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Suffolk County Council; Bury St Edmunds; On-site; GBP 48,000 - 59,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Up to 29 days annual leave (pro rata)

LGPS pension scheme

Travel, lifestyle, health & wellbeing

Career development opportunities

Flexible working options

Job summary

Suffolk County Council is seeking an experienced Lead Child Protection Practitioner in Bury St Edmunds to lead high-level safeguarding work within CISS. You will oversee serious child protection processes, chair key conferences, and ensure timely, child-centered decisions across services and partners.

The role requires substantial frontline experience, an established professional authority, and a commitment to restorative practice and continuous improvement in outcomes for children and families.

Qualifications

• Must have a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.
• At least four years' experience as a social worker in children's services.
• Substantial frontline child protection practice and decision-making experience.
• Excellent knowledge of safeguarding legislation, guidance and processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead Strategy Discussions and chair Strategy Meetings.
• Oversee Section 47 Enquiries and authorise outcomes.
• Chair Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences.
• Provide independent scrutiny, professional challenge and oversight of child protection activity.
• Support high-quality decision-making across Family Help, Children's Services and partner agencies.
• Mentor and guide less experienced colleagues.
• Champion restorative practice and Family Led Decision Making.
• Contribute to service improvement, audits, policy development and implementation of best practice.

Skills

Frontline child protection experience

Decision-making in complex situations

Multi-agency collaboration

Professional challenge

Restorative practice

Mentoring and coaching

Education

Social Work qualification

Registration with Social Work England

4+ years experience in children's services

Job description

Reimagine the possibilities

• Locations: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3YU
• Salary: £53,788 per annum (pro rata for part time)
• Hours: 37 hours per week, flexible working options available
• Contract: Permanent

At Suffolk County Council, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to live their best life.

As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) within Children's Independent Statutory Services (CISS), you'll play a key role in safeguarding children, strengthening professional practice and influencing decision-making across the children's system. If you're an experienced social worker who is passionate about child protection and wants to use your expertise to make a wider impact, we'd love to hear from you.

Your role and responsibilities

This is a specialist child protection leadership role for experienced practitioners who are confident making complex decisions and providing professional challenge where it matters most. Working across services and with partner agencies, you'll help ensure children at risk of significant harm receive the right protection and support at the right time.

In this role, you will:

• lead Strategy Discussions and chair Strategy Meetings
• oversee Section 47 Enquiries and authorise outcomes
• chair Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences
• provide independent scrutiny, professional challenge and oversight of child protection activity
• support high-quality decision-making across Family Help, Children's Services and partner agencies
• mentor and guide less experienced and alternatively qualified colleagues
• champion restorative practice and Family Led Decision Making
• contribute to service improvement, audits, policy development and the implementation of best practice
• help strengthen child protection practice across Suffolk through your expertise and professional leadership.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced practitioner who enjoys working at a strategic level while remaining connected to frontline safeguarding practice.

You will need

We're looking for an experienced and credible child protection professional who can build positive relationships, provide robust challenge and support others to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.

• a recognised Social Work qualification
• registration with Social Work England
• at least four years' experience working as a social worker within children's services.
• substantial recent experience of frontline child protection practice and decision-making
• excellent knowledge of safeguarding legislation, guidance and child protection processes
• the confidence and professional authority to make autonomous decisions in complex situations
• experience of multi-agency working and influencing practice across professional boundaries
• a commitment to restorative practice, continuous learning and improving outcomes for children and families.

You can view the full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile.

The team

Children's Independent Statutory Services (CISS) play a vital role in ensuring that children and young people across Suffolk are safeguarded and that their voices are heard within key statutory processes.

Our service brings together experienced practitioners who provide independent oversight, scrutiny and challenge across child protection activity. Working closely with Family Help teams, Children's Social Care and partner agencies, we support high-quality decision-making that keeps children at the centre of everything we do.

As part of our ongoing transformation through the Families First Programme, we are strengthening our approach to child protection by investing in specialist expertise and creating opportunities for experienced practitioners to influence practice, develop colleagues and shape service improvement.

We are a collaborative, supportive and reflective team that values professional curiosity, constructive challenge and continuous learning. Together, we work to ensure children at risk of harm receive the right support, at the right time, from the right professionals.

Empowering Everyone

We're big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We're always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

For more information

Please contact Alli Hassey, Head of Safeguarding, for a casual conversation. You can reach her by calling 01473 263112 or emailing [e-mail]

This authority 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. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We're driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day
• If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk).