Lead Child Protection Practitioner

Barnet Council; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

31 days annual leave

Local Government Pension Scheme

Flexible Working Policy

Lifestyle discounts

Payroll benefits

Training and development

Employee well-being programs

Job summary

Barnet Council is seeking a Lead Child Protection Practitioner to deliver high standards of child-centred, strengths-based safeguarding across the Multi-Agency Safety Teams. You will lead on critical investigations, manage complex cases, and work in partnership with families and professionals to secure timely, positive outcomes for children.

The role offers a culture of continuous learning, strong supervision, and opportunities to develop practice.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of legislation, policy, and safeguarding practice.
• Excellent communication skills for multi-agency meetings, investigations, assessments and plans.
• Proven track record of improving outcomes for children and families.
• Commitment to relational, strengths-based and restorative practice.
• Ability to lead with integrity, curiosity and compassion.
• Passion for delivering high-quality, equitable services.
• Must hold a recognised social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.

Responsibilities

• Lead on section 47 enquiries, investigations, CP conferences, family-led planning and practice.
• Ensure work is timely, analytical, and grounded in the lived experience of the child.
• Collaborate with partners to champion safeguarding approaches that keep children safe from harm.
• Drive continuous improvement within a specialist team culture that is inclusive and supportive.
• Support staff development and embed Barnet’s values and practice standards.

Skills

Legislation knowledge

Policy knowledge

Safeguarding practice

Multi-agency facilitation

Communication skills

Leadership

Integrity and compassion

Education

Social work qualification

Job description

Important Information for Current Barnet Council Employees

Where possible, employees who have access to Oracle are encouraged to apply via the Opportunity Marketplace (Internal Career Site). This helps to ensure applications are correctly identified as internal and avoids potential delays during the recruitment process.

About Barnet Council

Barnet is a borough with much to be proud of. Our excellent schools, vibrant town centres, vast green spaces and diverse communities all help make it a great place to live and work. As a council we want to build on these strengths as we move into the future. We are growing and developing as an organisation to meet the challenges facing our borough and we are committed to working with partner organisations and residents to make Barnet even better. As an organisation, our staff are committed to Our Values: Learning to Improve, Caring, Inclusive, Collaborative – which drive everything we do.

About the role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for Lead Child Protection Practitioners to join our Multi-Agency Safety Teams, leading high-quality practice for children and families who need us most.

In Barnet, we are committed to creating a culture where practice excellence, strong relationships, and continuous learning underpin everything we do. We provide a supportive environment in which practitioners can thrive, delivering meaningful, lasting change for children and families.

As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) you will deliver a consistently high standard of child-centred, strengths-based and relationship-focused safeguarding practice to children, young people and families. You will be part of a specialist team culture that is inclusive, reflective, and focused on continuous improvement, where high support is matched with high challenge.

You will work in partnership with children, families and professionals internal and external to the council, leading on section 47 enquiries, investigations, child protection (CP) conferences, family-led planning and practice, ensuring that all work is timely, analytical, and grounded in the lived experience of the child. Working collaboratively with partners, you will champion approaches which keep children safe from harm, build resilience and support families to make sustainable change.

You will be supported by a strong workforce development programme, enabling you to grow as a practitioner while embedding Barnet’s values and practice standards.

'In addition to a comprehensive suite of employee benefits, this salary includes a Recruitment and Retention supplement of 10%.’

About you

You will bring:

• Strong knowledge of legislation, policy, and safeguarding practice, with the ability to apply this confidently in complex situations.
• Excellent communication skills, leading clear, analytical, and impactful multi-agency meetings, investigations, assessments and plans.
• A strong track record of improving outcomes for children and families and influencing multi-agency partnerships.
• A commitment to relational, strengths-based and restorative practice, ensuring children and families are meaningfully involved.
• The ability to lead with integrity, curiosity and compassion, in an environment where staff feel valued, supported and appropriately challenged.
• A passion for delivering high-quality, equitable services that recognise and respond to diversity within our communities
• You must hold a recognised social work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.

What we offer

• 31 days annual leave, plus public and bank holidays
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which provides a valuable guaranteed income in your retirement together with security for your dependents
• A comprehensive Flexible Working Policy which supports work-life balance by empowering staff and management to make decisions around when, where, and how work is done
• A vast range of lifestyle discounts from major retailers, supermarkets, energy suppliers and more
• Broad range of payroll benefits including cycle to work, eye care vouchers, travel and gym membership
• Excellent training and development opportunities
• Employee well-being training programs including confidential employee assistance

Barnet Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Barnet operates stringent safer recruitment procedures, this may include AI Detection Screening, Biometric ID/Right to Work Checks, Qualification and Registration Checks, Up to 6 years of Employment Data and Insights to Accelerate Screening (Konfir), Up to 5 years of Employment History References, DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) Checks, Credit Checks and Social Media, Sanctions and Occupational Health Screening.

To deliver Barnet Council’s commitment to equality of opportunity in the provision of services, all staff are expected to promote equality in the workplace and in the services the Council delivers. As such we value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds.

Barnet Council embraces all forms of flexible working (including part-time, compressed hours, and hybrid working) and is committed to offering employees a healthy work-life balance. Candidates are encouraged to talk about relevant requirements and preferences at interview. We can't promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

Barnet Council is a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

All posts with the council are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the council satisfaction your suitability for the position in which you will be employed.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close vacancies before the stated closing date if sufficient number of applications are received.

Please ensure you regularly check the email account (including JUNK MAIL folders) that you use to submit your application, as any further communication regarding your application will be sent electronically. Should you not hear from us within four working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted.