Family Help Lead Practitioner

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

Our Family Help Team brings together Social Workers and Family Help Lead Practitioners (FHLPs) who are passionate about working alongside children, young people and families to create positive, lasting change. We take a relationship-based, strengths-focused approach, recognising that families are often the experts in their own lives and that the right support, at the right time, can make a real difference.

The team works collaboratively across Family Help and with colleagues and partners from education, health, early help and other services. Our Social Workers and FHLPs work closely together, combining social work expertise with practical, strengths-based approaches to help families build on what is working well, overcome challenges and improve outcomes for children.

We are committed to creating a supportive and reflective team culture where practitioners feel valued, have access to strong practice support and are encouraged to develop their skills and try new approaches. Our FHLPs play an important role in providing practice leadership, coaching and day-to-day support, helping colleagues to reflect on their work and maintain a strong focus on children and families.

We are continuing to develop our Family Help model and are looking for practitioners who want to be part of that journey — people who are curious, collaborative and motivated by the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to children and families.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Purpose of the job:
To lead effective Family Help practice, working alongside families and colleagues to improve outcomes for children and young people.

As a Family Help Lead Practitioner, you will play a key role in supporting families to make positive changes while also providing practice leadership within the Family Help Team. You will:

• Work directly with children, young people and families, building trusting relationships, understanding what matters to them and supporting them to identify and achieve positive change.

• Lead and coordinate Family Help plans, ensuring that support is purposeful, strengths-based and focused on improving outcomes for children and families.

• Provide practice leadership to colleagues, sharing your knowledge and experience, offering guidance and helping practitioners think through complex situations and identify effective approaches.

• Work closely with Social Workers and partner agencies, bringing people together around the needs of the child and family and helping to ensure support is coordinated and joined up.

• Promote high-quality Family Help practice, contributing to reflective discussions, practice development and continuous improvement across the team.

About you

We are looking for an experienced and confident practitioner who is passionate about working alongside children, young people and families and who believes that families can make positive changes when they are given the right support.

You will bring experience of working with children, young people and families, ideally within Family Help, Early Help, family support, youth work or another relevant setting. You will have a strong understanding of strengths-based and relationship-focused practice, safeguarding and the importance of keeping children’s voices and experiences at the heart of your work.

You will be someone who can build trusting relationships while also providing appropriate challenge, particularly when families are experiencing complex circumstances. You will be confident working with a range of professionals and agencies and able to bring people together to develop practical, achievable plans.

As a Lead Practitioner, you will also need the confidence to support and influence colleagues. You will enjoy sharing your knowledge, providing guidance and helping others develop their practice. You will be reflective, curious and open to new ways of working, with the ability to remain calm and solution-focused when situations are challenging.

Desirable experience would include previous experience of providing practice support, mentoring or coaching to colleagues, working within a multi-disciplinary Family Help service, or using evidence-informed approaches to support families.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.