Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
Multi-Agency Child Protection Strategic Health Lead
The closing date is 19 November 2026

Job summary
An experienced and influential safeguarding professional is required to lead the health system's contribution to the implementation of the Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) across Oldham.

This is a unique strategic leadership role at the forefront of national social care reform for children and families. Working on behalf of the Northern Care Alliance and the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB), you will serve as the Strategic Health Lead, representing the statutory safeguarding partner across the local health economy on a 12-month secondment.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape how services work together to improve outcomes for children and families, ensuring that health plays a central role in designing, implementing and embedding a new system of help, support and protection.

You will be a Registered Nurse or other relevant professional with significant safeguarding and leadership experience. You will have a strong background in partnership working, expertise in child protection, early help and multi-agency collaboration, and be skilled in data analysis, quality improvement and change management. Above all, you will be passionate about improving outcomes for children and families while promoting equity, inclusion and effective partnership working.

Main duties of the job
Provide health representation within the Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT), contributing to partnership performance monitoring, audits and safeguarding practice reviews. Deliver expert, highly specialised advice and support across the health economy on all safeguarding matters relating to children and young people.

Represent and articulate agreed health system positions within programme governance arrangements, design forums and multi-agency working groups, reducing the need for routine escalation to senior ICB leadership. Work with health providers and commissioners to agree how health practitioners contribute to MACPT and Family Help Teams, Section 47 enquiries, child protection conferences and statutory decision-making processes. This includes establishing clear escalation pathways and ensuring access to medical expertise and advice where concerns about significant harm arise.

Support the alignment of health pathways, including 0-19 services and relevant community health provision, with the end-to-end Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) model, avoiding duplication, fragmentation and parallel processes.

Lead and support the design and mobilisation of MACPTs by shaping and agreeing health's contribution to ensure that service models reflect statutory safeguarding responsibilities, local health system realities and the expectations set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023).

About us
The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA) provides hospital and integrated health and social care services to over one million people living across Greater Manchester. Our 20,000 colleagues care for people in hospital and in the community, working across Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, and Salford, to save and improve lives.

As a large NHS trust we are committed to enhancing the health of our local population by delivering consistently high standards of care and collaborating closely with local authorities and key partners. We believe in our power and potential to make a difference and we are always looking for people who demonstrate our three core values - care, appreciate and inspire - to join our team.

In return, we can offer you a job role with purpose and flexibility. The size and scale of the NCA means we can provide more challenge and opportunities so your career can always be moving in the right direction. By joining us you can also access a competitive benefits package, including, a fantastic annual leave allowance, flexible working opportunities and protected hours for health and wellbeing activities, helping you to achieve more personal downtime and a better work-life balance.

Details
Date posted: 11 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 8a
Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year
Contract: Fixed term
Duration: 12 months
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: 236-UEC-NM417-26
Job locations: Oldham Integrated Care Centre, New Radcliffe Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 1NL, United Kingdom

Job description
Job responsibilities
To read more information about the advertised role, and the main job duties/responsibilities please open the Job Description and Person Specification located under the supporting documents heading. You can also read more information about working at the Northern Care Alliance within the attached Candidate Information Pack or by visiting our careers website: www.careers.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk
We reserve the right to close the online vacancy when we are in receipt of sufficient applications. Should you wish to apply for this post you are advised to complete and return your application form as soon as possible.

Person Specification
Qualifications & Training
Essential

• Professional qualification relevant to health, safeguarding, or public health nursing leadership e.g. Registered General Nurse/Midwife
• Part 3 registration in specialist Community Public Health Nursing; Health Visiting or School Nursing
• Current NMC Registration
• Have completed a post registration training in safeguarding Children including Law, Policy and Practice at post graduate Level
• Knowledge and expertise in management acquired through in-depth experience or theoretical study, equivalent to post graduate level

Desirable

• Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience working at a senior level in specialist area
• Postgraduate qualification or equivalent experience in leadership, systems change, public health or safeguarding

Knowledge, Skills & Experience
Essential

• Intellectual flexibility to be able to work between strategic and operational priorities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, able to interpret complex health and safeguarding information
• Managing groups / stakeholders in conflict and professional boundaries
• Able to create and communicate a shared vision in a range of compelling ways
• Experience of report writing formal and informal presentations both internally and externally
• Planning and performance management skills and techniques
• Knowledge of statutory safeguarding arrangements and multi-agency responsibilities under Working Together to Safeguard Children (2023) and wider children's safeguarding legal and policy framework
• Strong understanding of the health system's role as a statutory safeguarding partner, including commissioning, provider delivery and governance
• Demonstrate evidence of specialist expert knowledge in Specialist Community public Health Nursing
• Extensive Knowledge of clinical governance, safety and risk management
• Demonstrates understanding of safeguarding issues and is up to date with legislation and current reforms
• Ability to work effectively and sensitively with children, young people and adults, communicating in a manner that promotes dignity, respect and person-centred care
• Ability to deliver against KPIs
• Demonstrates a high level of highly complex numerical and data analytical skills, including spreadsheets and databases.
• Ability to travel to different geographical locations across the Trust footprint in line with service needs

Desirable

• Understanding of information sharing frameworks, consent, and proportionality in safeguarding contexts
• Full UK driving license with willingness to use own car for work purposes
• Experience of undertaking investigations/RCA
• Knowledge of Families First reforms, inc Multi-agency Child Protection Teams (MACPT) and Family Group Dynamic (FGDM)
• Understanding of roles and responsibilities of the ICB, NHSE and Commissioning
• Training on DOLs and MCA
• Experience of setting and managing budgets

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: Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Oldham Integrated Care Centre, New Radcliffe Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 1NL, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.northerncarealliance.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Head of Nursing - Children's Community, Agnes Leopold-James, agnes.leopold-james@nca.nhs.uk, 07873700569

Supporting documents: Privacy notice - Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)