Childrens Social Worker - Lead Practitioner

Adecco (Portugal); Wolverhampton; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

A Lead Child Protection Practitioner role in Wolverhampton offers an opportunity to safeguard children and support vulnerable families within a hybrid, full-time framework. You will provide expert guidance, manage complex cases, and lead multi-agency safeguarding activity across the service.

The role requires a qualified and registered social worker with substantial experience in child protection, capable of making sound threshold decisions and delivering high-quality assessments and court

Qualifications

• Qualified and registered Social Worker with safeguarding expertise.
• Experience leading on high-risk child protection cases.
• Ability to apply thresholds and provide professional challenge.
• Experience with joint agency collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead high-risk and complex child protection investigations.
• Manage caseload of complex cases.
• Undertake Section 47 enquiries and CP plans.
• Provide expert safeguarding guidance to colleagues.
• Present evidence in court hearings.
• Maintain case records and document timely.

Skills

Social work

Child protection

Court work

Multi-agency liaison

Education

Registered Social Worker

Job description

Lead Child Protection Practitioner £33.30 per hour Umbrella in line with MOU rates Full time 37 hours per week Hybrid

Make a Lasting Difference in Children's Lives

We are seeking an exceptional Lead Child Protection Practitioner to join our team. This is a rewarding and challenging opportunity for an experienced social worker who is passionate about safeguarding children and committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for vulnerable children and families.

As a recognised expert in child protection, you will play a pivotal role in supporting high-quality safeguarding practice across the service. You will lead on complex child protection cases, provide professional guidance to colleagues, and work collaboratively with partner agencies to ensure children at risk of significant harm receive timely and effective intervention.

This role is ideal for a confident, resilient and highly skilled practitioner who can make sound professional judgements, apply threshold decisions effectively, and provide constructive challenge where required.

About the Role

As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner, you will manage a caseload of child protection matters, including high-risk and complex cases involving children at risk of significant harm. You will work alongside and support social workers and other professionals, offering expert advice and guidance to strengthen safeguarding decision-making across multi-agency partnerships.

You will take a lead role in child protection processes, including Section 47 enquiries, children subject to Child Protection Plans, and children involved in pre-proceedings. You will also contribute to key safeguarding decisions and support practitioners to continue effective work with families where significant harm has been identified.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a recognised expert in child protection practice across social work teams and multi-agency partnerships.
• Lead and support investigations where children are at risk of significant harm.
• Manage a caseload of complex and high-risk safeguarding cases.
• Undertake and oversee Section 47 enquiries, Child Protection Plans and pre-proceedings work.
• Provide expert advice, consultation and professional challenge to practitioners and partner agencies.
• Support and co-work with social workers, including less experienced practitioners, to develop confidence, knowledge and decision-making.
• Complete high-quality assessments, reports and court documentation within required timescales.
• Present evidence and recommendations at court hearings, child protection conferences, statutory reviews and other professional forums.
• Maintain accurate and timely case records in line with statutory requirements, policies and procedures.
• Conduct joint visits and investigations alongside colleagues and partner organisations as required.
• Chair child protection core groups and other safeguarding meetings where appropriate.
• Lead multi-agency discussions and forums to ensure proportionate and effective safeguarding responses.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across Children's Services and external partners to deliver coordinated support and improved outcomes for children and young people.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will be:

• A qualified and registered Social Worker.
• Highly experienced in child protection and safeguarding practice.
• Confident in managing complex and high-risk cases involving significant harm.
• Skilled in applying thresholds and making informed safeguarding decisions.
• Able to provide professional challenge and influence decision-making across agencies.
• An excellent communicator with the ability to build strong professional relationships.
• Experienced in court work, statutory processes and multi-agency safeguarding arrangements.
• Committed to supporting and developing the practice of others.
• Resilient, organised and able to perform effectively in a demanding environment.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to take on a specialist leadership role at the forefront of safeguarding practice. You will work alongside dedicated professionals, influence decision-making across the wider partnership, and make a significant contribution to protecting children and improving outcomes for families.

If you are an experienced child protection professional looking to use your expertise to shape practice, support colleagues and make a real difference, we would love to hear from you.

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all backgrounds.

Adecco is a disability-confident employer. It is important to us that we run an inclusive and accessible recruitment process to support candidates of all backgrounds and all abilities to apply. Adecco is committed to building a supportive environment for you to explore the next steps in your career. If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know and we will be happy to support you.

We use generative AI tools to support our candidate screening process. This helps us ensure a fair, consistent, and efficient experience for all applicants. Rest assured, all final decisions are made by our hiring team, and your application will be reviewed with care and attention.