Multi-agency Child Protection Strategic Health Lead in Oldham

Multi-agency Child Protection Strategic Health Lead

Band 8a

Main area Childrens Community Grade Band 8a Contract Secondment: 12 months Hours Full time - 37.5 sessions per week Job ref 236-UEC-NM652-26-A

Site Community Town Oldham Salary £57,528 - £64,750 Per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 27/09/ :59 Interview date 07/10/2026

Job overview

An experienced and influential safeguarding professional is required to lead the health system's contribution to the implementation of the Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) across Oldham.

This is a unique strategic leadership role at the forefront of national social care reform for children and families. Working on behalf of the Northern Care Alliance and the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB), you will serve as the Strategic Health Lead, representing the statutory safeguarding partner across the local health economy on a 12-month secondment.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape how services work together to improve outcomes for children and families, ensuring that health plays a central role in designing, implementing and embedding a new system of help, support and protection.

You will be a Registered Nurse or other relevant professional with significant safeguarding and leadership experience. You will have a strong background in partnership working, expertise in child protection, early help and multi-agency collaboration, and be skilled in data analysis, quality improvement and change management. Above all, you will be passionate about improving outcomes for children and families while promoting equity, inclusion and effective partnership working.

Main duties of the job

Strategic System Leadership and Quality Assurance

Provide health representation within the Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT), contributing to partnership performance monitoring, audits and safeguarding practice reviews. Deliver expert, highly specialised advice and support across the health economy on all safeguarding matters relating to children and young people.

Represent and articulate agreed health system positions within programme governance arrangements, design forums and multi-agency working groups, reducing the need for routine escalation to senior ICB leadership. Work with health providers and commissioners to agree how health practitioners contribute to MACPT and Family Help Teams, Section 47 enquiries, child protection conferences and statutory decision-making processes. This includes establishing clear escalation pathways and ensuring access to medical expertise and advice where concerns about significant harm arise.

Support the alignment of health pathways, including 0-19 services and relevant community health provision, with the end-to-end Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) model, avoiding duplication, fragmentation and parallel processes.

Lead and support the design and mobilisation of MACPTs by shaping and agreeing health's contribution to ensure that service models reflect statutory safeguarding responsibilities, local health system realities and the expectations set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023).

Working for our organisation

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) provides hospital and integrated health and social care services to over one million people living across Greater Manchester. Our 20,000 colleagues care for people in hospital and in the community, working across Bury, Rochdale, Oldham and Salford, to save and improve lives.

As a large NHS trust we are committed to enhancing the health of our local population by delivering consistently high standards of care and working closely with local authorities and key partners. We believe in our power and potential to make a difference and we’re always looking for people who demonstrate our three core values - care , appreciate and inspire – to join our team.

In return, we can offer you a job role with purpose and flexibility. The size and scale of the NCA means we can provide more challenge and opportunities so your career can always be moving in the right direction. By joining us you can also access a competitive benefits package, including, a fantastic annual leave allowance, flexible working opportunities and protected hours for health and wellbeing activities, helping you to achieve more personal downtime and a better work-life balance.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To read more information about the advertised role, and the main job duties/responsibilities please open the Job Description and Person Specification located under the supporting documents heading. You can also read more information about working at the Northern Care Alliance within the attached Candidate Information Pack or by visiting our careers website:

Person specification

Qualification and Registration

• Professional qualification relevant to health, safeguarding, or public health nursing leadership e.g. Registered General Nurse /Midwife
• Part 3 registration in specialist Community Public Health Nursing; Health Visiting or School Nursing
• Current NMC Registration
• Have completed a post registration training in safeguarding Children including Law, Policy and Practice at post graduate Level.
• Knowledge and expertise in management acquired through in- depth experience or theoretical study, equivalent to post graduate level.
• Educated to master’s level or equivalent level of experience working at a senior level in specialist area
• Postgraduate qualification or equivalent experience in leadership, systems change, public health or safeguarding

Experience

• Significant senior-level experience within health, safeguarding, or a closely related system role
• Experience contributing to or leading system change, service redesign or reform programmes
• Experience of working with children, young people and families in a safeguarding or public service context
• Experience of multi-agency and partnership work across disciplines, organisational and professional boundaries e.g. ideally across education, social care or safeguarding
• Proven record of leading and managing change across services.
• Ability to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults
• Significant experience of leading and managing community public health nursing at service level
• Experience of engaging provider organisations to implement system-level change
• Experience supporting or influencing statutory safeguarding processes (e.g. child protection, early help, family support systems)

Knowledge

• Knowledge of statutory safeguarding arrangements and multi-agency responsibilities under Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and wider children’s safeguarding legal and policy framework
• Strong understanding of the health system’s role as a statutory safeguarding partner, including commissioning, provider delivery and governance
• Demonstrate evidence of specialist expert knowledge in Specialist Community public Health Nursing.
• Extensive Knowledge of clinical governance, safety and risk management.
• Demonstrates understanding of safeguarding issues and is up to date with legislation and current reforms.
• Knowledge of Families First reforms, inc Multiagency Child Protection Teams (MACPT) and Family Group Dynamic (FGDM)
• Understanding of roles and responsibilities of the ICB, NHSE and Commissioning
• Training on DOLs and MCA
• Experience of setting and managing budgets

Skills

• Intellectual flexibility to be able to work between strategic and operational priorities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, able to interpret complex health and safeguarding information,
• Managing groups / stakeholders in conflict and professional boundaries
• Able to create and communicate a shared vision in a range of compelling ways
• Experience of report writing formal and informal presentations both internally and externally.
• Planning and performance management skills and techniques
• Experience of undertaking investigations/RCA

Abilities

• Ability to work effectively and sensitively with children, young people and adults, communicating in a manner that promotes dignity, respect and person-centred care
• Ability to deliver against KPIs
• Demonstrates a high level of highly complex numerical and data analytical skills, including spreadsheets and databases.
• Ability to travel to different geographical locations across the Trust footprint in line with service needs
• Understanding of information sharing frameworks, consent, and proportionality in safeguarding contexts
• Full UK driving license with willingness to use own car for work purposes

The NCA is proud to serve a diverse population and is committed to delivering inclusive, accessible care. We value individuality and aim to build a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Applications are welcomed from individuals of all backgrounds, identities, and beliefs.

We also warmly welcome applications from serving and former members of the Armed Forces community and their families. Please indicate on your application form if you are a member of the Armed Forces community to be considered under our guaranteed interview scheme, subject to meeting the essential criteria for the role.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to offering a guaranteed interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please contact the Recruitment Team at

Vacancies may close before the advertised closing date if a high volume of applications are received or where an internal redeployee has been identified.

For fixed-term roles, current NHS staff will be considered for secondments, while fixed-term contracts will be offered to external (non-NHS) applicants.

If you are applying for an internal secondment opportunity, we strongly encourage you to discuss this with your line manager before submitting your application. Any secondment offer will be subject to management agreement and the needs of your substantive service. Where release cannot be supported, the secondment may unfortunately be unable to proceed.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Agnes Leopold-James Job title Head of Nursing Email address Telephone number Additional information

Jennifer Robertson Designated Nurse Safeguarding Children, Oldham
NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care
Mobile:
Email:

#J-18808-Ljbffr