where it counts the most. We foster collaboration among schools, health professionals, and the police, working together to create a supportive network for our young people.

We believe that when we work as one cohesive team, the children and young people of Birmingham are more likely to thrive. Our unified approach ensures that we provide the best possible support and opportunities for their growth and development.

Join us and together, we can create a brighter future for all.

Safeguarding

At Birmingham Children’s Trust, we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

Depending on the role, you may be asked to undergo the appropriate level of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to assess your suitability for working with children and young people.

The level of check (Standard, Enhanced, or Enhanced with Barred List) is determined based on the specific responsibilities of the role and the level of contact with children and young people.

We are committed to the fair treatment of all applicants, including those with criminal records. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar an individual from working with us. This will depend on the nature of the position and the circumstances and background of the offence.

Please note that we reserve the right to close the job early should we reach the required number of applications, therefore please ensure you submit your application and supporting statement early to avoid any disappointment.