Advertised from 15 July 2026

Role

Help shape a national service that protects children's rights.

Every child deserves to have their voice heard and their rights upheld.

At Children First, we stand up for Scotland's children by protecting them from harm, helping them recover from trauma and ensuring they have the opportunity to thrive. As Scotland's national children's charity, we are looking for an experienced and values-led leader to join our National Safeguarders Panel team.

This is a unique opportunity to influence practice at a national level while leading quality improvement, children's rights and accountability across one of Scotland's most important child protection services.

About the role

Working alongside the Assistant Director and two other Service Managers, you will help lead the National Safeguarders Panel on behalf of the Scottish Government.

You'll take the lead on complaints and concerns relating to Safeguarders, ensuring these are managed fairly, consistently and in line with legislation and best practice. You'll champion children's rights throughout our work, drive continuous quality improvement and help shape learning and development for Safeguarders across Scotland.

You'll also build strong partnerships with Scottish Government, Children's Hearings Scotland, the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration and other key stakeholders to ensure children remain at the heart of everything we do.

This is a strategic leadership role where you'll combine operational management, quality assurance, relationship building and service development to make a lasting difference for children and young people.

What you'll bring

We're looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Significant leadership experience within children's services or a related environment.
• Experience of managing investigations, complaints or quality assurance processes.
• Strong knowledge of Scotland's Children's Hearings System and children's rights.
• The ability to build effective relationships across complex partnerships.
• Experience leading teams, managing resources and delivering service improvement.
• Excellent judgement, communication and decision-making skills.
• A collaborative leadership style that reflects our values.
• A Social Work qualification or another relevant professional qualification at SCQF Level 9 (or equivalent) is essential.

Why join Children First?

By joining us you'll be helping to shape services that protect children's rights across Scotland while working alongside passionate colleagues who share your commitment to making a difference.

We offer:

• A workplace with values of With love, With purpose and With strength
• 40 days annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays)
• Flexible and hybrid working
• Pension scheme
• Westfield Health wellbeing support
• Blue Light Card discounts
• Learning and development opportunities
• A Fair Work accredited workplace

Our values

Everything we do is guided by our values.

With love, we put children first.

With purpose, we transform children's lives together.

With strength, we do whatever it takes to protect Scotland's children.

If you're an experienced leader who shares our commitment to children's rights and wants to influence practice on a national scale, we'd love to hear from you.

Application notes

If you share our values and are passionate about supporting our people, we would love to hear from you.

Closing date: Monday 29th July 2026

Interviews: Provisionally 20th August 2026

To apply, please click here.

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