Child Protection Adviser

We’re looking for an experienced and passionate Child Protection Adviser to play a vital role in safeguarding children and young people across our communities.

Working across Aylesbury, High Wycombe and Amersham, you’ll be part of a committed service that values collaboration, reflective practice and continuous learning — all with the shared goal of achieving better outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.

As a Child Protection Adviser, you will be responsible for chairing Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences, ensuring they are timely, inclusive, and firmly focused on building safety and achieving change. Using a strengths‑based, relationship‑focused approach aligned with Strengthening Families, you’ll support professionals and families to understand risk, address harm and agree effective, child‑centred plans.

You’ll act as a critical friend to social work teams and partner agencies, offering expert advice, professional challenge and guidance on thresholds, planning and statutory requirements. Quality assurance is a key aspect of the role — you’ll monitor and review Child Protection Plans, contribute to the audit framework, and share learning and best practice to continually improve standards across the service.

The role is highly collaborative. You’ll work closely with multi‑agency partners, contribute to dispute resolution where required, take part in a weekly duty rota, and support learning and development by contributing to training and performance reporting. Above all, you’ll ensure that the voice of the child is central to every discussion and decision.

You are an experienced, confident and reflective social work professional with substantial post‑qualification experience in statutory children’s services, ideally at an advanced practitioner or management level. You bring a strong working knowledge of child protection legislation, statutory guidance and safeguarding procedures, and you are comfortable using your professional authority to challenge constructively when needed.

You are an excellent communicator — able to chair complex meetings, engage families and professionals, and produce clear, well‑evidenced reports. You understand risk, can develop robust child‑focused protection plans, and are skilled at working collaboratively with partners to promote safety and positive change.

You will hold a recognised social work qualification
, be registered with Social Work England
, and be committed to ongoing professional development. You’ll also need the ability to travel across the county, with access to a vehicle.

Closing date:
Midnight on Monday 13th July 2026

Interview date: TBC

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well‑being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through an Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work‑life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements.