Brighter Futures for Children About us Brighter Futures for Children is a not-for-profit company, owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council. Although we are independent, we are very much part of the Reading Family. Our people enjoy all of benefits as other Council employees including membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and continuous service. We work closely with partners in the local community and key organisations including Reading Borough Council, policy, public health and voluntary groups. We are responsible for the delivery of children’s social care, early help & prevention, education services (including SEND). This also includes fostering and adoption, the Youth Offending Service and traded services with schools. Our main aim is to protect and enhance the lives of the children of Reading. We help families find long-term solutions to ensure children lead happy, healthy and successful lives. About the role We have an exciting opportunity for you to join our Commissioning team. Do you consider yourself a solution finder and a negotiator, if yes, our commissioning team needs you. We are seeking to recruit one person into either Trainee Outcome Focussed Placements Officer or Outcome Focussed Placements Officer post. This role will work within the placements team to co-ordinate and manage all placement requests for Looked After Children (LAC) including those with multiple and complex needs and children with special educational needs. You will work closely in our Commissioning Team and be responsible for ensuring appropriate procedure and contracting is in place for all our placements. This includes negotiating costings, timescales for reviews, conversations about placements with external and internal stakeholders. You will work closely with our Social Care teams, to make sure that quality placements are sourced, negotiated and placements made in a timely manner to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people. We are recruiting to one post, which may be a trainee position. The level of offer will be determined at interview. Trainee Outcome Focussed Placements Officer will support the Outcome Focussed Placements Officers to co-ordinate and manage all placement requests for Looked After Children (LAC) including those with multiple and complex needs and children with special educational needs. Outcome Focussed Placements Officer will negotiate in consideration of the achievement of the best outcomes for children and young people. Working under the guidance of the Operations Manager - Placements, the post holder will ensure that placement sourcing is undertaken on the basis that it has been appropriately approved, meets the child’s needs and expected outcomes, is cost effective, is within or as close to the borough as possible and is completed in a timely manner. Responsibilities: • Maintain accurate records through data collection and administration of tasks. • Ensure that placement options provide a best match to needs and outcomes in relation to accommodation, education and health, provide value for money and are carried out in accordance with the Human Rights Act 1998 • Understand and apply company and department procedures and practice to ensure that corporate social responsibility (equalities, sustainability, transparency, ethical, health and safety and social value) is at the core of all placement negotiations. • To be proactive in workload management, prioritise placement searches as required and liaising with referring officers around service delivery expectations. • Attend professionals’ meetings as agreed • Ensure placement searches can be completed in a timely, effective and efficient manner • Ensure placements are made as close to the borough as possible • Support the collation of monitoring and recording of achievements in order to ensure the service is financially self-sustaining. Essential Qualifications: • Good general education with Maths and English to A-level standard Essential knowledge, skills and experience: • Experience of the impact and understanding of the principles of good care/support to vulnerable clients • Experience of achieving better value for money • Experience of working within a similar working environment, matching criteria to identified need. • Commercial skills - experience of working in a fast-paced environment with a cost focused service • Experience of IT data systems. For more information about the role, please read the job description and person specification. Our offer We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you’ll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment. A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including: • Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution • Incremental holidays starting with 26 days plus public holidays (rising to 33 after 10 years’ service) • Discounted Child Care (on site nursery) • Cycle to work scheme. • Season train ticket loans • Salary Sacrifice Car Lease Scheme • A range of local shopping discounts Inclusion and Diversity We want Brighter Futures for Children to be a great place to work and to ensure that our children, young people and families are represented in leadership roles and positions of power. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and those of Other Ethnicities, LGBT, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our children, young people and families so that equalities and justice remains at the heart of everything we do. Asking for Adjustments Brighter Futures for Children is committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the application, interview or assessment process, including providing information in an alternative format, please let us know. Closing date: 13 April 2025 Interview date: To be confirmed We look forward to hearing from you