Job Description

Senior Practitioner - Ref: CH04425

Grade: G11; Salary Range: 47,754 - 52, 805 (Pay Award Pending)

12 month fixed term

Children are at the heart of Walsall local authority. They receive support, help and services that reduce risks for them and meet their needs. (Ofsted, 2025)

Do you want to join our OUTSTANDING local authority?

If so we have an opportunity for a 12-month fixed term contract for Senior Practitioner in East Family Safeguarding

We are excited to hear from social workers who feel ready, with support, to work with a small number of children within a complex situation, support their Team Manager with specific tasks, help improve team performance and through sharing their experience and knowledge, help colleagues reflect and develop their practice.


Children and families are at the heart of our practice in Walsall as identified within our recent Ofsted inspection:

Children benefit from positive, trusting relationships with their social workers. Social workers enable children, through direct work, to share their lived experiences, hopes and aspirations.

About the job

Within the role of senior practitioner you will be responsible for ensuring we continue to provide

"Outstanding " support for our children and families, through the support you provide the practitioner within your team.


You will part of a leadership team that has

"created a learning organisation that has effective and accountable relationships with each other and with partners (Ofsted, 2025).

We have an opportunity for an experienced social worker to work as a senior practitioner within one of our teams, working to achieve great and permanent outcomes for children in our care. In the role you will be positively and well supported by a Team Manager and be part of the support network across the wider management team.


We are excited to hear from social workers who feel ready, with support, to work with a small number of children within a complex situation, support their Team Manager with specific tasks, help improve team performance and through sharing their experience and knowledge, help colleagues reflect and develop their practice.

Our Offer:

To provide the right conditions for you, we are committed to manageable workloads, high support from managers, essential paperwork only, enabling technologies.


Within Walsall we offer a comprehensive training and development programme which contributed to our OUTSTANDING Ofsted grading in May 2025.

There is a comprehensive training offer for workers in Walsall. There is an impressive offer to workers in gaining a social work qualification and for newly qualified social workers developing their knowledge of frontline practice. The general training offer is wide ranging and gives workers the opportunity to learn incrementally about their role.

Wellbeing is at the heart of our work. We offer specialised clinical supervision, a 9-day fortnight to support work/life balance, flexible working and specialist employee assistance and therapeutic support when it is needed. We know we need to make social work a career people want to stay in.


Salary Scale 47,754 - 52,805 (+10% Retention Payments after 2 years, increasing at 4 and 6 years)

Would you like to talk to a team manager about the realities of working in Walsall?

If so, please contact:

Sally.Whatton@walsall.gov.uk

Closing Date: 29th August 2025

View:

and Employee Specification

This post is covered by the Government's Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.


Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people and vulnerable adults.


Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas

Information for Applicants

Important note:

When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification.

If you do not include a supporting information statement, you will not be shortlisted.

Please also ensure that you complete the work history and qualifications sections of your application form. Please do not add a CV as we do not accept them. See our Information for Applicants leaflet for further information.

We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this job vacancy. We are not accepting Agency applications or referrals at this time

Here at Walsall, we want to attract the best talent. That's why - as well as a satisfying and rewarding job - we offer a range of attractive benefits . Working arrangements in most jobs are flexible (you may work flexitime, full or part time and job sharing is usually available) and you can expect generous holiday entitlements, a first class pension scheme and plenty of opportunities for training and personal development.



We advertise vacancies because we want the best talent available. If that's you, we're waiting for your application.

Living in Walsall

Part of the Black Country, famous for its enterprising and industrial past, Walsall is reinventing itself to become a progressive modern community. The borough is centred around the major town of Walsall, but also includes five smaller and distinctive district centres (Bloxwich, Aldridge, Willenhall, Darlaston and Brownhills), together with numerous villages.

Walsall Council is committed to Safer Recruitment.

To achieve our commitment, we will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce.

Social Work Matters - Children's Social Worker Recruitment

Some of our children require a special kind of support: yours. Visit our microsite to find out more about joining Walsall Council as a Children's Social Worker.