Senior Youth Practitioner

Posted on 29 January 2026
Applications close on 15 February 2026

Apply

All Locations:

Weymouth

Salary Details:

£33,024 - £37,336

Vacancy Type:

Permanent

Function:

Health and Social Care - Children's

Employer:

Dorset Council

Job Working Pattern:

Full time

Closing time of advert

Not Specified

Home
Vacancies
Senior Youth Practitioner

About the role

Dorset is committed to creating environments for our children and young people to thrive. This is an exciting opportunity to join our team at Chestnut House as a Senior Youth Practitioner, supporting children and young people with learning disabilities.

What you can expect to be doing

You will be experienced in leading a team, and undertaking supervision of others, demonstrating a solution focused and child centred approach, so that children and young people receive consistent, planned and individualised care and support.

You will be a named Child Lead who has the first line of responsibilities for overseeing the day-to-day care planning for a young person within the home. This would include; updating care plans, risk assessments, behaviour support plans, regular review of the ever changing needs of our young people, attending statutory multi-disciplinary meetings, holding and chairing team meetings for your child as well as other responsibilities withing the home as designated by the Registered Manager.

You will be a naturally caring person who can form and maintain positive relationships with our children, young people and families, as well as partner agencies and allocated social workers who form a team around the child.

You will be ambitious, creative and passionate to ensure children and young people who are disabled are provided with the best opportunities to achieve their goals, aspirations and successful outcomes.

Dorset has a comprehensive training programme which supports your professional growth and development.

What you will be doing

The Senior Youth Practitioner role is part of the management structure. You will be responsible for the day-to-day care of young people as well has having additional management oversight responsibilities.

You will play a key role in the management of the home, ensuring that we provide an exceptional service to children who are disabled, in a safe and nurturing environment so that children and young people are supported to reach their full potential.

Duties will include taking responsibilities for the management and leadership of the home as designated by the Registered Manager, which will include, direction and supervision of staff, direct child care, medication administration, undertaking sleeping in shifts and occasional on-call duties.

Further Information

To have an informal discussion about the role, please contact Joes Bevis, Manager, by emailing [email protected].

This position will be available starting on March 16th.

Additional allowances are paid for sleeping-in, bank holiday working and On-call duties.

You will work a 37 hour per week rolling rota which may include working every other weekend and occasional bank holidays.

This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders.

See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.

The friends and family referral scheme applies to this post. If an employee recommended this post to you, mention them when asked on your application form.

Employees can share this advert by using the button links alongside the job title.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role.

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments.

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.

About Us

At Dorset Council, it's not just about the work we do, it's about how we do it. Hear directly from our employees about what makes Dorset Council special in this short video:

Unable to show this video due to your cookie preferences

At Dorset Council, we are working together to create a fairer, more prosperous, and more sustainable Dorset for everyone, now and in the future.

We:

provide essential services that support over 300,000 residents
work in partnership to make a real difference
value every role and the impact it has on our communities
support our employees to grow, develop, and thrive

You will:

be part of a team that works together for a better Dorset
have access to a range of benefits and support
receive training and development opportunities to help your career progress

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation where different skills, perspectives, and backgrounds strengthen both our council and the communities we serve.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible, if you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application.

This role is UK-based, and we will need to confirm your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. We use generic job descriptions and person specifications, so the job title in any attachments may differ from the advert. If needed, we will provide additional details in a context statement.

If you’re passionate about making a difference, we’d love you to join us.

Find out more about how to apply.

Apply

Other jobs like this

Similar