Salary: £52,187 - £60,571 p/a, Grade PO5/6/7, Outer London Business Support Scale (inclusive of London Weighting).
Location: Regional / Multi-site Role - Travel required across one designated OHCAT region: Region 1 (Kingston, Chessington & Wandsworth), Region 2 (Sutton, Croydon & West Sussex), or Region 3 (Hillingdon, Slough & Surrey), plus occasional travel to OHCAT Head Office, Sutton (SM1 1DA).
Working Pattern: 36 hours per week, all year round. (8.45am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday and from 8.45am to 4.15pm on Friday (exclusive of meal breaks), although the post holder may have to work at different times and/or such additional hours as reasonably required by OHCAT.
Orchard Hill College & Academy Trust (OHC&AT) is a family of specialist education providers for pupils and students from nursery to further education. We operate across academies and college centres in London, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire. Supporting our academies and college, OHC&AT also operates learning support services, such as nursing and therapy, and a central business support team which includes HR, finance and IT.
Pupils and students within the OHC&AT family have a wide range of learning abilities and additional needs. These include autistic spectrum disorder; speech, language and communication difficulties; social, emotional and mental health needs; profound and multiple learning disabilities; and physical disabilities including multi-sensory impairment and complex health conditions.
We are seeking an experienced and driven Regional Safeguarding Lead to join OHCAT and drive excellence in safeguarding and child protection practice across our academies. The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership, expert guidance and robust support to safeguarding teams, ensuring the highest standards of safeguarding culture, compliance and learner wellbeing across their region.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead, support and challenge Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) across your region to ensure high-quality safeguarding practice.
- Provide expert leadership, advice and guidance on safeguarding and child protection matters across academies.
- Ensure compliance with KCSIE, safeguarding legislation and statutory requirements, maintaining robust systems, policies and procedures.
- Lead safeguarding audits, quality assurance and continuous improvement activity, using data and insight to strengthen practice and identify risks.
- Build strong partnerships with external agencies and deliver training, coaching and support to school safeguarding teams to promote a consistent culture of safeguarding excellence.
Key Requirements:
- Strong experience of managing complex safeguarding and child protection cases
- Excellent knowledge of KCSIE, safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance
- Confidence working strategically, influencing practice and building effective partnerships
- Experience delivering training, coaching and mentoring to support safeguarding excellence
- A commitment to supporting children with SEND and vulnerable learners, with strong communication, resilience and professional integrity
- Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel across a designated region
This is a fantastic opportunity to shape safeguarding practice at scale and make a real difference to the lives of our learners.
Rewards & Benefits:
- Pathways for progression within the Trust, ensuring you can grow and thrive in a supportive and inclusive environment.
- Pension Scheme - you will be enrolled in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
- Salary Sacrifice Schemes (Cycle Scheme, Employee Car Lease Scheme and Home Electronics Scheme)
- Employee Wellbeing - We support employee wellbeing with access to counselling, mental health support, generous leave, flexible working, and enhanced parental leave including Employee Assistance Programme, MyGym Discounts, Corporate Eyecare Scheme
- Employee Discounts (Blue Light Card, Costco Membership, Discounts for Teachers, and more)
- Other (Season Ticket Loan and Employee Referral Scheme)
Find out what makes OHC&AT a truly rewarding place to work – visit our ‘Work for Us’ page to learn more about opportunities across the Trust and the difference our staff make every day.
Working together to transform lives is what we do and across the whole organisation we have a range of experts and practitioners who advocate for children and young people with SEND to ensure they receive the best possible opportunities to achieve their full potential.
As a large specialist education provider we employ over 1500 people across our schools, College and central support team. There is a wide range of job roles available, ranging from teaching and therapy to business support roles and significant career progression opportunities.
It is an exciting time to be part of OHC&AT and we are keen to recruit talented people who can play a key role in realising our mission and who want to make a difference. In return, we offer training and development, competitive pay and benefits in a positive and inclusive working environment.
We are committed to promoting and advancing equality of opportunity by attracting and retaining the most diverse range of students, staff and partners.
How to Apply:
To apply for this role, please select 'Quick Apply', our Recruitment Business Partner will then be in touch with more details on how to officially apply.
Please note that CV applications cannot be considered.
To ensure a fair opportunity for all applicants, candidates who have applied for this position in the past 6 months will not be considered.
Closing Date: Wednesday 17th June 2026
Interviews will take place on: Friday 26 June 2026
To help us manage applications effectively, we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if sufficient suitable applications are received.
Safeguarding Statement
Orchard Hill College & Academy Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Appointments made will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.
In line with the statutory guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education, the Trust will request and review references and carry out online searches on shortlisted candidates prior to interview as part of our safer recruitment process. Any concerns raised will be followed up with the applicant before a recruitment decision is made.
Pay: £52,187.00-£60,571.00 per year
Work Location: In person
