Safeguarding Officer in Birmingham

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the second largest fire and rescue service in England, serving an area of 902km square and a population of over 2.9 million people. Our vision is ‘Making the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier’. This vision and the strategic goals outlined in ‘Our Strategy’ are what drives the people, professionalism and pride with which we serve our communities.

This is not a standard safeguarding role; WMFS is on a journey to drive high quality safeguarding practice across the Service. We are looking for an experienced, skilled and motivated safeguarding professional who is passionate about making a difference to the communities we serve. This is a key position that will sit at the heart of operational practice, workforce development and organisational assurance. Working directly to the Safeguarding Manager, you will act as the key link between strategy and frontline delivery – bringing professional credibility, challenge and practical support to leaders and staff. This is an exciting time to join WMFS as we embark on our safeguarding improvement journey and a unique opportunity to shape safeguarding practice across the Service.

If you’re ready to bring your safeguarding expertise into a role where you can shape practice, influence culture and make a lasting difference – we’d love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Support the review and quality assurance of processes, practices and systems for safeguarding and identify any trends, themes and emerging risks.
• Provide professional advice and consultation on safeguarding cases, supporting threshold decision making and ensuring escalation processes are applied where appropriate.
• Support design and delivery of safeguarding training to WMFS personnel ensuring staff are appropriately trained, supervised and supported to discharge their safeguarding responsibilities.
• Support development of practical tools, guidance and reflective learning materials that improve and sustain good standards of safeguarding practice.
• Support safeguarding audits, file reviews and assurance activity as required and with the direction of the Safeguarding Manager.
• Monitor referral quality and threshold consistency across the organisation, reporting and liaising with operational managers where practice falls short of expected standards.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with statutory safeguarding partners.

Experience and Skills

• Qualification and/or relevant role-related experience appropriate to the requirements of the post.
• Broad safeguarding subject knowledge.
• Detailed understanding and knowledge of safeguarding legislation and local authority procedures in adults and/or child safeguarding.
• Ability to provide professional challenge and constructive escalation.
• Experience in training delivery, practice improvement or workforce development.
• Highly developed written communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to produce reports after identifying themes and trends.
• Trusted and able to deal with confidential issues.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
• Able to build and maintain working relationships with a variety of stakeholders.
• Ability to take and accept responsibility and to make decisions when required.
• Be self-motivated, persistent and can persuade and influence others to adopt new initiatives.
• Able to plan and prioritise own workload.
• Experience of networking and partnership working.
• Ability to plan, design and deliver presentations to a variety of audiences.
• Ability to demonstrate a commitment to continuous professional development.

Desirable Skills or Experience

• Previous experience in a safeguarding-related role within social care, health or education sectors.
• Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) training undertaken within the last 2 years.

Benefits

• Flexible and agile working arrangements.
• On-site free gym facilities.
• Free parking.
• Access to an in-house occupational health facility - including occupational health and fitness advisors, sports therapists, physiotherapists, cognitive behavioural therapy practitioners and counsellors.
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme.
• Wellbeing programmes.
• ‘Blue light’ discounts across many retailers through partner schemes.
• Enhanced family leave benefits, including 52 weeks fully paid maternity and adoption leave.
• Sports and Welfare scheme (for a small fee) – with access to discounted products and services.

Diversity

We welcome applications from all eligible candidates. However, as women and Black and minority ethnic employees are currently under-represented in our service, we particularly encourage applications from these groups. WMFS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk. All staff share responsibility for safeguarding: you must act in line with WMFS policies and procedures, complete required safeguarding training, and raise/record any concerns promptly in accordance with reporting and escalation routes.

Appointment is subject to the required pre-employment checks, which may include a relevant level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, verification of qualifications, medical clearance (where applicable), identity and right to work checks, and two satisfactory references.

How to apply

Send your CV and supporting statement showcasing your previous experience and outlining your suitability for the role.

Questions

If you have any questions about the role, or would like an informal discussion, please contact Lynn Willis on 07973810859 or by email at lynn.willis@wmfs.net.