Safeguarding Officer

Time commitment: Full‑time preferred. Part‑time applicants are considered for at least four days per week. Importantly, our services operate 9 am–5:30 pm, so out‑of‑hours safeguarding is not required.

Location: Hybrid with 1–2 days per week in the office preferred. If that is not possible, we would consider remote working.

Reporting to: Clinical Operations Manager

About Paloma: In 2024, our founders, Mark and Darshak, were shocked to find that children needing an NHS autism or ADHD assessment were waiting four to ten years for these assessments. Delayed assessments result in children being more likely to develop mental health conditions and fall behind in education. Moreover, the much‑needed pre/post‑assessment support (outside of ADHD medications) is typically not funded by the NHS. These long waits have built up due to increased recognition and understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions and a lack of investment and innovation within the NHS to meet the growing demand. Mark and Darshak, with their 25 years of combined NHS experience, including building services that have treated over one million patients in obesity and ophthalmology, founded Paloma to change this. Our mission is to make NHS autism and ADHD assessments and care accessible within four weeks of a GP referral, and, in turn, help every child achieve their potential.

The Opportunity: Children accessing autism and ADHD assessments can be vulnerable, and Paloma is committed to keeping children accessing our services safe. Paloma has made a specific investment to build an internal Safeguarding Team, which partners with our clinicians and the children and families we serve to identify safeguarding needs early and ensure the right support is in place. Families benefit from support immediately after referral, meaning they are better prepared for their child’s assessment. We are looking for a social worker or teacher who is passionate about safeguarding and eager to work in an innovation‑focused environment as our Safeguarding Officer. They will work collaboratively with our Senior Safeguarding Officer and wider clinical and operations teams to ensure that Paloma maintains the highest standards of safeguarding for the families we support.

Responsibilities:

• Ensure robust safeguarding processes & knowledge:
• Work with our Senior Safeguarding Officer to design and continuously improve our safeguarding policies and processes.
• Support training of our assessor team on safeguarding best practices and evaluate competency around risk management.
• Ensure we follow best practices and legal requirements for safeguarding, in line with our Care Quality Commission registration requirements, including safeguarding audits and participation in wider safeguarding forums.
• Be our internal safeguarding expert:
• Act as the first point of contact on named days as part of our safeguarding rota, supporting our assessors when safeguarding needs are identified.
• Quality‑assure our safeguarding referrals.
• Ensure we act promptly for identified safeguarding needs:
• Review safeguarding information identified in GP referrals and/or family questionnaires and provide appropriate input.
• Liaise with families and external agencies when a safeguarding risk is identified and provide support.

Qualifications and experience:

• Welcome applications from:
• Social Workers registered with Social Work England (or equivalent regional registries).
• Qualified Teachers registered with the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) who have safeguarding lead experience (or equivalent regional registries).
• With at least:
• Three years of experience in children and young people’s safeguarding.
• Level 3 safeguarding training.
• A desirable, but not essential, experience is working with or alongside children’s neurodevelopmental services.

Benefits:

• A strong and positive culture that prioritises team building, transparency, and career development.
• If remote, salary of £45,000 per year, with some flexibility based on experience.
• If hybrid working from our London office, salary of £50,000 per year, with some flexibility based on experience.
• Annual salary reviews, ensuring they are competitive.
• For employees working at least 0.8 FTE: Equity compensation through Share Options in Paloma Health.
• Optional Private Medical Insurance and Employee Assistance Programme.
• Professional Registration Fees Allowance for registered professionals.
• A unique annual leave benefits package which includes: 37 days of annual leave. This is 28 standard days, plus eight bank holidays, plus your birthday off. Option to buy an additional 5 days per year (giving a maximum of 42 days). Where required, 2 days per year of special leave, for events that can happen in life, whether personal or family‑related.
• Additional benefits include: A premium performance company laptop, NHS discounts, including the Blue Light Card (as we are an NHS provider).

Equality & Diversity: Paloma Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and throughout the application process. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic.

Accommodations: We’re glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need, so we can adapt our interview process accordingly.

Safer Recruitment & Pre‑Employment Checks: Paloma Health ensures that supporting people to be safe is at the heart of our work and a key priority. As part of our pre‑employment checks, you will be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. We are committed to safer recruitment practices and expect all applicants to share our dedication to safeguarding.