Placement Officer - Children's Placements Service

at  TCLRec

OFFICE FOR 6 WEEKS FOR INDUCTION, THEN MOVE TO HYBRID WORKING PATTERN (2 DAYS IN THE OFFICE, 3 FROM HOME). PENDING COMPLETION OF INDUCTION.

Under the general supervision of the Business Manager take the lead on the brokerage of high quality and cost effective placements for children in care.
This includes the responsibilities to build and maintain relationships with internal and external providers, to contribute to the team understanding of the market position and placement sufficiency and provide updates on progress of placements searches to Joint agency and placement panels. Looking for someone with excellent customer service skills, enjoys working in a pressurised environment, has good attention to detail and thrives in providing the best outcomes for children and young people in Bristol.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Relevant level 3 qualification (e.g. NVQ level 3, BTEC, relevant A levels etc.)

KNOWLEDGE:

• Have a high working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications or equivalent including the following: Outlook, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, and have a willingness to learn new applications and technology as appropriate.

EXPERIENCE:

• Experience of either leading a piece of work, quality assurance or audit - desirable

SKILLS & ABILITIES:

• Interpersonal skills with the ability to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders i.e Fostering, Health and Education.
• The ability to demonstrate initiative and be self-reliant in a busy and pressured environment.
• The ability to organise and balance competing priorities and the ability to make decisions and respond to unexpected problems and situations.
• Ability to communicate effectively and be able to present information in a range of different formats including verbal and written reports.
• The ability to collate and analyse information and data to identify patterns of need and gaps in the market to inform service provision and team priorities.
• The ability to work alone or with partners in health and SEND to negotiate and broker complex packages of care that meet the child’s needs and offer value for money.
• Ability to demonstrate an awareness and understanding of a range of different behaviours and life experiences that children may experience such as learning disabilities, mental health, offending behaviours, trauma and how this may impact on the brokerage of placements.
• Requires the ability to converse with citizens and provide complex information in accurate spoken English, or through a BSL interpreter.

UNLESS THE DBS REQUIREMENT STATED ABOVE IS FOR A BASIC DISCLOSURE, YOUR DBS MUST BE EITHER THROUGH US OR BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE DBS UPDATING SERVICE.

Clients are generally looking for candidates who are local to, or who can commute easily to the place of work. It will help your application if your CV states, in broad terms, where you reside – there is no need for a full address.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Source and negotiate complex packages of care that meet the needs of the child and offer value for money.
• Work in a busy and challenging environment with responsibility for the duty desk and prioritising of new referrals.
• Manage a caseload of placement searches to ensure that appropriate
• Present options appraisal and write reports to head of service and service director to gain authorisation of placements.
• Maintain case records of placement searches and general administration related to departmental policies and procedures

DUE TO THE NUMBER OF CVS BEING SENT TO US UNDER CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS, UNFORTUNATELY WE CANNOT RESPOND TO ALL APPLICATIONS. IF YOU HAVE NOT HEARD FROM US WITHIN 3 WORKING DAYS PLEASE ASSUME THAT YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SHORTLISTED ON THIS OCCASION. WE WILL, HOWEVER, BE VERY HAPPY TO RECEIVE FUTURE APPLICATIONS FROM YOU FOR OTHER ROLES.

ALD Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF pleas