The posting
Contract to start ASAP
Duration: 12 weeks with a possible extension.
CIN Reviewing Officer
Hours: Full-time (35 hours per week)
Contract: 12 Week Temporary Contract, ending 21 February 2027
Support High-Quality Child in Need Planning and Review
We're recruiting an experienced CIN Reviewing Officer to join the London Borough of Lambeth, providing independent oversight and challenge across Child in Need planning and review processes.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced children's social care professional with a strong background in Child in Need, safeguarding, statutory social work, case review, quality assurance, and multi-agency working.
You'll work closely with Social Workers, Team Managers, children, families, schools, health professionals, and partner agencies to ensure Child in Need plans are focused, proportionate, outcome-driven, and reviewed effectively.
About the Role
As a CIN Reviewing Officer, you'll chair and oversee Child in Need reviews, ensuring plans remain appropriate, timely, and focused on improving outcomes for children and families.
You'll provide professional scrutiny and challenge, identify drift or delay, ensure the child's voice is central to planning, and help strengthen the quality and consistency of Child in Need practice across the service.
What you'll be doing:
- Chairing Child in Need review meetings and ensuring they are purposeful and outcome-focused
- Reviewing Child in Need plans to assess progress, effectiveness, and continued relevance
- Providing independent challenge and scrutiny where plans are not progressing appropriately
- Ensuring the voice of the child is clearly represented within planning and review activity
- Monitoring risk, need, and progress across Child in Need cases
- Identifying drift, delay, or gaps in intervention and escalating concerns appropriately
- Working closely with Social Workers and Team Managers to improve the quality of plans and interventions
- Ensuring actions are clear, measurable, and allocated appropriately
- Reviewing whether Child in Need status remains appropriate or whether escalation or step-down should be considered
- Supporting consistent application of statutory guidance and local procedures
- Promoting effective multi-agency participation in Child in Need planning
- Ensuring parents, carers, and children are appropriately involved in reviews and decision-making
- Recording clear decisions, recommendations, and review outcomes
- Monitoring agreed actions and following up concerns where necessary
- Contributing to quality assurance activity across Children's Services
- Identifying themes and practice issues that may require wider service improvement
- Providing professional advice and guidance to practitioners and managers
- Supporting learning from audits, reviews, complaints, or practice concerns
- Maintaining accurate and timely case records
- Ensuring review activity complies with legislation, statutory guidance, and Council procedures
- Supporting safeguarding and risk management where concerns emerge during review
- Contributing to service performance and continuous improvement
Requirements
We're looking for a highly experienced and professionally confident children's social care practitioner with strong safeguarding knowledge and the ability to provide constructive challenge.
You'll ideally have:
- A recognised Social Work qualification
- Current Social Work England registration
- Significant post-qualifying experience within Children's Social Care
- Strong experience with Child in Need cases and planning
- Experience chairing or reviewing complex children's social care cases
- Strong knowledge of safeguarding and child protection
- Good understanding of the Children Act 1989 and relevant statutory guidance
- Experience working with complex families and vulnerable children
- Ability to identify risk, drift, and ineffective planning
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Confidence challenging practice constructively and professionally
- Experience working with Social Workers, managers, and partner agencies
- Strong understanding of multi-agency working
- Experience contributing to quality assurance or practice improvement
- Ability to manage a high-volume workload and competing priorities
- Strong report-writing and case-recording skills
- Ability to maintain professional independence and objectivity
- Local authority Children's Services experience is essential
- Enhanced DBS clearance or willingness to undertake required safeguarding checks
- Eligibility to work in the UK
- Ability to provide three years of references/work history
- Ability to complete a Criminal Convictions Declaration
- Ability to sign a Confidentiality Agreement
Why Apply
- Competitive Umbrella rate of £300.00 per day
- Opportunity to work with the London Borough of Lambeth
- Senior-level children's social care review role
- Opportunity to influence the quality of Child in Need planning
- Work closely with Social Workers, managers, children, families, and partner agencies
- Gain further quality assurance and reviewing experience
- Full-time 35-hour working week
- 12-week temporary assignment
- Opportunity to improve outcomes for children and families through robust review and challenge
Benefits
- Weekly Pay
- Company Pension
- Ongoing Agency Support
Additional Information
Client: London Borough of Lambeth
Job Title: CIN Reviewing Officer
Location: 6 Brixton Hill, London, Lambeth, SW2 1RW
Start Date: 30 November 2026
End Date: 21 February 2027
Hours: 35 hours per week
Pay Rate: Umbrella: £300.00 per day
Employment Type: Temporary
Number of Positions: 1
Job Types: Full-time, Temporary contract
Contract length: 12 weeks
Pay: £300.00 per day
Benefits:
- Company pension
Application question(s):
- Are you a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England?
- Do you have significant experience working within Children's Social Care?
- Do you have experience with Child in Need planning and review?
- Have you chaired or independently reviewed complex children's social care cases?
- Do you have strong knowledge of safeguarding, risk, and statutory children's social care processes?
- Are you confident providing constructive challenge to Social Workers and managers?
- Please confirm your current location and whether you can reliably travel to 6 Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RW as required.
Experience:
- Children's Social Work: 3 years (preferred)
- Child in Need / Safeguarding: 2 years (preferred)
- Reviewing / Quality Assurance: 1 year (preferred)
- Local Authority Children's Services: 2 years (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- Social Work England Registration (required)
- Recognised Social Work Qualification (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
Disclaimer: On applying for this vacancy, you agree that your personal details will be passed onto our client for their consideration of your suitability for the role. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to notify iWork Recruitment Limited of any hirer who I do not want my details to be passed onto.
OR118490-10-26
