Your Role
We are seeking an experienced, passionate and highly motivated Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) to join our college and play a central role in ensuring the safety and welfare of our students.
As the College's lead safeguarding professional, you will coordinate and oversee all aspects of safeguarding and child protection, ensuring compliance with statutory guidance and promoting a strong culture of safeguarding across the organisation. This is a strategic leadership role, supported by an experienced safeguarding team. You will provide line management to the Safeguarding Manager and Safeguarding Officers, ensuring a coordinated and effective approach to supporting students.
Working closely with senior leaders, members of the safeguarding team, external agencies and families, you will lead on safeguarding referrals, provide expert advice and guidance to staff, and drive the continuous development of safeguarding policies and practices. As the College's Senior Mental Health Lead, you will also play a key role in promoting positive wellbeing and ensuring vulnerable students receive the support they need to thrive.
The successful candidate will have significant safeguarding experience, ideally within an educational setting, together with a thorough understanding of current safeguarding legislation and multi-agency working. You will be a confident leader, an excellent communicator and committed to achieving the very best outcomes for young people.
For more information about the role, please contact Laurence Job (ljob@qeliz.ac.uk)
A full job description and person specification can be downloaded below.
Closing date
Midday, Thursday 15th October 2026
Qualifications
- Minimum of five subjects at GCSE level (grades A*-C or 4 and above), or equivalent
- essential
- 4-9 / C-A*
- Degree or equivalent
- desirable
- Pass
- Level 3 DSL training certificate
- desirable
- Pass
Experience
- Experience of managing safeguarding in a school/college or other relevant organisation
- essential
- Demonstrable evidence of developing and implementing strategies to help children/young people and their families
- essential
- Experience of handling large amounts of sensitive data and upholding the principles of confidentiality
- essential
- Experience of providing training, guidance and support to others
- essential
- Able to establish good collaborative relationships and networks
- essential
- Expert knowledge of legislation and guidance on safeguarding and working with children/young people, including knowledge of the responsibilities of colleges and other agencies
- essential
- Ability to work with a range of people with the aim of ensuring the safety and welfare of children and young people.
- essential
- Awareness of local and national agencies that provide support for children/young people and their families
- essential
- Excellent record keeping skills and attention to detail, in order to produce reports, take minutes of meetings, and document safeguarding concerns
- essential
Personal Attributes
- Act with integrity, honesty, loyalty and fairness
- essential
- Commitment to own professional development and willingness to undertake training
- essential
- Ability to reflect on and develop own practice
- essential
- Persistence and resilience
- essential
- Commitment to safeguarding students
- essential
- Ability to build effective working relationships with staff, students and other stakeholders
- essential
- Ability to work in ways that promote equality of opportunity, participation, diversity and responsibility
- essential
- High level of personal effectiveness including good organisational, planning and prioritisation skills and ability to meet deadlines
- essential
Safeguarding Information
An enhanced DBS check is required for this post and the successful applicant will either need to apply for a DBS or give Northern Arch Learning Partnership consent to check their status if they are registered with the DBS Update Service. The Trust complies with the Code of Practice issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
An online search will be undertaken for shortlisted candidates as part of the recruitment process on information available in the public domain. Candidates should disclose anything that may be relevant in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education. This search does not form part of the shortlisting process and candidates will have the chance to discuss any issues of concern that may arise during this search at interview.
The Trust is also committed to promoting equality, challenging discrimination and developing community cohesion. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
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