Placement Information Officer (14703)

Why Work for us: Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

This is an exciting opportunity to become an active and effective member of the Placements Service. We’re a hardworking, supportive and friendly team that work in partnership with other professionals/agencies. We provide support, professional information & advice and co-ordinate the provision of suitably matched placements and/or services that will achieve the most positive outcomes for looked after children, young people and care leavers.

You will work in partnership with other professionals/agencies including Foster Carers, Fostering Service, Social Care, Health and Education providing professional information and advice. Communicating effectively and adopting a ‘joined-up’ approach to assist in ensuring the effectiveness of the placements service.

This is a varied role supporting all elements of the service this will include quality assurance; ensuring that both team members and carers are up to date with their training, DBS checks and any relevant assessments.

You will be responsible for ensuring stator notifications are actioned in the relevant timeframe and work closely with colleagues in Health.

You will support the management of financial activities including managing requisition and purchase order numbers, processing and reviewing internal carer payment documents & independent placement agreements, manage invoices & credit notes, raising cheques etc.

The role involves a significant amount of data entry and processing; therefore you will need to demonstrate experience of creating and maintaining effective tracking and monitoring processes and mechanisms, and you will need to be computer literate with an ability to use a range of data entry/recording systems.

To undertake this role, you require a good level of general education and to be literate in English and Math’s. It is desirable that you have an NVQ in Business or similar and experience with working in finance. You’ll be highly motivated, an excellent communicator and data competent.

In reward we offer a compelling career opportunity with scope to shape service delivery, working alongside health and other practitioners to provide a wide range of high quality resources to support our children.

Rewards:

• Regular good quality 1-1 case and personal supervision that align to restorative principles. 
• Laptop and mobile phone.
• Be provided with an excellent induction period and personal development plan that meets your training and development needs.  You will have membership to Research in Practice and Coram BAAF, as well as access to an internal resource library.
• Paid leave (up to 33 days excluding bank holidays dependent on length of service) and flexible arrangements
• Discounted rail fares, discounted parking and access to the Councils bicycle loan scheme
• Opportunities to engage in work based activities well- being and be recognised for the work that you do through our employment awards and recognition schemes

If you feel you have the necessary background, experience and skills to undertake this role we would like to hear from you.

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information and details regarding the position please contact Beth Gulland, Contracts & Commissioning Officer at beth.gulland@southampton.gov.uk

Recruitment contact details:

Email: recruitment@southampton.gov.uk
Tel: 023 8083 4033

Additional information:

• The working hours for this role are 37 hours per week.
• This post is fixed term for 9 months
• Please note that appointments are usually made at the bottom of the salary scale.
• This post requires a DBS check.
• For any posts that require a DBS check, if you have lived outside the UK within the last 5 years, you will be required to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct or a police certificate from the country/countries you have resided in. Kindly note that this is at the expense of the candidate, as well as any costs involved for translating into English.

How to apply:

To apply for the position please select the 'Apply for this job' button at the bottom of the page.

The supporting statement section of the application form must be completed, unless there are specific criteria questions for you to evidence against. Applications are shortlisted against the essential and desirable criteria found within the job description for the post. Please refer to the job description when completing your application form and evidence how you meet the required criteria/questions. A CV on its own will not be considered.

Unfortunately we are not able to accept applications that are made through a third party agency. We cannot guarantee that any correspondence sent from third party agencies will be responded to. To ensure your application is received please apply directly through our website.

We are proud to be #DisabilityConfident and support fair recruitment practices. Find out how you can get involved at gov.uk/disability-confident.  No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

Southampton City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults.  It is committed to delivering services to ensure they are happy, safe and have opportunities to reach their goals as responsible members of our community.  We believe it is always unacceptable for a child, young person or adult to experience abuse of any kind, and recognise our responsibility to safeguard and promote their welfare.  We are committed to following safe practices to ensure this and expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.  This commitment is reflected in all our recruitment and selection practices.

As a Corporate Parent we are actively aiming to support all our children in care (looked after children) and care leavers. Any applicants who are children in care or care leavers, who meet the essential criteria for the post applied for, will be guaranteed an interview.