National child safeguarding facilitator role (Education focus)

The DfE is recruiting a National Child Safeguarding Facilitator (education focus) up to 31 March 2025 to support the department and its stakeholders to strengthen multiagency safeguarding arrangements. The successful candidate will play a key role in delivering the current package of children's social care reforms as set out in Stable Homes, Built on Love. This will include feeding into current child protection governance structures to provide sector expertise, supporting the delivery and implementation of reform such as updates to statutory guidance, and providing bespoke support to local safeguarding arrangements.

This will be a new post to reflect the reforms focused on strengthening the role of education in early help, child protection and multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. It will include facilitating discussions with education settings and safeguarding partners on how effectively they work together. The successful candidate will explore ways to increase the engagement of education settings and disseminate good practice, providing support to safeguarding partnerships to update their strategic approaches in line with current guidance. They will also support the department to explore whether or how to make education a fourth strategic partner.

Requirement

To be effective in this role, the successful candidate must have knowledge and experience of the workings of the education sector in or outside of local government, with specific understanding of safeguarding for children and ideally local safeguarding arrangements. It would also be beneficial to have an awareness of relevant guidance and legislation and be able to use this knowledge to provide challenge, support and guidance to multi-agency leaders in local safeguarding arrangements.

Skills

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience of safeguarding in the context of the education sector and of improvement processes. They should be experienced in strategy, governance and leadership, nationally or locally. The successful candidate will be expected to work closely with the other national facilitators for health, police and local authority in supporting and challenging local areas to develop practice.

The DfE plans to run this recruitment through the Educational and Children's Social Care Professionals Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). More information about how to join the DPS is available here: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/db987548-9c78-4581-ad0b-fabda89bbfec

Please ensure you add yourself as soon as possible to this DPS if you are interested.

There will be a market engagement session at 1pm on Tuesday 26 September . Please contact hester.carro@education.gov.uk and susie.clarke@education.gov.uk to add yourself to this.