Head of Safeguarding

Social Care Locums; Woking; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading social care organization in the UK is seeking a Lead Expert for Adult Safeguarding. This strategic role involves ensuring compliance with safeguarding regulations, leading quality assurance initiatives, and driving innovation through collaboration. Ideal candidates will have a professional qualification in social care and experience in safeguarding adult services. Responsibilities include conducting training and managing strategic partnerships to enhance safeguarding effectiveness. Equity and inclusion will be a priority in this role.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in safeguarding adult services.
• Ability to manage strategic initiatives and improve safeguarding outcomes.
• Experience working with diverse communities and understanding equity in safeguarding.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for safeguarding in Adult Social Care.
• Ensure compliance with relevant safeguarding statutes and practices.
• Lead quality assurance initiatives in partnership with health organizations.
• Facilitate training sessions and presentations on safeguarding topics.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Compliance knowledge

Communication skills

Data analysis

Training delivery

Education

Relevant professional qualification in Social Care or related field

Job description

As lead expert for Adult Safeguarding, provide advice, support and innovative solutions to ensure the safeguarding service is developed and delivered in line with current thinking, good practice and statutory requirements. This is a strategic leadership role for Safeguarding within Adult Social Care. The key deliverables of the role include :

Key Deliverables

• Ensuring that Adult Social Care is compliant with national statute, regulation and guidance with regard to safeguarding and associated practice.
• Ensuring that there are clear lines of communication between the work of Children Schools and Families directorate and the Safeguarding Children Partnership.
• Providing qualitative and quantitative data as and when required to inform managers with regard to performance internally and as a comparator to local, regional and national performance.
• Strategic lead for the quality assurance framework for providers of Adult Social Care services working jointly with health partners to provide assurance for the Council that residents receive good quality care and support services from providers regulated by the Care Quality Commission.
• Ensuring that performance in safeguarding is rated as good when compared with similar authorities.
• Identifying areas of weak practice, knowledge and understanding and advising on strategies to improve.
• Attending Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) and contributing to the work of the sub-groups to include chairing and assisting in the implementation of its strategic plan.
• To understand and apply the Council’s duties and responsibilities for safeguarding adults with care and support needs; preventing and detecting crime, including countering terrorism and reducing risks of radicalisation; safeguarding children and young people.
• Providing training and presentations to staff and partner agencies.
• Driving innovation through co-production with people with lived experience.
• Leading on integration initiatives and place-based safeguarding models with partners.
• Leading on safeguarding risk registers and escalation protocols.
• Negotiating shared safeguarding priorities across agencies and development of new governance as required.
• Embedding learning into commissioning cycles and contract monitoring working with the ASC Academy and Principal Social Worker.
• Championing equity and inclusion in safeguarding responses, especially for underrepresented groups.
• Developing leadership capability within the safeguarding workforce.
• Leading predictive analytics initiatives or AI-informed safeguarding insights and ensuring ethical safeguarding practice in emerging areas such as AI, digital surveillance, and data sharing.

For more information, please contact Simone at Social Care Locums for more information.