Senior Practitioner (2 posts)

As a Senior Social Work Practitioner, you will play a key role in shaping this innovative service from the outset. Working alongside experienced colleagues, you will lead on complex assessments, support social workers with specialist reunification planning, contribute to practice development and help embed a culture of high-quality, evidence-informed practice. You will work closely with children, families, partner agencies and therapeutic services to ensure that when children return home, they do so safely and with the right support around them.

Newcastle is more than a workplace - it's a community. A vibrant, multicultural city where creativity, kindness, and resilience run deep. From the Quayside to Jesmond Dene, from Ouseburn's indie cafés to our world class universities, this is a city that welcomes you and your ideas with open arms. We are seeking an exceptional practitioner and leader to join us as?a Senior Social Work Practitioner within our New Reunification Team. Are you passionate about helping children and young people successfully return home from care? Newcastle City Council is committed to providing the right support at the right time to enable children and young people to thrive within their families and communities. As part of our continued investment in evidence-based services, we are establishing a new Reunification Team to strengthen our commitment to helping children return safely, successfully and sustainably to the care of their families, where this is in their best interests. The new team is being developed to provide specialist assessment, intervention and support throughout the reunification journey, ensuring children and families receive focused help before, during and after a return home. The team forms part of a wider strategic investment in reunification practice across the city. Alongside the new Reunification Team, Newcastle is also introducing an MST Return Home Team, creating a unique partnership between specialist social work and intensive therapeutic family intervention. Together, these services will provide a comprehensive reunification pathway, combining robust assessment, planning and permanence work with evidence-based support designed to strengthen family relationships, build resilience and reduce the risk of children re-entering care.

We are looking for ambitious and skilled practitioners who are passionate about permanence, relationship-based practice and achieving better outcomes for children and families. If you want to be part of a new service that will help shape the future of reunification practice in Newcastle and make a lasting difference to children's lives, we would love to hear from you. What we offer:

• A unique opportunity to establish and shape an innovative new service.
• Regular professional supervision and development opportunities.
• Generous annual leave entitlement.
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Flexible and supportive working arrangements.
• A strong organisational commitment to workforce wellbeing.
Why Join us? This is a rare opportunity to play a role in establishing an innovative and evidence-based service that will help children safely return home and remain with their families. If you want to be part of a new service that will help shape the future of reunification practice in Newcastle and make a lasting difference to children's lives, we would love to hear from you.