Responsibilities

Do you want to work for an employer who places major importance on high quality supervision, wellbeing and career development?

At Buckinghamshire Council we have a fantastic opportunity for a Child Protection Adviser within our friendly and supportive Child Protection Conferencing Service team.

In addition to the salary advertised, you will receive a market premium of £2,500 per annum.

About the role

The main responsibilities of this exciting role are:

• To undertake the role of Child Protection Adviser, including chairing Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences in line with the Strengthening Families approach, and in accordance with relevant legislation, statutory guidance and child protection procedures.
• To act as a ‘critical friend’ for staff and partners, bringing challenge and support to raise the standard of child protection practice for vulnerable children and young people who have suffered, or are at risk of suffering, significant harm of abuse and/or neglect.
• To promote and share best practice and learning as an integral part of the local quality assurance framework.
• To work collaboratively with social work teams and other relevant services to achieve change, promote safety planning and achieve good outcomes for vulnerable children and young people in need of protection.

Mobile:

A ‘mobile’ role gives you the flexibility to schedule your own diary, so you can meet with colleagues and clients in a variety of locations. You’ll access digital folders and resources on your laptop and be able to use the network wherever you are based. Working from home will be common, as well as meeting your team in the office where necessary.

About you

We are looking for an experienced Child Protection Adviser, or a highly skilled child and family social worker with management experience.

The successful applicant will:

• Have a recognised Social Work qualification
• Have an active HCPC/SWE registration
• Be able to demonstrate post qualification continual professional learning & development
• Be an excellent communicator with effective influencing, advocating and negotiating skills
• Have the ability to chair meetings in a way that promotes engagement and participation from all attendees – including vulnerable children and young people
• Have demonstrable post qualifying statutory social work experience
• Possess experience in management in a Social Work environment

Most importantly – the successful candidate will have a sincere passion and drive to join us in our mission to improve the lives of children and young people.

Please see the job summary for more information.

Other information

If you would like to find out more about this role, please contact the Conference Service Manager, Maryam Golding at [email protected]

Closing date: Midnight on Monday 2nd December 2024

Interviews: TBC

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

Person Specification

Essential:

• Demonstrable post-qualification statutory social work experience, working with children and families at an advanced practitioner or assistant/team manager level, with children and young people in need of support, protection and care 
• Demonstrable working knowledge and application of current legislation, procedures and statutory guidance relevant to statutory Children’s Services 
• Ability to chair meetings and promote the engagement and participation of all attendees, including vulnerable children and young people subject to a Child Protection Plan, demonstrating an appropriate use of authority as required 
• Ability to write clear, concise and well evidenced reports , in a timely way, using appropriate IT systems and agreed formats 
• Ability to be an excellent verbal communicator using influencing, negotiation and advocacy skills, as necessary and appropriate, to promote the safety and wellbeing of children and young people 
• Ability to formulate child-focused protection plans including clear impact and outcome measures to build safety for children and young people 
• Ability to assess risk and promote safety planning for children at risk of significant harm, including from exploitation and being missing 
• Ability to work together with other multi-disciplinary/agency partners to harness professional expertise from across the local safeguarding partnership 
• Ability to undertake quality assurance audit and regular file reviews and provide balanced feedback to social work staff and partners 
• Working knowledge and professional awareness of sector led research and best practice standards 
• Experience of contributing to policy and practice development 
• Recognised social work qualification 
• Active HCPC registration 
• Demonstrable post qualification continual professional learning & development 
• Access to / use of a vehicle is an essential requirement. 
• Ability to travel to a number of diverse locations across the county within the working day. 

Desirable:

• Management and leadership training and qualification