Salary: £71,513 to £80,593 per annum
Grade: SM2
Contract: Permanent
Hours: 37 hours per week
Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire.
This is an excellent opportunity to join North Yorkshire council as Head of Children’s Partnerships & Evaluation, helping shape and lead ambitious multi-agency work that strengthens safeguarding practice, improves outcomes and keeps children and young people at the centre of everything we do.
Be part of a service investing in family help and sustainable practice.
Across local government, children’s services are facing unprecedented demand and funding constraint. Many organisations are responding by reducing capacity and narrowing ambition. We have chosen a different path. In response to the Families First Partnership Programme reforms, we are seeking to expand our teams in order to drive the changes of supporting children and their families at the earliest opportunity, right time, right person.
About the area
North Yorkshire is a unique and rewarding place to work. As England’s largest county, it brings together rural, coastal and urban communities, with a strong partnership commitment to ensuring that children receive the right help, at the right time, from the right people. The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership is ambitious, well-established and forward looking, with a clear focus on strengthening multi-agency safeguarding, improving outcomes and keeping children’s lived experiences at the centre of decision-making.
This is an exciting time to join the partnership as we respond to national reform, strengthen our Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements and continue to deliver the Being Young in North Yorkshire ambition for children to be safe, happy, healthy and achieving. We are looking for someone who shares our commitment to relationship-based, child-centred and trauma-informed practice, and who can bring professional credibility, curiosity and energy to an influential job share arrangement.
About the Role
You will provide senior leadership across a broad and influential portfolio, including the NYSCP Business Unit, Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Multi-Agency Child Exploitation and Contextual Safeguarding as well as partnership assurance, inspection readiness and learning from multi-agency practice.
You will operate in a complex and changing safeguarding landscape, providing confident leadership, constructive challenge and practical support to partners. You will help translate national policy and local intelligence into meaningful improvement, ensuring that governance, quality assurance, scrutiny and performance activity lead to better outcomes for children and families.
This role would suit an experienced safeguarding professional from policing, health, education, social care or a related partnership environment who is confident working across organisational boundaries. You will be able to build trusted relationships, influence senior leaders, support and develop staff, and maintain a clear focus on children’s experiences, risk and impact — even when systems are complex and pressures are high.
About you
- Significant experience in safeguarding, policing, health, education, social care or another relevant partnership setting.
- Strong understanding of multi-agency safeguarding, professional curiosity, information sharing, risk management and child-centred practice.
- Ability to lead with influence in a matrix management environment, bringing partners together around shared priorities.
- Confidence to provide constructive challenge, scrutiny and assurance while maintaining strong and respectful relationships.
- Experience of leading change, managing complex programmes and translating strategy into practical delivery.
- Strong communication, report writing, analytical and presentation skills, with the ability to engage frontline practitioners and senior leaders.
- A commitment to learning, innovation, equality, inclusion and continuous improvement.
- A collaborative leadership style, with the ability to lead inspection readiness and service development, bringing partners together to evaluate practice, demonstrate impact and drive continuous improvement in outcomes for children and families.
Why join us?
You will be joining a committed, ambitious and highly collaborative partnership with a strong track record of working together to improve safeguarding practice. The role offers the opportunity to influence strategic direction, support excellent frontline practice, shape assurance and learning activity, and contribute to system-wide improvement at a time of significant national change.
It is an exciting time in Children and Young Peoples Services in North Yorkshire as we plan our approach in respect of the Families First Partnership Programme and how we will be responding to the social care reforms. Work is underway to plan our approach and implementations for 2027.
This role is based in Northallerton, is a County wide leadership role with hybrid working.
For informal conversation contact Jo Heaney via: leadership support officer Gill Wilkinson at Gill.Wilkinson4@northyorks.gov.uk
Key dates
Closing Date: 2nd December 2026
Interview date: 14th December 2026
Key documents
Find out more
Visit the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Partnership website: http://www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk/
View or Multi-Agency Safeguarding Arrangements NYSCP
See the Partnership’s latest annual report: https://safeguardingchildren.co.uk/Resources/annual-report-2024-2025/
Working Together to Safeguard Children: Working together to safeguard children 2026
Being Young in North Yorkshire - NYSCP
Local area SEND strategy 2023 – 2026 - Local area SEND strategy 2023 to 2026 | North Yorkshire Council
SEND Local Offer - SEND specialist support and inclusion | North Yorkshire Council
Enhanced Level DBS Disclosure is required for appointment to this post.
Using AI? Please follow our guidance to ensure your application reflects your own knowledge and experience: Advice on your job application | North Yorkshire Council
NYC are committed to directly recruiting staff and will not accept applications nor services from agency suppliers in respect of our vacancies.
We are committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community and aim to have a workforce reflecting this diversity. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.