Torbay Council
Lead Child Protection Practitioner - 37 Hours
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Application Deadline: 23 August 2026 Department: Children's Services Location: Torbay Council Compensation: £54,307 - £57,631 / year
Description
The full-time equivalent salary of £54,307 to £57,631 includes an amount for a market supplement ranging from £7,126 to £7,362 per year. This market supplement is reviewed annually.
Job Description & Person Specification
Are you an experienced social work professional with strong child protection expertise and the confidence to lead complex multi-agency decision-making? Torbay Children’s Services is looking for a skilled and committed Lead Child Protection Practitioner to join our Multi Agency Child Protection Team. In this pivotal role, you will help ensure that children and young people are safeguarded through effective strategy discussions, section 47 enquiries, child protection conferences, and robust protection planning.
This is an opportunity to join a service on an ambitious improvement journey, where restorative and relational practice underpins our work with children, young people, and families. You will work closely with internal colleagues and partner agencies to make timely, evidence-based decisions, provide expert consultation, and maintain a clear focus on the voice of the child in all protection processes.
What you’ll do:
- Lead child protection statutory processes and decision-making on behalf of the Local Authority.
- Chair strategy discussions, child protection conferences, and related multi-agency meetings.
- Oversee section 47 enquiries and child protection planning in line with legislation, guidance, and statutory timescales.
- Provide expert advice, consultation, and constructive challenge to practitioners and partner agencies.
- Analyse complex information and produce high-quality reports that support sound safeguarding decisions.
- Contribute to service development, quality assurance, and the continued strengthening of multi-agency safeguarding practice.
What we’re looking for
You will be a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England, with substantial post-qualifying experience in statutory children’s social care and significant expertise in child protection practice. You will bring strong analytical skills, sound professional judgement, and the ability to lead confidently in complex, high-risk situations.
We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate experience of multi-agency working, chairing or contributing to high-level safeguarding meetings, supporting colleagues through consultation and challenge, and keeping children’s lived experience at the centre of planning and decision-making.
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Why join us
Torbay Children’s Services is focused on protecting children and giving them the best start in life. We are on an ambitious improvement journey following a recent Good Ofsted outcome, and we are proud of our restorative approach to working with families. We offer a supportive environment, investment in professional development, and the opportunity to make a visible difference in a small authority where positive change can happen quickly.
- Local Government Pension Scheme.
- Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays.
- Flexible and hybrid working arrangements, where the role allows.
- Learning and development opportunities and professional support.
- A broader package of employee benefits, wellbeing support, and staff discounts.
- For eligible children’s social work posts, additional recruitment and retention benefits may apply.
Safeguarding and application information
Torbay Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. This post is subject to the appropriate pre-employment checks, including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.
If you are ready to use your expertise to help protect children, influence high-quality safeguarding practice, and contribute to positive change for families in Torbay, we would welcome your application.
This post will be carrying out Regulated Activity. As such, the post will require an Enhanced Criminal Record Check plus an additional Barred List Check. The check will reveal any spent and unspent convictions and adult cautions (which have not been filtered), any local Police information, and a check of either the Adult, Child, or Adult and Child Barred Lists.
If you are viewing this advert on a job board, you can access the full job description by placing the below URL into your browser: https://www.torbay.gov.uk/jobs/job-descriptions/lead-child-protection-practitioner/
For an informal chat, please contact Lucy Reeves on 07500 097230 or lucy.reeves@torbay.gov.uk.
Interviews are expected to be conducted during the week commencing 31st August 2026.
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Skills
Essential:
- Minimum of three years post-qualifying experience of working with children.
- Ability to manage complex child protection work, including complex decision-making and assist colleagues in carrying out statutory requirements.
- Ability to undertake professional duties to comply with statutory responsibilities within the framework of the Council’s Policies and Procedures, Working Together 2023, and Children Act 1989, 2004.
- Ability to provide advice and consultation which supports the effective delivery of robust practice for children at risk of harm and to ensure that appropriate action is taken to formulate plans for intervention, including an ability to oversee and review child protection plans and chair a range of multi-agency child protection decision-making meetings.
- Ability to communicate effectively in a manner that is restorative, clear, concise, and jargon-free in a professional way in both written and verbal form.
- This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
Knowledge
Essential:
- Sound knowledge of statutory social care legislation, policies, and processes.
- Understanding of high-quality child protection practice, safeguarding principles, and procedures.
- Knowledge of the legal framework, including the application of Public Law Outline.
- Expert-level knowledge of the range and impact of abuse and neglect that can happen to children, including that within the home, outside the home, and online.
- Sound knowledge of evidence-based social work practice, particularly child protection practice and effective interventions.
Experience & Qualifications
Essential:
- Social Work Degree Level Qualification as recognised by Social Work England.
- Social Work England Registration.
- A minimum of 3 years post-qualifying experience.
- Significant child protection practice experience, including multi-agency practice and child protection processes (strategy meetings, section 47 investigations, and child protection planning).
- Extensive social work experience with children and families within a statutory setting.
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