Head of Safeguarding

Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Exeter; On-site; GBP 62,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

Devon Partnership NHS Trust is seeking a Head of Safeguarding to lead comprehensive safeguarding services within a mental health context. This role involves ensuring quality compliance, collaborating with various stakeholders, and driving strategic safeguarding initiatives to protect vulnerable individuals. The successful candidate will possess robust safeguarding expertise and leadership skills, working within a supportive and inclusive team dedicated to improving lives.

Qualifications

• Degree in mental health related field such as RMN, Occupational Therapy, or Social Work.
• Registered with NMC or HCPC.
• Masters Degree in Safeguarding or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Safeguarding Service across Devon Partnership NHS Trust.
• Ensure compliance with statutory regulations and service quality.
• Collaborate with multi-agency teams and provide expert safeguarding advice.

Skills

Analytical Skills

Leadership

Safeguarding Knowledge

Education

Degree in Mental Health

Registered Clinician

Masters Degree in Safeguarding

Job description

Location: Exeter, EX2 5AF
Salary: £62215.00 to £72293.00
Date posted: 6th June 2025
Closing date: 30th June 2025

This is an exciting opportunity for an innovative and experienced safeguarding professional to lead a safeguarding service within a thriving mental health and learning disability trust.

The Trust Safeguarding Team has a strong 'think family' approach providing a service which encompasses all aspects of safeguarding - children, adults, domestic abuse and sexual violence. The team includes experienced safeguarding professionals from a range of disciplines - social work, nursing (both mental health and learning disability registered nurses), health visiting and systemic psychotherapy. The diversity of expertise and professional experience within the team has resulted in a highly valued team who provide safeguarding training, supervision, management of complex safeguarding enquiries and consultation to clinicians every working day. The team contributes to the work of the multi-agency safeguarding hub for children and undertakes a significant volume of quality assurance and quality improvement work.

The successful postholder will be able to lead the team in innovating new initiatives and improvements whilst ensuring the core work of the service including contributing to multiagency learning through Safeguarding Adults Reviews, Domestic Homicide Reviews, Child Practice Reviews and Mental Health Homicide Reviews are undertaken in a timely way

Main duties of the job

The successful post holder will support the Deputy Director; Safeguarding and Public Protection, leading the Safeguarding Service (adults and children) within Devon Partnership Trust.

They will play a key role in the delivery of the corporate governance agenda. To achieve this, the post holder will work closely with Directorate Management Teams, who are responsible for the planning, management, and delivery of operational services.

The post holder will have management responsibility for the following areas -

• provide and enable directorates to access expert advice relating to safeguarding adults and children
• monitoring service quality and controls assurance,
• meeting financial targets
• compliance with all statutory regulations relevant to the Safeguarding Service
• overseeing corporate and service compliance with CQC standards relating to Safeguarding.

The post holder will support the clinical directorates in the following areas, ensuring there are:

• comprehensive arrangements in place for safeguarding
• appropriate monitoring of standards and practice in safeguarding
• effective implementation of integrated working initiatives for safeguarding (children and adults)

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

We're looking for an experienced, motivated, enthusiastic Head of Safeguarding with an in-depth knowledge of safeguarding adultsand children, who has advanced analytical skills, and will provide professionalleadership and promote good safeguarding practice across Devon Partnership NHSTrust. The post holder will have experienced working within a health or socialorganisation and will hold a relevant professional registration.

The post-holder will be a senior and integral part of ourestablished safeguarding service reporting into the Deputy Director forSafeguarding and Public Protection todeliver our statutory safeguarding requirements.

The safeguarding service is an exceptional service to workfor. We are a team providing specialist advice and operational support to staffacross Devon Partnership Trust. We represent the Trust and collaborate with allaspects of adult/children board/partnerships and integrated care boards acrossDevon and Torbay where we provide clinical services.

Applicants are directed to the full job description is attached to the advert

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree level qualification in mental health related degree (RMN, Occupational Therapy or Social Work)
• Registered Clinician or Practitioner - eg registered with NMC or HCPC
• Masters Degree in Safeguarding related topic - such as child protection, safeguarding adults, domestic abuse or evidence of equivalent experience
• Evidence of further professional development.
• Advance knowledge of legislation related to safeguarding and public protection and related statutory guidance and regulations
• Knowledge of work and function within the relevant Safeguarding Boards.
• Significant expert/specialist knowledge in safeguarding and quality improvement, system - wide transformational change and strategic development preferably in the NHS or similar complex organisation.
• Evidence of leadership and management development qualification.
• Teaching qualification or appropriate experience

Experience

• Experience working with individuals living with mental illness and/or learning disability
• Evidence of extensive experience of working at a senior level within the NHS in a safeguarding context.
• Significant experience of working across professional and operational boundaries in a related role
• Significant experience of planning and delivering strategy
• Experience of working with Local Authorities and the Independent sector
• Evidence of undertaking audits, service evaluation and writing business cases
• Experience of participating in Adult and Child Practice Reviews and Domestic Homicide reviews.
• Experience of developing education and training materials
• Experience of working within a multi-agency team.
• Experience in research and development of practice.
• Experience in Quality Audit and Performance management

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.

Deputy Director; Safeguarding & Public Protection