Lead Child Protection Practitioner

Harrow Council; London Borough of Harrow; Híbrido; GBP 60.000 - 75.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

The London Borough of Harrow's Multi-Agency Child Protection Team is seeking a Lead Child Protection Practitioner to lead Section 47 enquiries, chair strategy meetings and child protection conferences, and provide expert challenge to social workers and partners. This 36-hour hybrid role involves working alongside police, health and education colleagues within Harrow.

Applicants must hold a recognised social work qualification, current Social Work England registration and extensive front-line

Formación

• Recognised social work qualification.
• Experience leading complex multi‑agency safeguarding discussions.

Responsabilidades

• Lead Section 47 child protection enquiries across Children's Services.
• Chair strategy meetings, child protection conferences and complex safeguarding discussions.
• Provide expert consultation and professional challenge to social workers and partner agencies.
• Engage children and families during enquiries and contribute to protection planning.

Conocimientos

Risk analysis

Professional challenge

Collaboration

Anti-discriminatory practice

Educación

Recognised social work qualification

Descripción del empleo

This Lead Child Protection Practitioner role sits in the Multi-Agency Child Protection Team at Harrow Children's Services. The post leads Section 47 enquiries, chairs strategy meetings and child protection conferences, and gives expert challenge to social workers and partners. It is a 36-hour hybrid role, with most time spent in the borough alongside police, health and education partners. Current Social Work England registration and significant recent statutory child protection experience are essential.

What the job involves

• Leading and coordinating Section 47 child protection enquiries across Children's Services
• Chairing strategy meetings, child protection conferences and complex multi-agency safeguarding discussions
• Giving expert consultation, guidance and professional challenge to social workers, managers and partner agencies
• Supporting timely, evidence-informed and defensible decisions where children are, or may be, suffering significant harm
• Contributing to clear, purposeful protection and safety planning
• Promoting high standards of recording, analysis, information-sharing and quality assurance across the child protection pathway
• Modelling relational, strengths-based, trauma-informed and culturally competent practice
• Engaging children and families during Section 47 enquiries
• Assessing risk and likelihood of significant harm, and planning and intervening to prevent or stop harm
• Bringing together information from across the professional network to assess risk inside and outside the home
• Ensuring safeguarding responses are relational, trauma-informed, anti-racist, inclusive and proportionate
• Exercising the local authority's statutory child protection duties under the Children Acts, Working Together and London Child Protection Procedures

What’s required

Qualifications

• Recognised social work qualification

Registration & licences

• Current Social Work England registration

Experience

• Significant recent front-line statutory child protection practice
• Significant operational experience in statutory child protection
• Experience chairing or leading complex child protection meetings, including strategy discussions, conferences or risk outside the home meetings
• Understanding of intra-familial and extra-familial harm, including adolescent exploitation and risk outside the home

Skills & knowledge

• Detailed knowledge of child protection legislation, statutory guidance, the London Child Protection Procedures and multi-agency processes
• Strong risk analysis and professional curiosity, with the ability to hold complexity and multiple hypotheses
• Working collaboratively with families and partners while giving clear professional challenge
• Committed to inclusive, anti-discriminatory and culturally competent practice

Checks & eligibility

• Enhanced DBS check
• Satisfactory health and work record

Other

• Ability to travel for business purposes where required