Independent Reviewing Officer & Child Protection Chair

Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) & Child Protection (CP) Chair

• Location: Leicestershire

• Pay Rate: £43.00 per hour (Umbrella)

• Contract: Full-Time Locum Assignment

• Working Pattern: Hybrid (Structured 2 Days CP Chair / 3 Days IRO split)

• Sector: Quality Assurance & Safeguarding (Children's Services)

Are you an experienced Quality Assurance Senior Practitioner or Manager looking for a balanced, high-impact safeguarding role?

We are recruiting an experienced Independent Reviewing Officer & Child Protection Chair to join a dedicated Quality Assurance service. Offering £43.00 per hour, this post features a predictable 2 days CP Chair / 3 days IRO schedule, allowing you to maintain exceptional practice standards across both Child Protection conferences and Children Looked After (CLA) reviews.

• Child Protection Conferences (2 Days/Week): Chair initial and review Child Protection conferences, strategy discussions, and complex family meetings to ensure robust, child-centred protection plans.

• Looked After Children Reviews (3 Days/Week): Act as IRO for Children Looked After (CLA), monitoring care plans, holding local authorities accountable, and ensuring timely permanence planning.

• Quality Assurance & Scrutiny: Conduct practice audits, provide internal challenge, and enforce the dispute resolution process when care plans fall short of statutory guidance.

• Child-Centred Practice: Advocate fiercely for the voice of the child, ensuring children and young people remain at the heart of all decision-making.

• Registration: Active registration with Social Work England (SWE).

• Experience: Substantial post-qualifying experience in Children's Social Care with direct experience as an IRO, CP Chair, or Safeguarding Service Manager.

• Knowledge: Deep working knowledge of statutory functions, the IRO Handbook, and Working Together to Safeguard Children guidelines.

• Skills: Strong chairing capabilities, independent risk assessment skills, and the confidence to provide constructive multi-agency challenge.

• Competitive Rate: £43.00 per hour.

• Structured Split: Clear, manageable allocation across CP Chair duties (2 days) and IRO case reviews (3 days).

• Strategic Influence: Drive practice improvement and safeguard children across the authority.

Randstad Care acts as an employment business when supplying temporary staff and as an employment agency when introducing candidates for permanent employment with a client. Randstad Care is an equal opportunities employer and decisions are made on merits alone.

Did you know that Randstad Care have been awarded a place on the National Clinical Staffing Framework for the NHS? This means we will be able to bring you more opportunities within nursing & midwifery and clinical staffing.

experience

Children services

skills

be able to manage challenging situations

qualifications

university

education

BA in social work