Head of Adult Safeguarding

 

Job Family Code 14PCS Role Title Head of Adult Safeguarding

Reports to (role title) Director of Transformation Assurance & Intergration

Directorate / School Adults Wellbing & Health Partnerships

Date Role Profile was created 04/11/2025

Work Context

Line management

responsibility

if applicable

Budget responsibility

if applicable

Co-ordinate and support service planning for the service or functional area to ensure the delivery of high quality, value for

money and consistent services in line with agreed service standards and statutory requirements.

Develop and recommend policy and practice improvement in the relevant service/functional area, working collaboratively

across the area and consulting with key stakeholders, to ensure effective implementation that supports continuous

improvement.

Provide professional leadership to the team/s and/or colleagues, strengthening skills and competence and fostering a strong

culture of standards, performance and accountability to deliver public value and efficiency.

As a lead expert in a specialised field provide advice and guidance in relation to legislation and quality improvement with a

county wide remit to develop and implement policies, and and provide innovative solutions to technical problems ensuring that

associated risks have been mitigated.

Maintain effective budgetary control, while ensuringo budgetary control, and legal, regulatory and policy compliance within area

of responsibility are effectively managed, and that effective systems operate to manage performance and safeguarding risk in

relation to sevice delivery.

Lead major programmes and reviews and represent the business area in internal and/or external initiatives to enhance

reputation and service delivery.

Champion and manage transformational change and embed new ways of working to ensure high quality service delivery and

value for money.

Work collaboratively internally and externally to ensure that issues are effectively managed and foster partnership working to

promote sustainable service improvements and generate efficiencies.

On call - be available if required to maintain key service delivery and in the event of a serious incident.

Duties for all

Values: To uphold the values and behaviours of the organisation(s).

Equality & Diversity: To work inclusively, with a diverse range of stakeholders and promote equality of opportunity.

Health, Safety & Welfare: Responsible for ensuring health and safety policies, procedures and legislation are implemented,

communicated and managed including making sure that health and safety policies are fully understood and carried out by

employees within their service area.

To have regard to and comply with safeguarding policy and procedure as appropriate.

Representative

Accountabilities

Typical accountabilities

in roles at this level in

this job family

Role Purpose

including key outputs

As lead expert for Adult Safeguarding, provide advice, support and innovative solutions to ensure the safeguarding service is

developed and delivered in line with current thinking, good practice and statutory requirements.

This is a strategic leadership role for Safeguarding within Adult Social Care at Surrey County Council. The key deliverables of

the role include:

•Ensuring that Surrey County Council, Adult Social Care is compliant with national statute, regulation and guidance with regard

to safeguarding and associated practice.

•Ensuring that there are clear lines of communication between the work of Surrey County Council's Children Schools and

Families directorate and the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership.

•Providing qualitative and quantitative data as and when required to inform managers with regard to performance internally and

as a comparator to local, regional and national performance.

-Strategic lead for the the quality assurance framework for providers of Adult Social Care services working jointly with health

partners to provide assurance for the Council that Surrey residents receive good quality care and support services from

providers regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

•Ensuring that performance in safeguarding is rated as good when compared with similar authorities.

• Identifying areas of weak practice, knowledge and understanding and advising on strategies to improve.

•Attending Surrey Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) and contributing to the work of the sub-groups to include chairing and

assisting in the implementation of its strategic plan.

•To understand and apply the Council’s duties and responsibilities for safeguarding adults with care and support needs;

preventing and detecting crime, including countering terrorism and reducing risks of radicalisation; safeguarding children and

young people.

•Providing training and presentations to SCC staff and partner agencies.

•Driving innovation through co-production with people with lived experience

•Leading on integration initiatives and place-based safeguarding models with partners

•Leading on safeguarding risk registers and escalation protocols

•Negotiating shared safeguarding priorities across agencies and development of new governance as required

•Embedding learning into commissioning cycles and contract monitoring working with the ASC Academy and Principal Social

Worker.

•Championing equity and inclusion in safeguarding responses, especially for underrepresented groups.

•Developing leadership capability within the safeguarding workforce

•Leading predictive analytics initiatives or AI-informed safeguarding insights and ensuring ethical safeguarding practice in

emerging areas such as AI, digital surveillance, and data sharing

Safeguarding sits within the Adults Wellbeing and Health Partnerships Directorate. The directorate is undergoing significant

transformation and focussing on independence, prevention and early intervention, tackling inequalities and improving services.

The Head of Safeguarding will work closely with other members of the Adults Leadership team to ensure safeguarding remains

at the heart of social work practice.

The post may require the direct management of up to 10 people and responsibility for the overall team of up to 40 people.

Direct budget responsibility for a staffing budget up to £1m

Role Profile Part A - Grade & Structure Information

The below profile describes the general nature of work performed at this level as set out in the job family. It is not intended to be a detailed list of all

duties and responsibilities which may be required. The role will be further defined by annual objectives, which will be developed with the role holder. The

Council reserves the right to review and amend the job families on a regular basis.

Part B - Job Family Description

JE Band

Grade PS14

Service / Department Transformation Assurance & Intergration

735-879

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Education,

Knowledge, Skills &

Abilities, Experience

and Personal

Characteristics

Details of the specific

qualifications and/or

experience if required

for the role in line

with the above

description

Role Summary

Co-ordinate and support service planning for the service or functional area to ensure the delivery of high quality, value for

money and consistent services in line with agreed service standards and statutory requirements.

Develop and recommend policy and practice improvement in the relevant service/functional area, working collaboratively

across the area and consulting with key stakeholders, to ensure effective implementation that supports continuous

improvement.

Provide professional leadership to the team/s and/or colleagues, strengthening skills and competence and fostering a strong

culture of standards, performance and accountability to deliver public value and efficiency.

As a lead expert in a specialised field provide advice and guidance in relation to legislation and quality improvement with a

county wide remit to develop and implement policies, and and provide innovative solutions to technical problems ensuring that

associated risks have been mitigated.

Maintain effective budgetary control, while ensuringo budgetary control, and legal, regulatory and policy compliance within area

of responsibility are effectively managed, and that effective systems operate to manage performance and safeguarding risk in

relation to sevice delivery.

Lead major programmes and reviews and represent the business area in internal and/or external initiatives to enhance

reputation and service delivery.

Champion and manage transformational change and embed new ways of working to ensure high quality service delivery and

value for money.

Work collaboratively internally and externally to ensure that issues are effectively managed and foster partnership working to

promote sustainable service improvements and generate efficiencies.

On call - be available if required to maintain key service delivery and in the event of a serious incident.

Duties for all

Values: To uphold the values and behaviours of the organisation(s).

Equality & Diversity: To work inclusively, with a diverse range of stakeholders and promote equality of opportunity.

Health, Safety & Welfare: Responsible for ensuring health and safety policies, procedures and legislation are implemented,

communicated and managed including making sure that health and safety policies are fully understood and carried out by

employees within their service area.

To have regard to and comply with safeguarding policy and procedure as appropriate.

Representative

Accountabilities

Typical accountabilities

in roles at this level in

this job family

Roles at this level are senior managers planning, organising and managing large and complex teams or specific service areas

and/or co-ordinating activity across different functions, contributing to the council's social care and inclusion duties. Their work

usually includes policy development, developing and implementing operational plans and helping to develop and deliver

strategy. Role holders are professionally qualified, established specialists developing or delivering services. This level

requires high level communication and influencing skills to support collaborative working across integrated services within and

often across county boundaries. Roles at this level require extensive management experience and high level expertise. Role

holders exercise flexibility and independence for decision making within their particular functional area, working to broad

parameters and policy guidance.

• Degree or equivalent level professional qualification plus experience at a management level in a specialist area in a complex

business environment.

• Authoritative understanding of the relevant legislation and practice standards, together with broader sector/commercial

awareness.

• Ability to exercise a significant degree of interpretive and constructive thinking and evaluative judgement appropriately.

• Extensive knowledge of the concepts of change management, project management and continuous improvement, and their

practical application.

• Ability to balance policy development with effective operational management.

• Ability to deploy advanced skills to inspire, motivate, coach and develop team members to high levels of performance.

• Strong written and oral communication and interpersonal skills with high level negotiation and influencing skills, and the

ability to work collaboratively with internal and external partners/professionals..

• Proven ability to manage budgets and available resources to deliver effective support to their area of responsibility.

• Proven ability to assess risks and benefits and respond appropriately.

• Evidence of continued professional development and high level of knowledge of safeguarding and the legal context in which it

is practised.

• Experience of leadership and management at senior level.

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