Hybrid Senior Lead Child Protection Practitioner

North Somerset Partnership; Compton Dando; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible and hybrid working

Local Government Pension Scheme

Career development opportunities

Job summary

North Somerset Council is seeking a Lead Child Protection Practitioner to strengthen safeguarding leadership across a Multi-Agency Team. You will provide expert oversight of complex child protection cases, chair strategy discussions, and drive high-quality assessments and planning with families at the center.

The role combines frontline practice leadership with strategic influence, offering development opportunities while remaining connected to frontline safeguarding work.

Qualifications

• Hold a recognised social work qualification.
• Be registered with Social Work England.
• Have significant experience of working with children and families within safeguarding services.
• Demonstrate expertise in child protection practice, assessment and planning.
• Have experience of complex decision making and working within multi-agency safeguarding environments.
• Be able to provide constructive challenge and professional leadership in a supervisory capacity.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrate experience and competence at working as part of a multi agency group.
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of trauma-informed and relationship-based practice.
• Be committed to delivering family-led interventions that build on strengths and improve outcomes and drive creative planning to keep children with their families where safe.

Responsibilities

• Lead on decision making and chair safeguarding Strategy discussions for North Somerset.
• Provide oversight of Section 47 enquires in North Somerset and decision-making regarding child protection planning
• Lead and champion family-led planning approaches, ensuring children and families are actively involved in assessment, decision-making and support planning, with interventions that build on strengths, utilise family networks and deliver sustainable improvements in children's safety and wellbeing.
• Provide expert advice, consultation and challenge on complex child protection.
• Chair Child Protection conferences and drive the quality and effectiveness of child protection planning and review processes.
• Promote high-quality assessments, analysis and planning that reflect children's lived experiences.
• Strengthen multi-agency collaboration across safeguarding partnerships.
• Lead learning from audits, reviews, complaints and safeguarding practice findings.
• Coach and mentor social workers to develop practice excellence.
• Support consistency and quality across conferences, strategy discussions and child protection pathways.
• Contribute to service development, performance improvement and implementation of Family First reforms.
• Champion relational, restorative and trauma-informed practice.

Skills

Experience with safeguarding children

Child protection expertise

Multi-agency collaboration

Decision making in safeguarding

Leadership and supervision

Excellent written and verbal comms

Trauma-informed practice

Family-led interventions

Education

Recognised social work qualification

Social Work England registration

Job description

North Somerset Council is seeking a Lead Child Protection Practitioner to strengthen safeguarding leadership across a Multi-Agency Team. You will provide expert oversight of complex child protection cases, chair strategy discussions, and drive high-quality assessments and planning with families at the center.

The role combines frontline practice leadership with strategic influence, offering development opportunities while remaining connected to frontline safeguarding work.