Duty and Placements Officer

This role offers an exciting opportunity for you to join our Independent Fostering Agency and play a key role in its future growth and development.

Working under the supervision of our Consultant Practitioner (Duty, Data & Carer training & payments) you will play a key role in the day-to-day operation of our IFA duty system and will be responsible for maintaining enquiry and placement data. You will also be responsible for responding to initial enquiries from members of the public who are interested in becoming foster carers., 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.

A friendly, professional, and confident telephone manner.
Proficient in English with good communication skills (verbal and written).
Reasonable numeracy skills.
Computer literate with good keyboard skills.
Knowledge of the issues pertinent to caring for children who are looked after.
Experience of working in a busy office environment.
Experience of working with a diverse range of people.
Experience of using various IT packages - especially Word and DTP.
Experience in dealing with people at all levels and with varying communication skills.
Good listening skills.
Good Interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills, including the ability to establish positive and helpful working relationships with colleagues and the ability to deal with complex issues in a sensitive and appropriate manner.
Good time management skills, including the ability to manage conflicting demands.
Able to remain calm and to respond positively and effectively to challenge and crises., Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.

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).

Brighter Futures for Children's Independent Fostering Agency (BFfC's IFA) sits within our Children's Social Care Service and was first registered with Ofsted in January 2019. Five years on we have reviewed our services in the light of the changing expectations of the Government and the Courts and we are restructuring our IFA in order to create a more effective and forward thinking in-house fostering service which is able to better meet the placement needs of BFfC Children Looked After.

As part of this service restructure, we have created three new non-social-work roles which will help us to ensure a comprehensive focus on carer recruitment and retention and support the ongoing development of the service. We are now recruiting to these roles

Post specific training will be made available to successful applicants dependent on previous experience.

Training will also be made available around:
Relevant BFfC policies, procedures and practice guidance
The BFfC Mosaic records system
The IFA's CHARMS system

Professional supervision will be available and Individual professional objectives will be set as part of your continuous professional development and will be reviewed through professional supervision and annual appraisals (with six monthly review).

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
Remote/Agile working