Senior Practitioner - Children's Social Work with Families (Safeguarding)

Posted 24th Oct, 2025
Location
Croydon
Salary/rate
£55,323 – £57,402
Working pattern
Full-time – 36 hours per week
Working arrangements
Blended
Contract type
Permanent
Closing date
14th Nov, 2025
Incentives

This role is subject to a £5,000 welcome payment and a £2,500 retention payment.

About the role

The Senior Practitioner role reports to the Team Manager providing leadership of practice through exemplary direct work, development of staff and specialist focused on a given area of practice. They are an expert practitioner who directly delivers or contributes to the delivery of positive safety and well-being outcomes for children, whilst supporting other staff within the team to develop their level of practice and expertise and growing the confidence in their practice.

The Senior Practitioner would have a developed ability to deliver on outcomes and functions as a role model for their team through effective engagement, analytical assessment, and professional judgement. Key responsibilities include:

  • Engagement and relationship building with children and families
  • Analytical and continuous assessment with high standard of report writing and case recording
  • Making professional judgments and recommendations based on assessment and review
  • Development, co-ordination, implementation, and review of evidence-based plans
  • Supporting the development of creative and innovative care planning to support children and their families

Applications should be submitted through the online portal. For informal enquiries about this role, please contact the hiring team.

About you

We are looking for an experienced and qualified Senior Social Worker who can provide leadership and expertise in children's safeguarding work. You will be someone who can inspire and develop others whilst maintaining the highest standards of practice. The ideal candidate will:

  • Be qualified and experienced Senior Social Worker and up to date registered with Social Work England
  • Have experience of working in Children's Safeguarding
  • Possess knowledge of national policy, strategy and developments regarding children's social care
  • Have knowledge of relevant legislation, statutory guidance, standards and procedures
  • Understand relevant theoretical frameworks, practice models and research findings
  • Be able to maintain records that evidence engagement with children and families

Croydon Council is an inclusive employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the advertised role. The successful candidate will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

About Croydon

Home to 94,000 children, Croydon is a truly unique place to practice social work. We are a borough with big ambition, grit, and determination. Children's social care was judged ‘good’ in our last Ofsted inspection.

Our systemic practice framework places emphasis on relationships as key to supporting change for families. We make sense of the world through relationships, focusing on the whole family system and thinking about our own part in that too – what we bring, our own family stories and beliefs, how we use ourselves in the work that we do. Our practice model is all about collaboration - with our families, networks and partners; being open to challenge and ensuring our practitioners are highly trained in a variety of intervention approaches.  Our established clinical service will support you to grow your own systemic practice within the service, providing accredited training, co-working and direct work with families.   

Benefits of working with Croydon

  • You will be valued for your skills and expertise, supported by the team of experienced professionals, as well as the management at Croydon Council, one of the largest employers in the borough. We also offer:
  • Highly competitive compensation package
  • Accredited Systemic Practice training
  • A range of CPD opportunities
  • 29-31 days (grade equivalent) annual leave in addition to Bank Holidays and option to purchase more
  • A pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 20%
  • Continuing Professional Development – genuine opportunities to grow, develop and specialise in your career
  • Management development programmes
  • Investment into your wellbeing
  • Access to Employee Discount scheme with a range of programmes (Cycle Benefit Scheme, GymFlex, Retail Discounts and more)
  • We promote flexible & hybrid working arrangements where possible to support a healthy work-life balance

What makes Croydon special is our people – both within the council and throughout the borough.

  • Choosing to practice social work in Croydon will give you opportunity to develop, grow, thrive, and strive; it is not just a job but a career. Here are some of the reasons our colleagues like working at Croydon:
  • Our team consists of experienced, dedicated practitioners
  • We meet regularly to make sure everyone we work with has the support and knowledge needed to make a difference and be the difference to our families, communities and colleagues
  • At Croydon relationships matter and we are about strong partnerships and working together to make lasting positive change
  • We are an established team who can help you settle in and offer their expertise
  • You will have the support of an extremely knowledgeable understanding manager
  • You will have access to a busy, buzzy, committed workforce and work environment Opportunities to work from home and work flexibly provides you with more work-life balance
  • Opportunities to think together with your manager about career development
  • Support to help you grow, develop, learn and lead

For an informal chat about working in Croydon, contact Agata Stolowska at agata.stolowska@croydon.gov.uk