Placement Officer

We are looking for an experienced, positive and motivated person for this exciting new post which is a crucial part of delivering our local Sufficiency Strategy. The post will sit within the Children’s Services Commissioning and Placements Team and will be a key conduit in working with operational Children’s Social Care Teams. You must be able to work and think creatively but have a strong organisational focus. The ability to build positive relationships with both internal and external colleagues is key to making this role a success.

The successful candidate would ideally be someone with experience of working in Children’s Services or the Provider market and has excellent analytical, organisational and communication skills. We welcome applications from social work professionals. The role is to help find a “place called home” for all of Medway’s Children in Care and to help further develop quality of referrals and provisions for our young people.

The postholder would be joining a successful service who has a strong and positive culture and are supportive of each other. A recent staff survey demonstrated that the team felt happy and supported in their work and was a good place to work. We are looking to expand our exceptional team with a new solution focussed senior role.

In return we offer you:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Generous local government pension scheme package
• Access to wider training and development qualifications
• Flexible working scheme
• Travel plan discounts
• Car Benefit Scheme from Tusker
• Access to CAREFIRST advice & counselling service
• Employee discount scheme for national and local retailers
• The Government has introduced new ways of supporting parents with childcare costs. Further details are available here: - https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

We're committed to making Medway carbon neutral by 2050. We have developed an action plan to ensure we play our part in addressing the climate emergency.  Our declaration fits into our Council Plan priority of making Medway a place to be proud of. The main outcome being a 'clean and green environment'. All Medway Council staff can access an additional day’s paid leave to undertake a volunteering activity which supports climate change.

Our organisation:

Medway is a unitary authority in the South East of England, made up of the towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham and more rural areas, including the Hoo Peninsula.

Situated in Kent in the South-East of England, the area has plenty of green spaces, excellent facilities and easy access to the national motorway and rail networks, facilitating superb transport links to London.

We provide all local Government services for a quarter of a million people, looking after education, environment, social care, housing, planning, business and much more - everything from frontline services such as rubbish collection and events like the Dickens Festival to work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure services in Medway run smoothly and cost effectively.

Working at Medway Council means that you get to be part of this journey working alongside talented, professional colleagues to drive forward change to transform the lives of our residents and the communities they live in.

If you would like to have an informal discussion with the recruiting manager, please e-mail John Taylor on john.taylor@medway.gov.uk.

Important Information-

Applicants must be able to demonstrate all essential requirements as listed in the job profile.

Equal Opportunities Commitment Statement

Medway Council is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All appropriately qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, race, colour, ethnic or national origin, disability, marital status, family commitments, sexual orientation, age, HIV status, religious or political beliefs, social class or trade union activity or irrelevant spent conviction.

For further information please refer to the Medway information pack available as a download or to view online.

Please be advised that if you are not contacted within 3 weeks of the advert closing date then you have not been shortlisted.  All recruitment correspondence, including interview letters and contracts of employment will usually be sent out via email.

Please visit http://www.mindfulemployer.net/ for information on how Medway Council put good practices in place to ensure employees and job applicants who declare mental health issues receive the right level of support.