Senior Practitioner

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior practitioner to join our team as we continue our journey of improvement. This post is suitable for experienced Occupational Therapists and Social Workers!

Are you passionate about working with young people to support them to develop skills and achieve the best outcomes possible as they become adults?

In Bristol, we are committed to hearing the young person's voice, and we are currently developing our transitions service to ensure that we:

• Support young people to plan for important life changes and support them to make informed decisions about their future.
• Work closely with our young people to manage risks by thinking creatively about safe solutions while considering everything that is important to them.
• Link in with our local community groups and work in partnership to provide opportunities for our young people to work and to learn.

The Young Adults Transitions Service are a citywide team who can work with young people with additional needs from age 14-25 to support them to be as independent as possible as they reach adulthood.

We complete Care Act assessments and support our young adults through occupational therapy support to maximise independent living. We may also complete support plans to support the commissioning of services to meet needs, and we will utilise other sources of non-commissioned support like charitable organisations and provide technology and equipment to maximise young people's independence. We work alongside families and carers where we can as we understand the value in supporting a whole family approach.

Our approach to practice has a multi-disciplinary focus and we work in partnership with a wide range of agencies and professionals including health, education, children's services, housing, provider services and the police.

As a Senior Practitioner in the service, you will be an important part of the leadership team. You will support the Team Managers to further develop the transitions service and provide day to day consultation, direction, and support to the practitioners. With a calm approach you would be adept at problem solving and be able to manage competing priorities.

You may carry a small caseload of challenging and complex cases and lead by example to model best practice. You must be legally literate in the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act and other key legislation have had experience of working with adult safeguarding previously.

What are we looking from you?

You could be a qualified and registered Social Worker or Occupational Therapist to apply for this leadership post.

• Social workers - ideally you would have a minimum of 2 years post qualifying experience and you must hold a current registration with the regulator - Social Work England to be recruited to this post.
• Occupational Therapists - ideally you would have previous experience working in the community or have an interest or previous experiences of working with young adults/transitions services. (advantageous but not essential).
• You would be an OT registered with the regulator HCPC to be recruited to this role.
• You would need to be able to travel across the City either from home or from City Hall where the service is based. Currently, working from home is permitted but you would be expected to work from the office a minimum of 2 days per week.

Please note that this role is subject to an Enhanced DBS Check.
What would we provide?

At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation.

We offer excellent professional support including:

• Opportunities for professional development and learning, and support to maintain your professional registration.
• Good quality and regular supervision.
• An extensive induction programme to understand fully the values of Bristol City Council.
• Opportunities for career progression including our Stepping Up leadership development programme which aims to unlock potential and develop talent of future leaders from under-represented groups and contribute to a more diverse leadership landscape.

Reward & Benefits:

• Membership of a Local Government Pension scheme.
• Pool bikes, pools cars via our salary sacrifice schemes.
• Discounts for employees across a range of benefits, including the Cycle to Work Scheme, and gym membership.
• At least 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 days plus 8 days bank holidays per year.

How do I apply?

If you share our values and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.

To be shortlisted for interview you'll need to demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria in the Person Specification within the Further Information section of your application. On occasion we will receive high numbers of applications, we may then shortlist against the desirable criteria along with the essential criteria, so if you can, please demonstrate how you meet this in your application.

We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.

For further information please contact: Nadine McCootie (Team Manager) - or Alice Davies-Avery (Team Manager) -

At Bristol City Council, we value having a workforce as diverse as the City we serve. We therefore welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. We particularly welcome applications from Young People, Black and racially minoritised, and Male, candidates who are currently under-represented within this Service of Bristol City Council in comparison to the population we serve. Appointments will be made on merit.