Children's Practitioner

Application closing date

17/07/2026

Working Pattern

Blank

Salary

Grade G - £33,143 - £36,363

Contractual hours

Basis

Full time

Job category/type

Social Care - Children

Attachments

Blank

Location: Derby

Hours: 37 Hours per week

Closing Date: 17th July 2026

Contract Type: Fixed Term – 12 Months

Derby City Council is seeking 2 experienced and motivated Children’s Practitioner’s to join a new, innovative team of Social Workers. This team will focus on safely:

• Reunifying children with their birth families, and
• Supporting children to exit care through legal routes such as Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) and Child Arrangements Orders, in line with the outcomes contained within the Children’s Social Care National Framework and reform programme (Families First for Children).

You will ensure that your practice meets regulatory requirements and is firmly rooted in Derby Children’s Social Care’s strengths-based practice model, placing children and families at the centre of all decision-making.

Who We Are

Here at Derby City Council, we’re dedicated to delivering nearly 250 first-class services to citizens and businesses in the heart of the Midlands. People are at the centre of all that we do, and we have an outstanding track record of recruiting and developing talented individuals by providing them with varied and fulfilling career opportunities. Find out more about what it’s like to work for us.

What We Offer

You too could be part of something brilliant by becoming a colleague at Derby City Council; in addition to making a difference to the lives of people across the city, you’ll also receive:

• Flexible work/life balance scheme (depending on your role)
• Hybrid working (depending on your role)
• Modern office environment (depending on your job location)
• Continued professional development opportunities & career conversations
• 27 days annual leave (rising to 32 days after 5 years' service), plus bank holidays (depending on contract)
• Local Government Pension Scheme (depending on contract)
• Team Derby Rewards – retail and leisure discounts
• Tusker Car Benefit Scheme
• Cycle2Work Scheme & free cycle training
• Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Calendar and Support
• Access to our Equality Employee Networks – LGBTQ+, Disabled Employee Network & Carers and our Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Employee Support Network and Neurodiversity Network
• Support for colleagues who are carers

The Opportunity

Key Responsibilities

1. Direct Work with Children (for example)

• Build safe, trusting and professional relationships with children to understand their lived experience, wishes and feelings.
• Undertake age-appropriate direct work (e.g. play-based sessions, solution-focused work, life story work) to help children understand their care journey, reasons for separation and plans for their future.
• Work with children to develop their emotional, social and practical skills to support a safe return home where appropriate.

2. Work with Parents and Family Members (Reunification)

• Support parents to understand the impact of past harm, neglect or trauma on their children and to develop safer, more consistent care.
• Model positive parenting strategies (e.g. routines, boundaries, positive behaviour support, safe care) during home visits and family time sessions.
• Assist parents to engage with support services (e.g. substance misuse, mental health, domestic abuse, housing, financial advice) that are required within the reunification plan.

3. Family Finding and Network Mapping

• Work with social workers to identify and engage wider family members and connected persons who may offer safe, sustainable care or support to the child.
• Undertake family finding activity
• Contribute to viability assessments and information-gathering about potential carers, in line with policy and procedures, providing clear factual summaries to the social worker.

4. Safeguarding and Risk Management

• Maintain a clear focus on the child’s safety and wellbeing in all work, recognising and responding promptly to indicators of harm, neglect or exploitation.
• Contribute to safety planning and risk management, including strategies to manage contact, supervise home conditions and address emerging concerns.

5. Multi-Agency and Team Working

• Work collaboratively with social workers, family help, education, health, youth justice, housing and other partners to deliver coordinated support to children and families.
• Participate in meetings such as family network meetings, child looked after reviews, multi-agency meetings as required.
• Track progress against agreed goals and outcomes for children and families, highlighting where plans need to be adapted.
• Participate in relevant training, development programmes and practice workshops, including those linked to children’s social care reforms.
• Contribute to service development by sharing practice learning, feedback from children and families, and suggestions for improvement.

6. Professional Standards and Values

• Promote a strengths-based, trauma-informed and relational approach, recognising children and families as experts in their own lives.
• Uphold equality, diversity and inclusion in all work, ensuring that practice is culturally sensitive and anti-discriminatory.

About You

To be successful in this role, you’ll ideally have…

You will be an ambitious, reflective and compassionate Children’s Practitioner, committed to improving outcomes for children and families. You will bring both strong professional practice knowledge and the ability to provide strengths based and evidence-based interventions to support successful and safe transition from care for children.

Essential qualifications

The desirable qualifications are a recognised child-care qualification Level 3 or above in Childcare, Health and Social Care, Youth Work and/or equivalent.

Essential experience

You will have at least 2 years’ experience of direct work with children, young people and families, promoting the needs of children, working in a multi-agency setting and in partnership with parents and carers and other professionals.

Knowledge, skills and attributes

• Strong understanding of safeguarding and key statutory guidance (e.g. Children Act 1989/2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children).
• Clear knowledge of regulatory frameworks, care planning and permanence planning.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with children, families, carers and partner agencies.
• Solution-focused, resilient and able to manage complexity and competing demands.

What We Offer

• The opportunity to work as part of an innovative and progressive team at the forefront of Derby’s Children’s Social Care reforms.
• A supportive management and peer network, with access to reflective supervision and professional development.
• Training and development opportunities
• A commitment to staff wellbeing and a positive, inclusive workplace culture.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact:

Johanna Barker Deputy Head of Service, email ***email_hidden***, to arrange a telephone call.

Next Steps

If you would like to apply for this vacancy via an application form, please submit an application via the Derby City Council website.

The closing date for this vacancy is at midnight on 17th July 2026. Any applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.

Interviews will be held: 06 August 2026

If you would prefer to apply for this job using your CV, then please download the attached Declaration Form and send your completed Declaration form and CV to ***email_hidden*** . Without a completed declaration form, your application will not be accepted. We also encourage you to download the Equalities Form and return this to [email protected] , however this is optional and will not affect your application.

Important Information

Links to the full Job Description and Person Specification are below.

As part of our safer recruitment checks the successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

All employees will normally be appointed to the minimum of the grade for the job.

Before you complete your application, please read our guidance on filling in your application form.

Remember to align your personal statement to the essential criteria in the Person Specification.

Please be aware that where there are colleagues within the organisation who are 'at risk' of redundancy, requirements to redeploy to another suitable role will apply and take priority.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We are a fair and inclusive employer and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We recruit for diversity and value difference. As many of our roles can now be home-based, we are able to offer more opportunities for people who need this facility.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. If you are a disabled person, you have the choice to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme so long as you demonstrate that you meet the essential requirements for the job.

We feel it is essential that we recruit a talented workforce that is as diverse as the community we work for.

Please let us know of any individual requirements or reasonable adjustments you may have during the application, interview, or onboarding process and we’ll do all we can to help. We strongly believe in social understanding of disability and for us it’s all about removing barriers to equality.

If you have any questions regarding this vacancy or are having difficulty applying, please contact our Recruitment Team on 01332 640844 (Relay UK - 18001 01332 640 844) or at [email protected] . https://www.derby.gov.uk/signing-service/