Lead Child Protection Practitioner in Gloucester

This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.

Job Location: Stroud or Gloucester

Salary: £52,413 - £54,495 per annum

Hours per Week: 37.00

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 06/09/2026

This post is open to job share.

Be at the forefront of protecting children in Gloucestershire. Following our 2025 Ofsted judgement of Good, Gloucestershire is continuing to invest in children, families, and our workforce as we continue the drive to excellence for our children and implement the ambitious Families First Partnership Programme.

Gloucestershire’s Multi-Agency Child Protection Team model has been at the forefront of national developments. We have worked with partners across the county and nationally to test and refine our model through a pilot in North Gloucestershire, ensuring that the voice of children and families is at the heart of our design.

We are now ready to set up our Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams across the county. Our teams are comprised of: Lead Child Protection Practitioners, Health Leads, Police Detective Sergeants, Police Decision Makers, Education Safeguarding Leads, Harm outside the Home social workers, Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) and linked Probation Officers. They will be co-located alongside Family Help teams enabling responsive, timely engagement with local Family Help social workers focused on improving the quality of our response for children at most risk in the area.

About the role

We are seeking experienced social workers, who have substantial post qualifying experience in child protection work and who have the capability to meet the requirements set out in the new national Lead Child Protection Practitioner Standards.

As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner, you will provide decisive leadership and decision-making in some of the most important moments in a child’s life. Alongside overseeing some of our most complex child protection work, you will provide practice leadership, model exceptional social work, and support colleagues to further develop their confidence, professional curiosity and critical thinking. Working as part of our Multi-Agency Child Protection Teams, you will play a key role in enabling strong partnership working with health, education, police and other agencies, ensuring children receive the best help and protection, and at the right time. You will provide advice and consultation, chair child protection strategy meetings, oversee section 47 enquiries, and chair initial and review child protection conferences. You will ensure that assessment, planning and decision making is grounded in strong analysis and a clear understanding of risk and harm. You will lead multi-agency reflective supervision, practice development, quality assurance, learning objectives and service improvement. Within this role you will assist in building on our strong culture of learning, innovation and continuous improvement. You will work directly with children and families, supporting them to understand and contribute to their plans. You will also support them to work with their professional and family networks to facilitate sustained and meaningful change.

Reward and support

• Between £52,413 - £54,495 per annum subject to experience
• Welcome payment of £5,000*
• Annual retention payment of £2,000*
• Up to £8,000 relocation package
• Flexible and agile working (although this role is predominantly office-based)
• 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years continuous service
• Option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year
• Family friendly policies and benefits to help support you and your family
• Supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone
• An in-house Occupational Health service
• Employee discount scheme
• Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) and the Young Employees Network
• Career development and qualification opportunities
• Access to our Social Work Academy
• Cycle to Work scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply)
• Green Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply)

About you

We are looking for social workers who can:

• Demonstrate expert knowledge and application of child protection legislation, statutory guidance and safeguarding practice
• Build effective relationships with children and families whilst maintaining a clear focus on safety, risk and permanence
• Undertake sophisticated analysis and decision making in highly complex situations and often fast-paced situations
• Lead and influence professional networks around children experiencing significant harm or vulnerability
• Model excellent direct work with children and families and support others to develop their practice
• Challenge respectfully and constructively across professional boundaries to achieve the best outcomes for children
• Coach, mentor and develop social workers and other practitioners
• Use evidence, research and reflective practice to improve outcomes and strengthen professional practice
• Undertake and coordinate quality assurance, learning and service development activities
• Thrive within a relational practice culture that values collaboration, curiosity and continuous improvement

You will also need:

• Social Work England registration
• A recognised qualification in Social Work to meet the requirements of the Children’s Social Care National Framework
• A full driving licence and willingness to drive
• DBS clearance (Enhanced Adults and Children’s)

If you would like to find out more about our Children's Service please take a look here: Children's Social Care Careers | Gloucestershire County Council

*Please note, our welcome and retention payments are non-contractual, pro rata for part-time staff and subject to National Insurance and tax deductions.

We reserve the right to close an advertisement earlier than the stated closing date if we receive a suitable amount of applications or fill the vacancy/vacancies.

The council will consider sponsorship for this role, in line with Home Office regulations and subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks.

Under the terms of our Safer Recruitment Policy, if you are invited to interview, we will take up safeguarding references prior to your interview to understand your suitability to work with vulnerable children. These references will then be discussed in your interview. Please give details of at least two referees, one of whom must be your present and/or last employer and the other from a previous employer(s). These will need to cover the last three years of employment/education. In the case of applicants leaving full time education or not having worked since doing so, the Head of School, College or University should be one of the named referees. We do not accept references from friends or family members or workplace colleagues (who are not more senior). To ensure we process your application in a speedy and efficient way, we will contact your referees by DocuSign. Where appropriate, please inform them of your application.

Additional Information

To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:- Lead Child Protection Practitioner. This Position is subject to a DBS check.

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential. It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English. Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.