Lead Child Protection Practitioner

• Suffolk County Council

• Locations: Beacon House Ipswich IP1 5PB or West Suffolk House Bury St Edmunds IP33 3YU

• Salary: 51483 - 53788 per annum (pro rata for part time)

• Hours: 37 hours per week flexible working options available

• Contract: Permanent

At Suffolk County Council we believe every child deserves the opportunity to live their best life. As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner (LCPP) within Childrens Independent Statutory Services (CISS) youll play a key role in safeguarding children strengthening professional practice and influencing decision-making across the childrens system. If youre an experienced social worker who is passionate about child protection and wants to use your expertise to make a wider impact wed love to hear from you.

Reimagine the possibilities

Your role and responsibilities

This is a specialist child protection leadership role for experienced practitioners who are confident making complex decisions and providing professional challenge where it matters most. Working across services and with partner agencies youll help ensure children at risk of significant harm receive the right protection and support at the right time.

In this role you will:

• lead Strategy Discussions and chair Strategy Meetings
• oversee Section 47 Enquiries and authorise outcomes
• chair Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences
• provide independent scrutiny professional challenge and oversight of child protection activity
• support high-quality decision-making across Family Help Childrens Services and partner agencies
• mentor and guide less experienced and alternatively qualified colleagues
• champion restorative practice and Family Led Decision Making
• contribute to service improvement audits policy development and the implementation of best practice
• help strengthen child protection practice across Suffolk through your expertise and professional leadership.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced practitioner who enjoys working at a strategic level while remaining connected to frontline safeguarding practice.

You will need

Were looking for an experienced and credible child protection professional who can build positive relationships provide robust challenge and support others to achieve the best outcomes for children and families.

Essential requirements:

• a recognised Social Work qualification
• registration with Social Work England
• at least four years experience working as a social worker within childrens services.
• substantial recent experience of frontline child protection practice and decision-making
• excellent knowledge of safeguarding legislation guidance and child protection processes
• the confidence and professional authority to make autonomous decisions in complex situations
• experience of multi-agency working and influencing practice across professional boundaries
• a commitment to restorative practice continuous learning and improving outcomes for children and families.

You can view the full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile (JPP).

If you believe you can succeed in this role and meet the essential requirements please apply.

The team

Childrens Independent Statutory Services (CISS) play a vital role in ensuring that children and young people across Suffolk are safeguarded and that their voices are heard within key statutory processes.

Our service brings together experienced practitioners who provide independent oversight scrutiny and challenge across child protection activity. Working closely with Family Help teams Childrens Social Care and partner agencies we support high-quality decision-making that keeps children at the centre of everything we do.

As part of our ongoing transformation through the Families First Programme we are strengthening our approach to child protection by investing in specialist expertise and creating opportunities for experienced practitioners to influence practice develop colleagues and shape service improvement.

We are a collaborative supportive and reflective team that values professional curiosity constructive challenge and continuous learning. Together we work to ensure children at risk of harm receive the right support at the right time from the right professionals.

Empowering Everyone

Were big believers in potential possibility and the power of different ideas. Were always searching for ways to encourage respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation as shown in our Workforce Equality Report.

For more information

Please contact Caren Russell County Safeguarding Manager for a casual conversation. You can reach her by calling or emailing

How to apply

Step 1 -Read the Job and Person Profile (Word).

Step 2 -Click Apply Now to start your online application.

Step 3 -Upload asupporting statementanswering the following questions below (no more than 400 words per question). You should use theSupporting Statement template (Word).

1. Please describe a complex child protection situation where you played a significant role in assessing risk and determining the next steps. Tell us the concerns and risks identified how you gathered and evaluated information how you applied legislation guidance and threshold decision-making how you ensured the childs voice influenced the outcome and the impact of your intervention and learning from the experience.
2. Describe how you have supported the development of other practitioners and contributed to improving safeguarding practice. Tell us your role in supporting colleagues how you shared knowledge and expertise how you encouraged reflective practice and learning and the impact on practice performance or outcomes.
3. Describe a situation where you needed to influence professionals from different organisations to achieve a better outcome for a child. How did you build credibility What barriers did you encounter How did you address differing views What was the outcome

Please note:Without a supporting statement your interest will not be supporting documents must be in either PDF or MS Word format.

For guidance on completing your application please seeourHow to Apply page.

Planning to useArtificial Intelligence (AI)Please ensure your applicationstillreflects your own skillsexperienceand used inappropriately your application may not be processed. Please readourguidance for using AIto understandwhatsacceptable.

Do you need any reasonable adjustments to help you to applyIf you are disabled and/or haveadditionalsupport needs you can request reasonable adjustments. You can do this by contacting our Recruitment Team ator.You can find examples ofpossible adjustmentsonourReasonable Adjustment pages.

Closing date: 11.30pm 6 August 2026

Interview date: Week commencing 17 August 2026

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.