Lead Child Protection Practitioner; MACPT

Position: Lead Child Protection Practitioner (MACPT)
How you'll make a difference

In South Gloucestershire, we are proud that our Children’s Social Care service is rated Good by Ofsted. We are equally committed to continuing to learn, develop and improve, so that children, young people and families receive the right support at the right time.

As a Lead Child Protection Practitioner within the Multi-Agency Child Protection team (MACPT), you will provide specialist child protection expertise, leadership and oversight when there are concerns that a child may be suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.

You will support practitioners and safeguarding partners to make timely, evidence-based and defensible decisions, helping ensure child protection processes are clear, proportionate, relational and consistent across agencies.

What you will be doing

You will not case-hold children and families, instead you will strengthen practice by guiding, advising, coordinating and decision-making within the child protection process, working alongside Family Help Lead Practitioners, Social Care colleagues and safeguarding partners.

Chairing strategy discussions and Child Protection Conferences, you will oversee Section 47 enquiries and support purposeful Child Protection Plans that are centred on the child’s lived experience.

You will have the opportunity to influence high-quality child protection practice across South Gloucestershire, strengthen multi-agency decision making and help ensure children and families experience clear, purposeful and proportionate safeguarding processes.

Provide specialist child protection expertise within the MACPT, supporting clear, consistent and defensible safeguarding decisions.

Facilitate and chair strategy discussions and Child Protection Conferences, ensuring the right information is shared and the right partners are involved.

Work with safeguarding partners to apply significant harm and Section 47 thresholds consistently, including decisions on single or joint agency enquiries.

Build professional confidence across Family Help, social care, police, health, education and wider safeguarding partners.

Contribute to reflective practice, audit, learning and practice improvement across the MACPT and wider safeguarding system.

What we need from you Qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration and substantial post-qualifying statutory child protection experience.

Expert knowledge of child protection law, statutory guidance and local procedures, with confidence applying significant harm and Section 47 thresholds consistently.

Proven ability to lead and chair complex multi-agency safeguarding meetings, including strategy discussions and Child Protection Conferences.

Skilled in overseeing the child protection process, analysing complex risk and evidence, balancing professional views and making clear, defensible decisions.

Strong collaborative multi-agency working skills, supporting effective information sharing, coordinated partner contributions and a shared understanding of risk.

Committed to child and family participation while managing complex workloads, urgent safeguarding decisions, statutory timescales and accurate records.

Bring clarity, confidence and professional curiosity to a high-volume and complex safeguarding environment, supporting consistent thresholds, reducing drift and helping partners work together effectively in the best interests of children and families.

What you need to know

This position is a 3 day (22.2 hours) part time position, we require the appointed individual to work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday due to the nature of the role and team cover. Although this post is advertised as a full-time position, we encourage and welcome applications from experienced practitioners who may be…