Lead Child Protection Practitioner - Multi-Agency Child Protection Team

London Social Work for Children; Enfield; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave up to 32 days

Remote/office hybrid

Health discounts

Bike purchase scheme

Modern office

Career progression

Training programme

Employee assistance

Staff networks

Sabbatical after 1 month

Job summary

Enfield Council is recruiting Lead Child Protection Practitioners for the newly formed Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT). You will lead safeguarding work with education, police and health partners to deliver timely protection for children and families.

The role requires meeting LCPP standards set by the Department for Education, with vacancies filled on a rolling basis. Enfield offers flexible hybrid working and a supportive environment with ongoing professional development.

Qualifications

• Be a qualified social worker with significant experience of working to protect children at risk of abuse inside or outside of the home.
• Experience at manager or advanced practitioner level within children's social care.
• Meet, or evidence working towards, the Lead Child Protection Practitioner standards set out by the Department for Education.

Responsibilities

• Identifying and responding to actual or likely significant harm, engaging children and families during Section 47 enquiries
• Formulating the likelihood of significant harm and planning and intervening to prevent and stop actual or likely significant harm
• Attending MACPT operational meetings alongside partners and participating in planning and reviews
• Evidencing the success of the MACPT through excellent practice, making robust decisions and taking action to prevent and stop child abuse
• Contributing to service developments and upholding Enfield's strength-based, family safeguarding approach across all practice

Skills

Management experience

Advanced practitioner

Child protection

Multi-agency collaboration

Education

Qualified social worker

Job description

Enfield are looking to recruit experienced social worker managers and advanced practitioners as Lead Child Protection Practitioners in their newly formed Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT). This is a fantastic opportunity to join an excellent service that works together with families to achieve positive outcomes for children and young people.

The Enfield MACPT is a new model developed in response to national expectations for stronger, more consistent and timely multi-agency child protection decision-making. It brings together experienced practitioners from children's social care, police, health and education so that information is shared earlier, thresholds are applied consistently, and decisive protective action is taken when a child is experiencing or is likely to experience significant harm. Enfield's vision is to establish a MACPT that is child-centred, compassionate, evidence-informed and closely aligned with Family Help, Child in Care and Care Leavers Services, ensuring families experience a seamless safeguarding response rather than fragmented intervention.

Lead Child Protection Practitioners will be accountable to the MACPT Service Managers and Head of Safeguarding, working closely with partners from education, police and health to deliver on all operational aspects of the MACPT. The role requires meeting the Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) standards from the Department for Education, which set out the minimum knowledge and skills LCPPs are expected to have to effectively lead child protection processes. Key responsibilities include:

• Identifying and responding to actual or likely significant harm, engaging children and families during Section 47 enquiries
• Formulating the likelihood of significant harm and planning and intervening to prevent and stop actual or likely significant harm
• Attending MACPT operational meetings alongside partners and participating in planning and reviews
• Evidencing the success of the MACPT through excellent practice, making robust decisions and taking action to prevent and stop child abuse
• Contributing to service developments and upholding Enfield's strength-based, family safeguarding approach across all practice

Enfield's leadership culture is grounded in openness, learning and shared responsibility, with a commitment to supporting staff with their wellbeing alongside professional development and achieving best practice. Enfield's Centre of Excellence confirms this commitment to creating and maintaining an environment for new and existing staff to be the best - delivering excellent practice to achieve good outcomes for the most vulnerable children and young people. For more information, visit Enfield's Centre of Excellence .

Enfield are recruiting on a rolling basis; interviews will be scheduled and held while the vacancy is live, so early applications are strongly encouraged. For further information, please contact Anne Stoker, Director of Transformation: Children's Services, at [e-mail] . If you have any difficulties accessing this information, please contact Debola Olufon at [e-mail] .

About you

Enfield are looking for enthusiastic, able and experienced managers or advanced practitioners who are passionate about the social work profession and dedicated to safeguarding and protecting vulnerable children. The successful candidate will need to evidence a strong understanding of family safeguarding as the strength-based approach underpinning practice in Enfield.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be a qualified social worker with significant experience of working to protect children at risk of abuse inside or outside of the home
• Have experience at manager or advanced practitioner level within children's social care
• Meet, or be able to evidence working towards, the Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) standards set out by the Department for Education
• Demonstrate the ability to make robust, evidence-informed decisions in child protection contexts
• Have experience of working collaboratively with multi-agency partners including police, health and education
• Demonstrate a commitment to family safeguarding and strength-based approaches to practice
• Value professional curiosity, collective accountability and innovation in their day-to-day work

Enfield Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check. Enfield is committed to building a more talented and diverse workforce and uses anonymised shortlisting as one of many initiatives to support this aim. Please note that it is responses to the essential and desirable criteria detailed in the Job Description and Person Specification that will determine shortlisting for interview.

About Enfield

Enfield is one of the most diverse parts of London, with all the benefits this brings across our communities, culture, heritage and local economy. It also has incredibly diverse landscapes - from the urban centres of Edmonton, Southgate, Palmers Green and Enfield Town, to rural areas and farmland in the north of the borough.

Based in the bubbling heart of Enfield Town, situated in a modern newly designed service hub, the new office is an environment which supports our smart working policy surrounded by small businesses, bars, restaurants, a buzzing high street and shopping centre. Our brand new high-tech multiagency office has good transport links into central London and is easily assessable to the M25, A10 and A406.

We are proud of the services we offer to children and families living in the borough and work with partners to ensure children receive the best start in life. We are passionate about improving outcomes and driving up standards and performance. Ofsted has rated our children's services as GOOD overall, read the full report here

Our offer to you include:

A rewarding role in an Ofsted rated GOOD children's services department

Up to 32 days annual leave depending on grade and length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year and an extra day off at Christmas.

A blend of remote and office based working

Health and leisure discounts and tax-free bikes for work.

Modern purposefully designed working environment in Thomas Hardy House located 5 minutes from the station

A clear career progression pathway, supported by a comprehensive training programme

Smart technology assistance including hybrid video conferencing

Employee Assistance Programme to provide advice and counselling services. This is a free and confidential service available to staff and members of their family.

Enthusiastic and proactive staff network groups

1 month paid sabbatical for children's social workers

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