Deputy Designate For Safeguarding Children And Children Looked After

Job summary

Please note this organisation does not hold a sponsorship licence, we regret to inform you that we are unable to consider applications from individuals who require sponsorship.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work under delegated and shared responsibility from the Chief Nursing Officer/Chief Executive Officer to ensure that the Integrated Care Board (ICB) meets its statutory Safeguarding Children responsibilities. This includes leading on the development, implementation and publication of key safeguarding documents, policies and assurance reports across the organisation, and supporting the delivery of safe, effective safeguarding practice in line with national legislation and local partnership requirements.

About us

We offer excellent employment opportunities to new and existing staff. We aim to be a model employer by embedding best HR practice and to support new ways of working.

We pride ourselves on offering good working conditions, job security, lifelong learning, fair pay and benefits, staff involvement and a balance between work and personal life.

We enjoy a forward thinking and innovative culture and our vision is to have healthy people, living healthy lives in healthy communities. We understand the only way to deliver this is to have the right people with the right skills.

• 27 days paid minimum holiday and bank holiday entitlement
• NHS pension scheme
• Sick pay policy
• Occupational health services including staff counselling services
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Flexible retirement and retirement vouchers
• Health Service Discounts - offers for stores, travel, equipment etc.

Successful candidates will be subject to a six-month probationary period.

Details

Date posted: 11 August 2026

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 8a

Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year per annum

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time

Reference number: 104-ICB-6467TG

Job locations: Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB Omega House, 112 Southampton Road, Eastleigh, SO50 5PB, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• Provide clinical and professional leadership for safeguarding children and looked after children, within NHS HIOW and advising and supporting a wide range of professionals and agencies across the health community. The post holder will ensure that short-, medium- and long-term safeguarding children and looked after children work programmes and services are planned, delivered, monitored and evaluated effectively, working effectively alongside other designated and safeguarding professionals.
• Provide specialist assistance in individual cases, where there are concerns about unmet physical and emotional needs for children, assisting the local authority and other key partners in identifying creative solutions to overcome obstacles and achieve positive outcomes for the child.
• Use their communication and leadership skills to inform and influence the local, regional and national agenda for safeguarding children and looked after children, ensuring services improve the health of children.
• Support and provide specialist advise other clinical professionals on the management of all forms of children maltreatment, including relevant legal frameworks and documentation and signposting.
• Ensure that relevant assessments of children and their families are undertaken by health care professionals and that health care and safety plans are implemented and monitored to the required standards detailed in statutory guidance, assuring the direct involvement of the children and their family/carers as appropriate and where consent allows.
• Provide advice and reports to Governing Body/Board members, senior managers and practitioners across health and social care and ensure that place-based clinical members are fully engaged.
• Be required to have regular contact with internal and external stakeholders and will often need to engage with them over sensitive, complex, contentious and confidential issues.
• Present in both verbal and written form, sensitive and highly complex information and issues, explaining complexities, to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

Person Specification

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Current NMC, registration; AHP or social work registration
• Level 4 competence for Safeguarding children.
• Prior experience of working within a Safeguarding children and Looked after children arena.
• Experience of multi-agency working as a clinician/registered professional.
• Experience in a range of settings at Band (7) or above/equivalence.
• Experience of proactive partnership working and developing stakeholder engagement including Local authorities.

Desirable

• Educated to degree, (masters desirable) level/equivalent level qualification in relevant subject, or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area.
• Experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment.
• Experience of coordinating projects in complex and challenging environments.
• Experience of leading and implementing medium- and long-term strategy in own service area.
• Experience of working alongside or with board members.
• Experience of leading service development and change within and across organisations

Skills and abilities

Essential

• Able to remain emotionally intelligent in highly charged situations which require sound risk management approaches and leadership.
• Ability to deal with sensitive information in a tactful and very diplomatic manner.
• Planning and organisation skills/able to determine own agenda and organise own work.
• Ability to determine, prioritise and manage work of a team to deliver organisational priorities within timescales.
• Ability to manage small projects on behalf of the organisation and, at times, local Authority e.g. cross agency.
• Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales.

Desirable

• Able to demonstrate sound leadership skills in complex and difficult situations.
• Negotiation skills/ability to representative the ICB in contract negotiation.
• Innovation/proven ability to seek out, identify and implement opportunities for service improvement.

Knowledge

Essential

• Highly developed specialist knowledge of the safeguarding children and looked after children agenda and practice.
• Full appreciation of the relationships between different stakeholder roles and responsibilities in the Safeguarding children process.
• Highly developed Knowledge of clinical governance processes in clinical services and the interface with quality of care and assurance mechanisms.
• An excellent, highly developed specialist working knowledge of relevant Health and Social Care policies, procedures, targets, planning and legislation frameworks.
• A thorough understanding of clinical decision making processes within health organizations and with partner organisations e.g. local Authority, acute and private providers and the public.
• In depth, highly developed and up to date knowledge of Safeguarding Legislation, Government policy and plans relating to safeguarding children as well as safeguarding and quality.

Desirable

• Full understanding of the commissioning process and the services necessary to effectively manage and deliver the business, including experience of working in a ICB or commissioning organisation

Communication and interpersonal skills

Essential

• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required.
• Able to provide and receive highly complex sensitive or contentious information and convey this at the appropriate level to a range of audiences.
• Able to negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups.
• Ability to calmly and constructively challenge others when decision making is contentious, including in a multi-agency context.
• Experience in supervision and mentoring of staff.
• Ability to write clear and concise balanced reports for consideration.

Desirable

• Experience of presenting at a senior level (e.g. Director/Board level)
• Experience in teaching small and large groups and delivery of presentations with confidence to a range of audiences including medical staff.

Analytical and problem-solving skills

Essential

• Ability to analyse complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources.
• Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making. Significant experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures.
• Experience of negotiation with partnership organisations to effectively analyse data and produce a range of options to improve quality which firstly meet patient need and the clinical model of care.
• Take decisions on difficult issues where there may be a number of courses of action.
• Able to think conceptually; recognising assumptions, interpreting and evaluating arguments and deducing inferences.
• Able to think analytically; anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead; using analytical techniques to identify several solutions.
• Ability to negotiate and explain complex facts and arguments and discuss and debate in political or otherwise difficult situations.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (104)

Address: Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB Omega House, 112 Southampton Road, Eastleigh, SO50 5PB, United Kingdom

Employer's website: (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Associate Director/Senior Designate Nurse

Julie Hulls

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

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