Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children

NHS; England; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider is seeking a skilled Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children. The role involves leadership in safeguarding practices across multiple organizations in Cheshire and Merseyside. Candidates should have significant experience in safeguarding children and a strategic leadership background. This position requires excellent communication and decision-making skills while engaging with various stakeholders in the health economy. Hybrid working arrangements are offered, with a full-time substantive Band 8B contract.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 2 years' recent experience in a Children's Safeguarding role.
• At least five years' experience in a senior nurse leadership role.
• Proven Board level experience of leading complex change.

Responsibilities

• Communicate safeguarding information across the Health economy.
• Present complex information in formal settings.
• Lead looked after children response to inspections.

Skills

Complex decision making

Leadership

Communication

Education

Registered Children Nurse, Registered Midwife, or Specialist Community Public Health Nurse

Post-registration training in safeguarding at Masters level

Job description

Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children

The closing date is 31 January 2026

An exciting opportunity has arisen to be part of the changing shape of NHS commissioning and safeguarding in Cheshire and Merseyside. Our current organisational structure supports effective working both locally and across Cheshire and Merseyside as an Integrated Care System.

We welcome students, staff, people of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientation, physical abilities, backgrounds, and philosophies and those who are accepting of others. Our goal is to support all of our workforce in their work, if you believe you can bring your skills and experiences and an open minded approach into our fast paced and dynamic organisation, we are committed to providing a positive and supportive experience for all of our staff.

Are you a dynamic and enthusiastic nurse with experience in the area of Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children, and already working at a senior strategic and system level in safeguarding?

NHS Cheshire & Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) is providing an exciting opportunity for 3 full time substantive Band 8B Designated Nurses posts:

Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children (St Helens)

Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children (Halton)

Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children (Sefton)

Main duties of the job

The post holders will play a key leadership role in Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children, while also contributing across the Health Economy, Local Safeguarding Partnerships and Local Corporate Parenting Boards. This role is essential in ensuring that the ICB meets its statutory safeguarding and looked after children responsibilities.

Please note: Although this post is formally aligned to Place, the team operates within a Cheshire and Merseyside cluster arrangements. These roles sit within either the Cheshire Cluster, which currently includes Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Halton and Warrington or the Merseyside Cluster, which currently includes St Helens, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, and Liverpool. This role will be primarily office based with hybrid working arrangements.

The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate significant current experience, skill and NHS expertise in Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children. A key focus of the role will be quality and improvement of safeguarding and looked after children arrangements and the post holder will work with a variety of health and multi-agency partners to oversee this. Establishing and maintaining professional strategic relationships with Key stakeholders within Cheshire and Merseyside and the Northwest of England.

About us

Cheshire and Merseyside ICB is a highly complex organisation serving a population of over 2.5 million people across nine Places (Boroughs including local Authorities), 17 NHS Provider organisations, 51 PCNs plus Northwest Ambulance service as well as third sector and voluntary organisations. Cheshire and Merseyside is the third largest IC in the country, and regarding scope of organisations the IC is double the size of the next largest IC.

The successful applicant will be based in the agreed geographical location (one of the 9 Places) and will work closely with the Designated Professionals for Safeguarding Adults, Designated Nurses Safeguarding Children and Looked After Children, Designated Doctors and Named GPs for Safeguarding across NHS Cheshire & Merseyside ICB as part of a wider enthusiastic and dedicated safeguarding team.

Job responsibilities

The post holder will be required to:

• Communicate and provide highly complex safeguarding and looked after children information across the Health economy to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Present highly complex information about projects, initiatives and services to a wide range of stakeholders in a formal setting such as the Merseyside Safeguarding Children Partnerships, Corporate Parenting Boards and Child Death Overview Panel.
• Commit to working and engaging constructively with NHS Commissioned providers, health services and other key stakeholders on a range of potentially contentious issues.
• Nurture key relationships and maintain networks both within the NHS and other networks such as the Safeguarding Children Partnerships, Corporate Parenting Boards and Child Death Overview Panels internally and externally, including national networks.
• Lead and coordinate the looked after children response to external and internal inspections such as: Ofsted, CQC, JTAIs Peer reviews etc.
• Support collaborative working across health services, underpinned by appropriate pathways and policies to safeguard children and looked after children.

Please see job description and person specification for more detail.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered Children Nurse, Registered Midwife, or Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) with current NMC registration
• Completed specific post-registration training in safeguarding at Masters level or equivalent experience
• A minimum of 2 years' recent experience in a Children's Safeguarding role with proven track record of strategic planning with NHS and partner organisations.

Experience

• At least five years' experience in a senior nurse leadership role with knowledge of the NHS reform agenda as it applies to safeguarding
• Proven Board level experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes in a politically sensitive and complex environment

Skills

• Ability to make complex decisions quickly based on a range of factors including highly sensitive patient information which can affect the whole health system
• Excellent leadership skills and the ability to build and motivate high performance teams

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board