Lead Child Protection Practitioner

London Borough of Hackney; Greater London; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Hackney Council seeks a dynamic Lead Child Protection Practitioner to join the Multi‑Agency Child Protection Team within the Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Service. The role will shape safeguarding practice and drive quality across Children and Family services for children in need of protection.

You will hold a professional Social Work degree or equivalent and be registered with Social Work England, with substantial post‑qualifying experience and a track record of managing and developing

Qualifications

• Relevant professional Social Work degree or equivalent.
• Current registration with Social Work England is required.
• Substantial post-qualifying experience is essential.
• Experience in managing and developing staff and promoting best practice.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

Responsibilities

• Lead safeguarding work within the Multi‑Agency Child Protection Team.
• Contribute to quality assurance and service development across Children and Family services.
• Collaborate with partner agencies to ensure positive outcomes for children in need of protection.
• Support stability and protective outcomes for vulnerable children and families.

Skills

Staff management experience

Best practice development

Education

Social Work degree or equivalent

Registration with Social Work England

Job description

Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values.

Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti‑racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

Hackney’s Children and Families Service is looking for a Lead Child Protection Practitioner to undertake a new role within our Multi‑Agency Child Protection Team within the Safeguarding and Quality Assurance Service. These roles provide an opportunity to further shape the quality assurance and practice across our Children and Family services, for children in need of protection.

We are looking for a dynamic, innovative, committed, and passionate worker who will bring a comprehensive knowledge and skill base to the challenge of working with vulnerable children and families, and who will have sound knowledge of services from the front door, through to long‑term work, and looked‑after children and care leavers.

Our Service seeks to actively contribute to organisational learning through recognising, promoting and supporting best practice and service development, retaining a clear focus upon positive outcomes and stability for children and families across the borough. Hackney is proud of its organisational learning culture and strives to find innovative ways of engaging and facilitating change with children and their families.

We have excellent local services and a thriving cultural sector, making this one

of London’s most popular areas to live, work, and visit. Our challenge is to ensure Hackney’s economic growth leaves no one behind and that we harness opportunities to transform the lives of local people.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

For this role, the following requirements are essential:

• – a relevant professional Social Work degree or equivalent
• – current registration with Social Work England
• – substantial post‑qualifying experience
• – experience of managing and developing staff and best practice
• – evidence of continuing professional development

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud. In order to achieve this, we are seeking individuals who embody our “PROUD” values: Purpose and Respect, where we foster belonging through active inclusion, kindness, and open dialogue; Ownership, where we champion proactive collaboration and accountability for our shared success; and Unity and Diversity, where we work as one Council to break down silos and champion anti‑racist behavior.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: [e-mail]

Closing date for applications: 15 November 2026 (22:59)

Interview date: W/C 30 November 2026

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.