Social Worker - MASH

Location: Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Criminal Justice Centre, 700 Pavilion Drive, Northampton, NN4 7SL
Hours: 37 hours per week
Working Pattern: Hybrid – 2 days in the office and 3 days from home, subject to business needs
Rate: £36 per hour

This is an exciting opportunity to work at the front door of Children’s Services, playing a key role in safeguarding children and promoting positive outcomes for children, young people and families.

As a MASH Decision Maker, you will work within a dynamic multi-agency environment, screening contacts and referrals, gathering and analysing information from partner agencies, and making timely, proportionate and defensible decisions.

You will ensure that children receive the right support at the right time, with the child’s voice and lived experience central to your decision-making.

• Provide high-quality casework decisions and operational supervision in relation to referral information.

• Make timely decisions regarding the safety and welfare of children, ideally within 24 hours of referral.

• Screen contacts and referrals and determine appropriate thresholds for intervention.

• Gather, analyse and evaluate information from MASH partner agencies.

• Assess risk and identify safeguarding concerns.

• Make balanced, proportionate and defensible decisions regarding service interventions.

• Provide professional advice, guidance and expertise to partner agencies.

• Work collaboratively with multi-agency partners to support effective safeguarding practice.

• Ensure children’s lived experiences and voices remain central to decision-making.

• Promote a relationship-based and strengths-focused approach to practice.

• Demonstrate professional curiosity and critical thinking when analysing information and assessing risk.

• Support effective safety planning and ensure strengths and concerns are appropriately considered.

• Appropriately challenge partner agencies and professional decisions where required.

• Contribute to improving practice and delivering positive outcomes for children and families.

The successful candidate will have:

• Significant experience within Children’s Social Care, with a strong safeguarding and Child Protection background.

• Proven experience within a MASH, Front Door, Assessment, Duty or Child Protection service.

• Strong experience of screening referrals, information gathering, risk assessment and threshold decision-making.

• The ability to analyse complex information and make timely, balanced and defensible professional decisions.

• Experience working effectively within a multi-agency environment.

• Strong communication and partnership-working skills.

• Confidence in applying professional judgement and appropriately challenging partner agencies.

• A strong understanding of relevant legislation, statutory guidance and safeguarding procedures.

• A commitment to relationship-based and strengths-focused practice.

• A clear focus on children's lived experiences and achieving positive outcomes for children and families.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced safeguarding practitioner to work within a fast-paced, multi-agency MASH environment, using professional expertise and sound judgement to make a real difference at the earliest stage of a child's journey through Children's Services.

For further information or an informal discussion about the role, please contact Trudy Mukuhlani at (url removed).