Senior Team Leader – Child Protection Services

About the role

The Senior Team Leader provides strategic leadership and day‑to‑day management of a team of Child Safety Officers, ensuring high‑quality child protection services across placement arrangements and Regulation of Care. The role works closely with the Keeping Kinnected team to support kin mapping and collaborative multi‑disciplinary service delivery.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and manage staff to deliver quality child protection services, focusing on family‑based placements, residential care and Individual Placement Support Packages.
• Allocate, prioritise and monitor work tasks in line with departmental policies, the Child Safety Framework for Practice and statutory requirements.
• Develop service responses with the Placement Services Unit Manager to meet identified placement needs of children, families and community partners.
• Identify training gaps, collaborate with training specialists and advise on programme development to enhance service delivery.
• Build and maintain cross‑sector partnerships to support placement outcomes and staff development.
• Foster a culture of teamwork, high‑quality people management and professional ethics aligned with departmental vision and values.
• Participate in the Placement Services Unit Management Team and quality assurance reviews.
• Provide specialist advice on complex casework, placement matters, policy, legislation and practice.

Required profile

• Proven leadership and management experience in child protection or related social services.
• Strong knowledge of child protection legislation, regulations and best practice frameworks.
• Ability to allocate resources, set priorities and oversee complex service delivery.
• Experience in developing training plans and collaborating with learning specialists.
• Demonstrated skill in building partnerships across government, non‑government and community organisations.
• Commitment to fostering a collaborative, high‑performance team environment.

Required skills