Head of Learning, Insight and Serious Incident Casework job at London Full Time NEW

This is a rare opportunity to lead at the heart of the child protection system, shaping how the Panel responds to serious incidents and turns evidence into real‑world improvement. As Head of Learning, Insight and Serious Incident Casework, you will provide senior oversight of end‑to‑end case management—from notification to closure—bringing clear governance, sound judgement and assurance in the most sensitive, high‑risk contexts. You will translate emerging themes into high‑quality learning products that reach the right audiences at pace, and you will set the direction for innovative quantitative research that strengthens the evidence base, evaluates impact and drives system change. Working closely with senior leaders and partners across policy, operations and communications, you will lead multidisciplinary teams, champion high professional standards and wellbeing, and ensure the Panel’s work remains credible, ethical and independent.

This Grade 6 role provides senior leadership across three connected functions: (1) end to end case management of serious incidents, ensuring robust handling from notification to closure and providing a fortnightly case and risk overview to the Panel; (2) thematic learning from cases, translating insight into practical products and working with the Grade 6 lead for dissemination to ensure learning reaches the right audiences; and (3) commissioning new and innovative quantitative research to strengthen the evidence base on child protection, evaluate impact and shape system improvement.

Key responsibilities

Function 1: End to end serious incident case management and Panel reporting

• Provide strategic oversight of the serious incident casework function, setting expectations for quality, consistency, timeliness, safeguarding practice and well-being aware handling of sensitive material.
• Ensure an effective end to end case management process from notification/intake, triage and allocation through to decision points, closure and post closure learning, with clear governance and audit trail.
• Prepare and present a fortnightly overview of serious incidents shared with the Panel and ministers, including case status, key risks, emerging themes, and issues requiring discussion or decision.
• Maintain oversight of escalation routes and decision frameworks for high risk, high profile and complex cases, providing assurance to senior leaders and ensuring appropriate engagement across the system.
• Be responsible for ensuring that all highly personal and sensitive data is handled securely and in line with Data Protection legislation.

Function 2: Thematic learning from cases and dissemination

• Lead the identification of emerging themes, systemic risks and practice issues across live and completed cases, using a structured thematic approach that is robust, transparent and proportionate.
• Produce regular, high quality learning outputs (e.g., fortnightly/monthly thematic briefings, insight notes, recommendations) to an agreed cadence, translating case evidence into clear, actionable improvement messages ready for dissemination.
• Work in partnership with the Grade 6 lead for dissemination to plan and deliver effective routes to share learning (internal and external), including prioritisation, tailoring for audiences, and feedback loops to assess uptake and impact.

Function 3: Commissioning innovative quantitative research on child protection

• Set the strategic direction for quantitative research and analysis on child protection, ensuring questions are grounded in casework insight, policy priorities and system need.
• Develop a plan for the access to data a Child Protection Authority would need, working closely with the Head of Delivery and Strategy and departmental policy leads in the Child Protection and Safeguarding Division.
• Commission new and innovative quantitative studies (including experimental and quasi experimental approaches where appropriate), specifying clear outcomes, impact measures and plans for publication and dissemination.
• Ensure commissioned work meets high standards of data governance, ethics and methodological rigour, and that findings are translated into usable insight for decision‑makers and practitioners
• Oversee the annual serious incidents official statistics publication, alongside the response to parliamentary questions, FOI’s and other requests for data.

Working collaboratively and maintaining assurance

• Build strong relationships across policy, operations, communications, digital and governance to ensure cases, learning and research are joined up and mutually reinforcing.
• Ensure activity meets governance, data protection, assurance and ethical requirements, protecting the independence and credibility of the Panel’s work.
• Deliver at pace by prioritising across live casework, learning and research commissioning, maintaining momentum through clear plans and deadlines, and responding rapidly to emerging risks or urgent requests from the Panel.

Leadership and capability

• Lead and develop multidisciplinary teams across casework, learning and quantitative research, setting clear priorities and high professional standards.
• Develop options for moving analysis of rapid reviews to an internal function (both quant and qual analysis), including feeding into the development of a new case management system that supports high quality learning from cases.
• Build sustainable capability and quality assurance so that case management, thematic learning and research commissioning are repeatable, resilient and not person dependent.

Role model inclusive leadership and support staff wellbeing, recognising the emotional impact of serious incident material and maintaining safe ways of working.

Essential skills and experience

• Experience working in, or closely with, complex public systems (e.g. safeguarding, health, justice, education, or similar). Experience could come from a range of backgrounds including direct frontline practice, inspection, or system learning environments.
• Strategic thinking and the ability to see the big picture across complex systems.
• Excellent judgement and the ability to handle sensitive and high risk‑ material appropriately.
• Highly developed influencing and communication skills, including with senior and external stakeholders.
• Ability to deliver at pace, prioritising effectively and producing regular learning products and outputs that are ready for dissemination to agreed timelines, while maintaining quality and appropriate handling of sensitive material.
• Strong governance awareness and commitment to ethical, evidence‑based practice.

Desirable experience

Experience leading learning/insight, research, evaluation or analytical functions at a senior level, including translating evidence into practical improvement and/or experience commissioning external research or evaluation.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Minimum FTE for this role: 30 hours

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Job contact :

• Name : Donna Brown
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]