Quality and Assurance Senior Advisor (Social Worker)

Thank you for your interest in North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT). As of 1 April 2026, NLFT has formally merged with Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, marking the start of an exciting new chapter. This is a unique opportunity to join a forward-thinking organisation at a time of transformation, where we are strengthening access to mental health services, responding more effectively to complex and specialist needs, and advancing our work in education, research and innovation.

By bringing together our combined expertise, we are building a stronger, more collaborative Trust - one that delivers consistent, high-quality care and improved outcomes for the diverse communities we serve. At the heart of our approach is The North London Way. We are committed to:

• Working collaboratively at every level, guided by our shared values
• Shaping a positive, inclusive culture where staff and service users thrive
• Empowering our teams with the skills, tools and autonomy to drive meaningful change
• Delivering excellence and continuously improving the quality of care we provide
• Embedding research, innovation and technology across our services
• Taking a trauma-informed approach in everything we do

We are proud to be an inclusive employer that values diversity. We actively welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly from our local communities, and are committed to creating opportunities for everyone - including apprentices, veterans and care leavers. The North London Way to deliver: Better Mental Health, Better Lives, Better Communities.

As a values-driven Trust, we recruit through our values. Our selection processes focus on behaviours, attitudes, and examples that reflect our organisational values and commitment to compassionate, high-quality care.

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. We recognise that AI tools can support accessibility, equity and confidence for applicants. However, it's important that examples and responses genuinely reflect your own experience and abilities, as these will be explored further during the selection process. AI must not be used to provide misleading or false information during any stage of the application journey.

North London NHS Foundation Trust is committed to fair and transparent recruitment and requires applicants to provide accurate information, as misleading details may affect their application or employment and may be verified in line with the Fraud Act 2006.

Job overview: We are pleased to introduce a new role to strengthen safeguarding assurance and risk management across the Enfield community and working across care groups and the wider Trust. This role is ideally suited to an experienced safeguarding professional with strong analytical skills, the ability to interpret and present complex data, and excellent leadership and communication abilities. The successful candidate will play a vital role in ensuring safeguarding remains a core priority across the organisation.

Main duties of the job: The Quality and Assurance Senior Advisor will provide Trust-wide leadership in quality assurance, with a key focus on overseeing Persons in a Position of Trust (PIPOT) cases from initial triage through to closure. The post-holder will ensure robust processes are in place to manage allegations effectively, consistently, and in line with statutory guidance. The role will lead on delivering comprehensive audit and assurance programmes, supporting compliance monitoring, and providing oversight of safeguarding risks. Key areas of responsibility include sexual safety, chaperoning practices, and safeguarding standards, ensuring high-quality care and protection for service users. Working collaboratively with internal teams and external partners, the post-holder will strengthen governance, promote a culture of accountability, and drive continuous improvement across safeguarding practice.

Working for our organisation: North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people. Our Five-Year Strategy:

• We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
• With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all.
• We will offer great places to work, providing staff with supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.

Why NLFT? We develop and retain our staff through leadership behaviours and managers programme and many more opportunities. We promote flexible working and support staff with a range of health and wellbeing initiatives. NHS Discounts, generous annual leave and NHS pension scheme. Excellent internal staff network.

In order to meet the needs of the Trust you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that falls under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities: Develop, implement, and continuously evaluate safeguarding assurance tools in line with current legislation, CQC Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs), and NHS England standards in Enfield working closely across the 5 Care groups. Design and maintain audit frameworks to monitor compliance with relevant Pan London safeguarding guidance, policies and procedures, and locally agreed protocols. Lead and deliver a comprehensive safeguarding audit programme, including key areas such as chaperoning, sexual safety, and the management of allegations against Persons in a Position of Trust (PIPOT). Undertake thematic reviews, deep dives, and produce organisational learning reports to support continuous improvement. Analyse audit findings to identify trends, lessons learned, and areas of risk, ensuring clear, evidence-based recommendations are made to strengthen practice and governance.

Person specification:

Qualification

Essential criteria: Master's degree or equivalent experience; Safeguarding specialist training.

Desirable criteria:

Leadership / Management qualification or development.

Experience/ Knowledge

Essential criteria: Significant experience of advising on safeguarding legal framework and safeguarding policies; Experience in multi-agency review processes; Experience of leading, managing and developing staff; Experience of working with complex safeguarding cases.

Skills/ Abilities

Essential criteria: Exceptional written and oral communication skills; Strong influencing and negotiating skills; Ability to professionally collaborate and foster working relationships with internal and external partners.

Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts, we reserve the right to close any vacancies before the stated closing date. In line with NHS protocols, only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview. We regret that it is not possible to contact all applicants for every vacancy. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume you have not been shortlisted for the next stage.

You must already have the right to work in the United Kingdom or fully meet the eligibility criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. We welcome applications from candidates who require visa sponsorship; however, we can only consider these where all UKVI requirements are met. Before applying, please ensure that both you and the role satisfy the relevant UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) points-based system criteria, as applications that do not meet these requirements cannot be progressed.

References will be required to cover your last 3 years of employment/training. One has to be from your current or most recent employer and the others from your previous employer. The references should be from persons with management responsibility or HR.

Please note, in order to progress your application your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers - North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of North London NHS Foundation Trust. As part of pre-employment checks your identity and right to work documentation will be verified remotely (in most circumstances), using a certified identity verification service provider TrustID.

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system. We are an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating an inclusive, fair, and supportive workplace for all. We actively welcome applications from individuals who are under-represented within our workforce and are dedicated to eliminating discrimination in all its forms.

As a Disability Confident (Two Ticks) employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role and are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

By applying for this role, you accept in the event you are successful that your personal data may be transferred from the Trust to another NHS organisation where your employment transfers within the NHS. This is in accordance with the streamlining programme which is aimed at improving efficiencies within the NHS both to make cost savings for NHS organisations but also to save you time when your employment transfers.