Independent Reviewing Officer
Location Trafford Town Hall
Salary range Band 10 (£46,731 to £48,710)
Trafford council is a Living Wage Employer.
Working Pattern Full time
Working hours 36.25 hours per week
We will offer flexibility where we can if you are interested in a role, please speak to the recruiting manager about what flexibility they might consider.
Many of our colleagues can work from home for one or more days a week and/or they flex the hours they work. We call this SMART working, and it gives you the option to flex your days and hours so you can fit your work around your life and life around your work.
Contract type Permanent
Application deadline 05 May 2025
Interview type In person
The Safeguarding & Review Service plays an integral part in driving our ambitions for children across Children’s Services and the IROs/CP Chairs act as Practice Leaders in supporting and challenging practice to ensure our children receive the best practice that enables them to achieve good outcomes.
About the Role
As an IRO/CP Chair you will be responsible for the Chairing of Initial and Review Child Protection Conferences and Cared for Children Reviews. We have made a distinction between the two and the vacant post will be to fulfill the statutory responsibilities of the IRO for Cared for Children that you will be responsible for. There may be times, however you may be required to Chair some Initial or Review Child Protection Conferences. As an IRO you will be responsible for ensuring children who are being looked after by the local authority have regular reviews to consider their care plan and placement, taking into account their views and wishes.
You will act as a practice leader providing support and challenge to all partners, and where appropriate raising informal challenges/dispute resolutions to ensure children and young people are receiving quality services that reduce risk and enable children and young people to remain within their family where it is safe to do so. You will share good practice and offer direction to partners to enable continuous improvement in practice.
* Extensive post qualifying experience of working with children and families, including children looked after by the Local Authority and children at risk of significant harm
* At least 5 years’ experience of working in Children’s Services, with 2 years at Level 3
* Experience of management of risk and partnership working
* Understanding of Strength-based relational practice
* Understanding of quality assurance and how this support practice improvement
* Experience of using solution focused approaches in practice
* Experience in team leadership and performance management
About you
Here in Trafford Children’s Services our vision is that our teams are offering the right help at the right time, and that at all levels our interventions make life better for children and families. We are ambitious for our children and for our practitioners - and our core value is ‘would this be good enough for my child’?
We want to have practitioners and managers who are confident and brave in their practice and are supported by strong leaders at all levels. As a relatively small local authority, we pride ourselves on our friendly teams, manageable caseloads, creative approach and colleagues who support each other. In Trafford our approach is strengths-based, using relational and restorative practice.
We believe that a culture and environment in which our managers and social workers can thrive is an essential element of improving outcomes for children and families.
About us
Trafford Council and its partners in the public, private and third sectors have a Vision which sees us working together to close inequality gaps and maximise Trafford’s huge potential.
Our vision: Trafford where all our residents, businesses and communities thrive.
Trafford is a lively, prosperous place to put down roots and build a career. The council and Trafford schools employ around 8,000 people, who are central to making the area great. In return for their commitment, the council offers its employees development opportunities, as well as a fair and flexible workplace. The council is a Living Wage Employer.
Additional Information
Please note the advert will close early if we receive a high number of applications.
You may need to work outside of normal hours from time to time, including weekends and should be willing to travel within and outside of the Trafford area as required
About the benefits
You will be welcomed into a friendly environment where your personal and professional development will be encouraged. You will have the opportunity to work and grow in a people-centered and values-based organisation that promotes a positive permission culture. Your opinions matter so you will have the opportunity to shape how we do things here at Trafford.
To learn more about Trafford as a place to work visit and to view more about our awards and benefits please visit: Trafford - Benefits | www.inploi.com (greater.jobs)
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment - greater.jobs | www.inploi.com
For this opportunity, you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK - if in doubt please visit the following link Employers' right to work checklist - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Please note we are not a licensed sponsor.
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