Senior Children’s Rights Officer – Children and Families Service

As part of our journey to be Anti-Racist, at Hackney we want our workforce to represent the community we serve, that’s why we encourage applications from Black and Global Majority Ethnic backgrounds. 

Proud to work in Hackney – Our aspiration is for every child to grow up in a child-friendly borough and have the best start in life

As a Senior Children’s Rights Officer for Hackney’s Children and Families Services, you will be able to access an outstanding range of local support services, enabling you to make a real difference for children and families. 

You will be a part of a high quality and effective Children’s Rights service that responds to the needs of children and in a timely manner and within statutory and best practice guidelines. You will be working at the forefront of best practice delivering high quality advocacy and interventions to children and young people in a team led by our Contextual Safeguarding Practice Lead and provided high level administrative support by a Contextual Safeguarding and Extra-Familial Risk Panel (EFRP) Coordinator. You will play a key role in developing our participation offer for children and young people, as well as developing our approaches to supporting children and young people at risk of extra familial harm. 

Your role will include providing and overseeing high quality advocacy to children looked after, care experienced young adults, children supported through child protection plans and child in need plans and to oversee missing children with a focus upon independent return home interviews and responses to children who go missing from home or care. You will ensure that children are supported to understand their rights including through use of the statutory complaints process.

You will line manage and supervise the Children’s Rights Officers and hold a small caseload of advocacy and return home interviews whilst ensuring consistent operational oversight of missing children including those experiencing extra-familial harm. You will support the Contextual Safeguarding Practice Lead with the leadership and development of staff within the team. You will demonstrate professional potential and personal attributes to respond to our children’s needs and share Hackney’s commitment to tackling racism and all other forms of discrimination. 

If you are an experienced professional with a degree-level education, including a certified and current qualification in social work, youth work or equivalent professional qualification with evidence of ongoing professional development, who is keen to deliver, support and develop exceptional practice in a supportive and creative environment then we want to hear from you. Dynamic, innovative, committed and passionate, you’ll bring a comprehensive knowledge and skill-base in your work to the challenge of working with vulnerable children and families. 

Our service seeks to actively contribute to organisational learning through recognising, promoting and supporting best practice and service development where required, retaining a clear focus upon positive good outcomes for children and families across the borough.  Hackney is proud of its organisational learning culture and strives to find innovative ways of engaging and facilitating change with young people and their families.

Over recent years we have become renowned for innovation. From Reclaim Social Work, to Contextual Safeguarding, Safe and Together and Anti-Racist Practice, we have challenged norms and carved new paths. We value systemic, trauma informed and anti-racist leadership and encourage devolved decision-making at all levels – with senior managers working alongside front-line staff. Our teams are given excellent development opportunities and we are proud to be the first local authority to provide post-graduate qualifications in systemic practice.

Our refreshed Children and Families Service Improvement Action Plan includes 5 ambitious future focused priorities for our service:

– Proud to be Systemic, Trauma Informed and Anti-Racist (STAR)

– Proud to LIsten to Children and Families

– Proud to Work with Partner Agencies

– Proud to Work Together to Keep Children Safe

– Proud to Support Our Workforce to Flourish

An enhanced DBS check is required.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 02 November 2025 (22:59)

Interview date: W/c 10 November 2025

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk

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