Childrens Placement & Brokerage Officer

Seven Resourcing are looking for a temporary Childrens Placement and Brokerage Officer to work in Swindon. This position is initially for a period of 3 months and is paying £15.04 per hour (paid to you via an umbrella company).

The role:

The Children’s Placement/ Brokerage Officer will be responsible for seeking external placements and Independent and Non-Maintained Special School (INMSS) places, arranging individual placement contracts, and undertaking the associated monitoring and review of such placement contracts for children coming in to care (and/or with Special Educational Needs), those already in care and care leavers with varying and complex needs. The children and young people will be referred to the Placements/ Brokerage team by operational social work teams and/or other case professionals.

The Children’s Placement/Brokerage Officer will ensure that the placements commissioned meet the needs of the children and young people placed, are of high quality to deliver the outcomes required for each child and also achieve value for money.

The Children’s Placements/ Brokerage Officer will use existing frameworks/ contracts and market knowledge to secure respite, short breaks and support services for children with disabilities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Respond to placement and service requests sent by operational social work teams and/or other case professionals by supporting them to complete necessary paperwork, and checking them on receipt for process compliance before sending them out to providers to request a service. The officer will need to build good relationships with placement suppliers across the market.
• Liaise with social workers and/or other case professionals and providers to enable the placement/service finding process to be completed within the required timescales.
• Develop and maintain a good working knowledge of children services placement/ Education markets and develop effective working relationships with providers, social work teams and other case professionals.
• Undertake due diligence and reference checks for new providers and services, interpret information and make judgements about quality of information provided Undertake (and assist in) the negotiation of fees that achieve best value and are realistic and fair.
• Support the development and maintenance of effective procedures for managing the referral and service/placement finding processes. This will include responsibility for the keeping of electronic records and data which provide an audit trail regarding placement type, choice, location, safeguarding and quality assurance checks, and costs.
• To play a key part in the development of the commissioning of services/placements that can inform operational social workers and/or other case professionals about the availability and type of services/placements being provided by the independent market sector, the cost of such services/placements and associated quality.
• To be able to obtain read and interpret OFSTED inspection reports, registration details for placement providers and other pertinent documents, alerting the line manager to any areas of concern or risk which could impact on children being placed.
• Support other team members with placement/ service finding for the most complex cases.
• Work with financial officers to provide cost information.

Applicant Requirements:

• Qualifications: Educated to degree level or holding a qualification in social care or health would be desirable although not essential.
• Experience: 2+ years working within a similar role.
• Compliance: References covering the last 5 years and proof of right to work in the UK.
• Travel: Clean UK driving license with the ability to commute to and from work independently.
• Hours: 37 hours p/w.

Working with Seven Social Care:

We have been helping social care professionals find exciting new roles for almost a decade, so we know exactly where to look when it comes to sourcing the best opportunities. We operate across the UK, and, with over 300 five-star reviews, multiple awards and amazing relationships with the biggest employers in UK social care, we give you the best chance of landing your next role.

We have a reputation for recruiting at lightning speed, however, we can only respond to candidates who meet the exact requirements of the position. If you have any queries about a role or application, please visit our website where our amazing candidate support team will be more than happy to help.