Placements Officer (North Shields)

Salary: £16,247.11 to £18,850.43 per annum (£27,078.51 to £31,417.39 per annum fte) starting salary is dependent upon skills and experience.

Part time: 22.5 hours per week covering Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

We offer blended/office working arrangements to allow for a good work life balance for all staff.

This will be a minimum of one day per week working within your agreed office base, although staff are actively encouraged to attend the workplace more frequently.

Team Fostering is an ethical not for profit fostering agency with a strong reputation and track record for providing high quality, value for money fostering placements for children in care. We pride ourselves on our values and our commitment to making positive changes for children and young people.

As a Placements Officer you will play a vital role in supporting us to make those changes happen. You will:

Build relationships with Local Authorities and be the first point of contact for referrals
Get to know our foster carers and manage the matching process between our foster carers & the children referred
Be key to supporting our children and families by coordinating short break care arrangements
Support changes to arrangements such as placement moves and ends
Update Carer Profiles and market the agency’s services to the local authorities

We are looking for a passionate individual, with a drive to improve outcomes for children and young people. We would welcome applications from skilled professionals, preferably with experience of working in a social care setting who are able to demonstrate the following:

Ability to work in a fast paced, often pressured environment, working to tight deadlines and with competing demands
Excellent written and communication skills with internal and external colleagues
Ability to maintain a professional, positive and solution focussed approach
Excellent negotiation skills with foster carers and local authorities to influence decision making
The ability and resilience to deal with sensitive information
A proven ability to work effectively as a team player, whilst also able to work unsupervised, using own initiative
Proven ability to prioritise and manage own workload

In return we offer an exceptional range of employee benefits including:

Monthly supervision
Annual appraisal
30 days annual leave plus 8 days bank holidays (Pro rota)
A blend of home and office working
A wide range of flexible working arrangements to support a good work life balance
Flexi time
Company sick pay scheme
Pension scheme
Staff loyalty bonus
Employee assistance programme
Retail discount scheme
Cycle to work scheme
Life assurance cover
GP Helpline
Learning & development opportunities to support your continuous professional development

Team Fostering are wholly committed to our ongoing investment in our staff’s professional training and development, health and wellbeing. We are immensely proud of our recognition as a Living Wage Employer, an Investors in People Employer which we have held since 2006, our accreditation as a Mindful Employer and the achievement of our Better Health Award at Continuing Excellence level.

Team Fostering is an equal opportunity and Disability Confident Committed employer that is committed to equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging at work. As we continue to grow, we know that we must have the most talented employees with diverse backgrounds, cultures, perspectives, and experiences to support our children and young people.

Team Fostering strives to be diverse and inclusive – a place where we can ALL be ourselves. We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented within the agency.

For an informal chat about the post please contact Rachael Findley (Regional Placements & Contracts Manager) on 07706 340 908

An application pack can be downloaded from our website: www.teamfostering.co.uk. Please note Team Fostering does not accept CV’s.

To apply, please complete an Application Form and Equal Opportunities Form (available below) and return to hr@teamfostering.co.uk

This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS Disclosure

Closing date: 9am on 2^nd December

Interviews will be held on 10^th December at our North Shields office

Please note if you are shortlisted for interview, we will contact you via the email you have provided. Please ensure you check your emails regularly.