Role: Safeguarding Officer

Academy: Outwood Academy Riverside

Start Date: ASAP

Salary (Actual Salary): £27,438

Working Pattern: 37 Hours Per Week, Monday to Friday, Term Time plus 15 days.

Do you have significant expertise in child protection and a dedication to ensuring the health and welfare of young people? As a Safeguarding Officer, you will be pivotal in coordinating safeguarding referrals, managing documentation, and initiating multi-agency interventions to protect vulnerable students and their families. This strategic and hands-on role requires working directly with external agencies and leading the academy’s response to complex child protection issues.

Welcome from the Principal:

We are a free school in the centre of Middlesbrough, and we do things differently! Do you?

As Principal, I am proud to introduce Outwood Academy Riverside, an innovative free school within a nationally renowned Trust that nurtures talent and provided high-quality professional development.

Opened in 2020, Riverside is a special place to work with genuine care for every family member. Our community is built on core values, including kindness, compassion, respect, and integrity. We maintain academic rigour and high expectations, resulting in very good behaviour and attendance that is above the national average. Students face no 'glass ceiling' and benefit from exceptional personal development opportunities (including Cadets, MiSST, and LAMDA).

This is a unique opportunity to join an inspirational team making history. We are currently on Russell Street (with a satellite site in Eston) and are planning a move to a new, state-of-the-art facility by 2027.

If you genuinely love working with children and will go above and beyond for our young people, we would love to hear from you. Would you like to be a part of this journey?

If you have any questions or would like to visit the school, please contact Shazia Aslam (Vice Principal) at s.aslam@riverside.outwood.com

Your primary function is to manage and coordinate the academy’s response to safeguarding concerns, ensuring appropriate action is taken following disclosures and maintaining accurate, confidential documentation via CPOMS. You will be key in coordinating multi-agency approaches to child protection issues, initiating referrals to outside agencies, and serving as the lead professional for Team Around the Child meetings when appropriate.

This vital role involves direct work with children and their families to promote their potential and prevent significant harm. You will also collate and produce statistical information related to safeguarding and manage in-year admissions.

To view our job description Click Here

To view the Support Staff recruitment booklet, Click here

Candidates must have significant experience in safeguarding and child protection, including recent experience working with children and families in the public, private, or voluntary sectors. Essential qualifications include an NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in social care/child protection/safeguarding, or the demonstrable willingness and ability to obtain it.

Required skills include the ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences, manage competing deadlines under pressure, and maintain strict confidentiality. Experience working with other agencies, such as Social Care and the NHS, is also essential. A satisfactory DBS check is mandatory.

To view our person specification Click Here

Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) places staff development at the heart of its strategy to deliver excellence, aiming to recruit, develop, and retain the best staff through the Outwood Institute of Education (OIE).

What will we do for you?

We offer a supportive package focusing on professional advancement, secure benefits, and work-life balance:

Secure Pay & Pension: Competitive salary, automatic pay progression, and enrolment in the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Training & Progression: Access to diverse CPD opportunities, including apprenticeships and vocational qualifications.
Flexibility & Leave: Flexible family policies, enhanced occupational benefits (with no qualifying period), and 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays for non-term time staff. (Holiday for part-time staff is calculated on a pro-rata basis)
Wellbeing & Perks: Dedicated mental well-being strategy, free on-site parking, employee discounts, and access to a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme.

If you are looking for a rewarding, supportive role where you can truly make an impact, we encourage you to apply now.

Further Information on employee benefits can be found Click Here
To find our more about working for Outwood and to read a message from our CEO please Click Here

Note: If applying from an external job board, please click 'Apply' to access the working links on the Outwood Careers page

Please note, we reserve the right to close advertisements early, either on the advertised closing date, or sooner if required.

Outwood Grange Academies Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All appointments are made in accordance with safer recruitment practices and the statutory guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education. Online checks will be carried out on all shortlisted candidates, and all appointments are subject to an enhanced DBS check, satisfactory references and checks regarding suitability to work with children.