Senior Practitioner Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team

Hoople; Hereford; On-site; GBP 39,000 - 44,000; Full time

Job description

About The Role
Job Title: Senior Practitioner – Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team
Hours: 37
Salary: HC9 £39,513 - £43,693 (plus £5,000 market rate supplement per year £44,513 - £48,693)
Welcome payment: £10,000 (see attached guidance)
Relocation package: up to £10,000 available
Contract: Permanent
Closing date: 11/05/2025
Come and join us on our Restorative Journey of Improvement to gain the best for children and families in Herefordshire.

The Role
We are seeking your interest and application for a Permanent Senior Practitioner vacancy in the Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team.
Do you have supervisory experience, maybe as a Practice Educator? Are you already a Senior Practitioner or Advanced Practitioner seeking a new role and to develop specialisms?
Do you have assessment experience and/or experience of working with foster carers in any field? Do you have a good knowledge of the relevant legislation and standards for Fostering? Are you good at building relationships with colleagues and key stakeholders? Are you passionate about children being supported to fulfil their potential by recruiting and supporting our foster carers really well?

We are seeking a Senior Practitioner for the Fostering Assessment Team to drive forward the recruitment of Foster Carers for our children. In this role, you will recruit, assess, train, and support a range of mainstream Foster Carers, Supported Lodgings Providers, and Overnight Short Breaks Carers to provide homes for children in care or requiring short breaks. You will also support with supervisory tasks for students, NQSWs, and those in non-social work roles within the team, providing mentoring and support to other less experienced workers and supporting the development of the team.

You will work closely with and be supported by our Fostering Recruitment and Assessment Team Manager. You will lead on and work closely with the Training Officer and other Senior Practitioner colleagues to coordinate and deliver training to foster carers, primarily the Skills to Foster training. You will also work closely with the Marketing Officer and Recruitment Officer to develop and lead on recruitment campaigns, as well as supporting the Recruitment Officer and social workers to ensure robust assessment of prospective carers from their first point of contact.

Curious about what it’s really like to be a Social Worker with us?
Want to know what it really feels like to work with our passionate and dedicated Social Work teams? This short video gives you a glimpse into the heart of our service and shows why Herefordshire Council could be the perfect place for your next career move: https://youtu.be/FSjU-FV5uic

We Offer
A competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement, and access to our contributory pension and staff benefits scheme, which includes:

• Senior Practitioner basic salary: £39,513 - £43,693 per annum
• Market rate supplement: plus £5,000 per year
• Welcome payment: £10,000 for experienced social workers joining our children’s teams (see attached guidance)
• Relocation packages: support of up to £10,000
• Pension: Scheme Enrolment in the Local Government (LGPS)
• Professional development: protected time and budget to support social workers develop themselves and their careers. We have a diverse and comprehensive training offer in place to support you in your role.
• Career progression: clear pathways to progress, supported by the Social Care Academy to be a work-based supervisor with the potential to become a Practice Educator as a development pathway.
• Generous Annual Leave: 31 days’ annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per annum.
• Flexible working: flexi-time, job-share, part-time hours, and, in some instances, home working.
• Employee Assistance Programme: 24/7 access to support and counselling.
• Payment of professional membership fees.
• Pick your perks: our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday, and health benefits, including savings, cash back, and discounts.

About Us
Herefordshire is a beautiful, historic county located in the heart of the Marches on the border with Wales. We are one of the most rural and sparsely populated counties in England with a wealth of unspoilt countryside, distinctive heritage, and lively and attractive market towns.
Our priority in Herefordshire is to keep children safe and give them a great start in life. It’s the priority for the council, our partners, and for all of us who work with Children & Young People.

How do we do this? By having dynamic, dedicated, passionate, and professional staff who work in a culture that focuses on what we can achieve with children, what they can achieve themselves, and the relationship we build with families and partners to enable this. We have invested heavily in training and developing staff in our relational practice approach with our improvement partner Leeds City Council, so it's an exciting time to join Herefordshire – we believe in investing in you so you can be the best you can be!

Herefordshire has a really strong team ethos. Our teams are passionate about the work they do and the positive difference they and the teams they are in make to people’s lives. This is all underpinned by the focus and support from their managers and the council as a whole.

We will deliver better support to our most vulnerable children and their families, develop stronger relationships with partners across the region, and beyond.
Therefore, we take our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults seriously and expect all of our staff, visitors, and volunteers to share in this commitment.

Come to Herefordshire and join the journey.
Herefordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children & young people and vulnerable adults. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service enhanced check and further pre-employment checks.

We welcome applicants whatever their personal characteristics or social identity. All requests for flexible working arrangements and reasonable adjustments will be considered.

The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the post they are applying for:

• Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the “Disability Confident” scheme.
• Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, or their families. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Covenant.
• Those who indicate in their supporting statement that they are a Herefordshire care leaver. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people leaving our care.

Please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification for more details of this role.
To apply, please submit your CV and complete the supporting statement within the application form, referring to the job description & person specification, detailing how you meet the specific requirements of the role.