Principal Officer

Birmingham Children's Trust; Ridgacre; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

Birmingham Children's Trust in Birmingham, West Midlands is seeking an experienced Principal Officer (Child Protection Chair) to chair multi-agency Child Protection Conferences and develop robust safety plans that protect children's welfare. The role emphasises listening to the child's voice, trauma-informed practice, and active involvement of families and professionals in decision-making.

The post requires extensive post-qualifying social work experience, knowledge of safeguarding legislation,

Qualifications

• Extensive post-qualifying social work experience.
• Experience chairing Child Protection Conferences.
• Sound knowledge of child protection processes and safeguarding legislation.
• Excellent communication, analytical and decision-making skills.
• Ability to manage a demanding workload and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Chair multi-agency Child Protection Conferences, ensuring effective decision-making and safeguarding outcomes.
• Ensure children's voices, wishes, feelings and lived experiences are central to planning.
• Promote participation and co-production with children, parents, carers and professionals.
• Provide professional challenge to multi-agency practitioners when needed.
• Monitor the quality of safeguarding practice and drive improvement.
• Apply sound professional judgment when assessing risk and making decisions.
• Work with social workers, partner agencies and specialist services to achieve positive outcomes.
• Contribute to learning culture, reflective practice and accountability.

Skills

Child protection

Conference chairing

Multi-agency collaboration

Communication skills

Risk assessment

Decision making

Time management

Trauma-informed practice

Job description

Are you an experienced social work professional with a strong background in child protection and conference chairing? Are you passionate about safeguarding children and ensuring their voices are heard?, Birmingham Children's Trust is seeking an experienced Principal Officer (Child Protection Chair) to join its supportive and dedicated team in Birmingham, West Midlands. In this pivotal role, you will chair multi-agency Child Protection Conferences for some of the city's most vulnerable children and young people, ensuring that robust safety plans are developed to protect their welfare and promote positive outcomes. Working within a relationship-based and trauma-informed practice model, you will ensure that children and families are actively involved in decision-making, with the child's voice, lived experience and individual needs at the heart of all safeguarding plans. Key Responsibilities

• Chair multi-agency Child Protection Conferences, ensuring effective decision-making and clear safeguarding outcomes.
• Ensure children's voices, wishes, feelings and lived experiences are central to child protection planning.
• Promote meaningful participation and co-production with children, parents, carers and professionals.
• Provide professional challenge to multi-agency practitioners where necessary to ensure children's safety and wellbeing.
• Monitor the quality of safeguarding practice and contribute to improved performance across the service.
• Apply sound professional judgement when assessing risk and making child protection decisions.
• Work collaboratively with social workers, partner agencies and specialist services to achieve positive outcomes for children and families.
• Contribute to a culture of continuous learning, reflective practice and professional accountability.
• Extensive post-qualifying social work experience.
• Previous experience chairing Child Protection Conferences.
• Sound knowledge of child protection processes and safeguarding legislation.
• Excellent communication, analytical and decision-making skills.
• Ability to manage a demanding workload and meet deadlines.
• Strong multi-agency partnership-working skills.
• A supportive, collaborative approach with a commitment to improving outcomes for children and families.
• Desirable: Previous management experience., If you are an experienced social work professional with a proven background in Child Protection Conference chairing and a passion for safeguarding children, we would love to hear from you.
• Competitive pay rate of £38.00 per hour (Umbrella).
• Opportunity to make a meaningful difference to the lives of vulnerable children and young people.
• Work within a supportive, knowledgeable and experienced safeguarding team.
• Access to specialist social care services and established multi-agency partnerships.
• A strong learning culture focused on professional development, reflective practice and continuous improvement.
• Mandatory: Must have a UK Passport or a Full Right to Work in the UK