Foster Carer Independent Reviewing Officer

We have a clear vision and plans to reduce the need for Children to come into our care with our new adolescent offer and edge of care work and we are continually working as a partnership to ensure or children are safe.

About the role

This is a very exciting time for Swindon and for the team. We can offer you the wonderful opportunity of a varied role, a well-paid return, and with strong management and leadership supporting creative practice. You will be working directly and innovatively with children and their families to make the changes that they say will make a real difference.

The core function of this role is that of a Foster Carer IRO. However some cover for the Independent Reviewing of Children Looked After is also part of the role. This will add capacity when required to the IRO function in the team to allow agility and flexibility across the service.

The Quality Assurance Service in Swindon is not afraid of having difficult conversations, which challenge practice of professionals, for families and young people. We are committed to achieving the absolute best for children and implementing our statutory and regulatory obligations including the National Minimum Standards, Care Planning Regulations, and IRO Handbook, as well as best practice.

In the Ofsted Focused visit in December 2020, it was noted that ‘Independent Reviewing Officers are making a difference. “They carefully consider complex decisions for vulnerable children. Plan progression, and issue resolution, that takes place outside children’s reviews are recorded well and considered in future planning”.

About You

Good communication skills are essential as you use your skills to help Foster Carers, children and their family’s to participate in meetings and achieve the best outcomes possible. Experience of chairing complex meetings is highly desirable.

We are inviting applications from enthusiastic, child focused, aspirational and competent professionals who are SWE registered, have a degree in social work (or equivalent), have 5 years post qualifying experience with relevant management experience in social work. We expect you to possess excellent knowledge of relevant childcare legislation and procedures

Your aspirations should be limitless and you will be as determined and passionate about Children’s Services as we are. As a local authority, we continuously drive forward improvements in our services. We want our Workers to be part of our transformation, contribute to improving the safeguarding of our children, and we will make sure you have the full support network and training to do it.

Our teams are ambitious and proactive and we are looking for people who will share that ambition and be a part of our journey.

Our offer to you:

• £3000 “golden hello” payment after one year’s service
• Retention payments of £2000 after completing two years’ service and a further £2000 after three years’ service
• Relocation allowance of up to £8,000 (eligibility criteria applies)
• Competitive salaries
• Free car parking at our central Swindon campus and easy commuter links to many locations

Our commitment to your development

We are dedicated to ensuring that you can progress your continued professional development and access training and learning opportunities linked to the BASW competencies for career progression.

Candidates must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act – for the effective performance of a customer-facing role).

Your next package

Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.

As an employee, you will receive a diverse and exciting environment in which to work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst recognising the need to support ongoing personal development and a flexible work life balance.

For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon by 2030 together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.

Your next steps

Read the role profile and select the Apply button to start an application.

Potential applicants are sometimes put off if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We think individual experience, skills and passion make all the difference, so if you meet the majority of the criteria, we’d love to hear from you.

For further information about the role, please contact Sean Capewell, Senior IRO at SCapewell@swindon.gov.uk or Sharon Laird Quality Assurance Team Manager SLaird@swindon.gov.uk.

If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application please email resourcing@swindon.gov.uk