Helpline Practitioner

THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN; Belfast City District; Hybrid; GBP 31,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 29 days (32 after 5 years

Employee discounts up to 35%

EAP

Pension matching up to 7%

Life Assurance

Family friendly policies

Bike and season ticket loans

Staff volunteering

Job summary

The NSPCC is seeking Helpline Practitioners in Belfast to provide emotional support, guidance and action on child protection concerns via phone, email and social media. You will assess risk, liaise with Children’s Services and Police when needed, and work within a hybrid model balancing home and office duties.

We offer a supportive team, a rota system, 35-hour weeks, generous leave and benefits, and career development in a nationwide safeguarding service.

Qualifications

• Level 4 safeguarding qualification and post-qualification safeguarding experience.
• Ability to collect, assess and summarise essential information in written format.
• Up-to-date knowledge of child protection legislation and welfare issues.
• Good IT skills and ability to use case management systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide emotional support, practical guidance and risk assessment for child protection concerns.
• Liaise with external partners (Children's Services, Police) as needed to ensure prompt action.
• Respond to public inquiries via telephone, email, and social media; own contacts from intake to resolution.

Skills

Level 4 safeguarding

Empathy

Legislation knowledge

Info summarisation

IT skills

Education

Level 4 safeguarding qualification

Job description

Closing Date:

27 September 2026

Closing Date:

27 September 2026

• Annually:£34,582 plus 3.5% rota allowance and £220 home working allowance per annum FTE
• Region:Northern Ireland
• Location:Belfast - Lanyon Building
• Department:NSPCC Helpline
• Vacancy Type:Permanent
• Working hours per week:35
• Closing Date:27 September 2026

Are you a safeguarding professional who wants to make a difference to babies, children, young people and families?

We are looking for Helpline Practitioners to offer empathy, support, advice and action in relation to a wide range of child protection worries and concerns. We are looking to recruit to 4 full-time (35hr) positions and 1 part-time (17.5hr) position in Belfast.

Please note that this vacancy involves a hybrid arrangement of home and office working and therefore candidates will need to be within a commutable distance of our Belfast Helpline office. Helpline staff work two full weeks in the office and one full week at home on a rolling basis.

What does theHelpline do?

At the NSPCC, our vision is to end cruelty to all children in the UK. An ambitious but worthwhile mission — and one you will help us achieve as a Helpline Practitioner.

At our UK-wide Helpline, our priority is to empower the public to protect children and young people. With sensitivity and common sense, you will provide emotional support, practical guidance and help to anyone who thinks a child may be at risk of abuse.

You will be offering advice and assistance to the public via telephone, email and through social media. You will take ownership of each contact you take and will be responsible for assessing the risk. If needed, you will also be required to liaise with our external child protection partners (Children's Services, Police) to ensure prompt and effective action is taken to minimise the risk to any child.

What skills and experience are we looking for?

This is a fast-paced national Helpline with demanding targets, where self-discipline and the ability to work quickly are as essential to enable us to effectively deliver a child focused service.

• Anappropriatelevel 4qualification from a safeguarding field; for example, social care, health, education, law enforcement, youth justice, youth work or counselling AND post-qualification experience of working in a role where you have had a level of responsibility for safeguarding children or families.
• Driven by making a difference
• Up-to-date knowledge of child protection legislation and practical experience of child protection and welfare issues
• An understanding of the needs of children
• Ability to collect, assess and summarise essential information in written format
• Good IT skills

What shifts will you work?

The Helpline operates a hybrid-working model, with the opportunity for one in three weeks to be worked from home; these will be a mix of day and evening shifts. IT equipment will be provided, but you will need to have an ergonomic workspace at home that will allow you to work confidentially and keep organisational information secure.

The post holder will be required to participate in a rota working pattern and support a team that covers the period 7.30am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am-7pm on weekends. This also involves bank holiday working/weekend working. (Please see the attached rota information document for full details)

What do we offer in return?

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 29 days per year. After 5 years this increases to 32 days per year.
• Employee discounts on everyday goods and services offering up to 35% off your favourite brands
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• We match your pension up to 7%
• Life Assurance Scheme
• Family friendly policies including paid parental and carers leave
• Bicycle and Season Ticket Loans
• Staff volunteering opportunities

The Helpline operates a cohort induction model where we aim for new starters to commence their employment at the same time as other new starters to the Helpline. This will allow you to have a more supportive group learning environment within the induction period.

The following dates will apply to this current vacancy, so that the next cohort can take place.

• Closing Date:27/09/2026
• Shortlisting:28/09/2026
• Optional telephone information call to shortlisted candidates:29/09/2026 - 04/10/2026
• First stage Interviews:12/10/2026 - 25/10/2026
• Second Stage Interviews:19/10/2026 - 30/10/2026
• Cohort start Date:18/01/2027

If successful candidates are unable to commence their employment on this start date, they will be placed in the next available induction cohort.

If you would like any further information about the role, please contact the hiring manager via email: [e-mail]

If you are unable to attend any of the proposed interview dates above, you are encouraged to contact the Helpline Recruitment Team to discuss any additional slots which potentially may be available: [e-mail].

The NSPCC is committed to equality and diversity and wants to attract a range of talented people. The NSPCC fully supports the rights and opportunities of all staff to seek, obtain and hold employment and to enjoy equal employment opportunities without discrimination.

Our rolling recruitment process ensures that we remain agile and responsive to all applications submitted, allowing us to progress candidates through the recruitment process prior to the vacancy closing date.

If you are interested in applying for this role, we encourage you to apply early. To help us manage the process we may close the vacancy before the advertised closing date should we receive a strong response to the role.

In keeping with our values and our policies, if any individuals who are regrettably at risk of redundancy apply for a role and meet the minimum essential criteria they will be given priority consideration. We hope that you understand our position on this and that this will not discourage from applying. We cannot predict who, internally, will apply for a role, or whether they will meet the minimum essential criteria. Where no at-risk candidates meet the minimum essential criteria, all applications will be considered as normal.

Supporting Documents

• Policy on storage handling use retention and disposal of DBS PVG and Access NI disclosures (227.92 KB)
• Our Benefits (5.84 MB)
• Recruitment of ex-offenders policy (268.33 KB)
• Safeguarding Statement (455 kB)
• Inclusive Recruitment Practices (943 kB)
• EDI Action Plan (677 kB)
• Becoming Trauma-Informed (3 MB)

As an organisation, we are committed to creating and fostering a culture that promotes safeguarding and the welfare of all children and adults at risk. Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and thorough process of obtaining, collating, analysing and evaluating information from and about candidates to ensure that all persons appointed are suitable to work with our children and adults.

At the NSPCC we are on a journey to becoming a trauma-informed organisation for the children, young people and families that we work with, as well as our staff and volunteers. To be trauma-informed is one of the guiding principles that shape and guide our 2021-2031 Strategy. This means understanding the nature of adversity, trauma, and resilience so that we can work towards reducing and preventing further harm and promoting recovery and healing. Coming to work at the NSPCC will provide the opportunity for you to join us in our commitment to becoming a trauma-informed organisation.

NSPCC is that the NSPCC highly embraces,

encourages and promotes diversity and

inclusiveness of staff.

Siobhan Walters / Children's Services