Fostering Placements Officer

REED Social Care Sheffield are recruiting for a Fostering Placements Officer for a national independent not for profit fostering agency. The agency is a social enterprise, and has social purpose and objectives and the ethos of promoting diversity and quality of care. The post is a permanent post for 16 hours per week. The working hours are Tues - Fri 1pm - 5pm and you are based in Sheffield. There will be travel throughout Yorkshire and the East Midlands so being a car driver is a must. There will be a requirement to work as part of the Out Of Hours service. The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate: The ability to work in a fast paced, often pressured environment, working to tight deadlines and with competing demands Excellent written and communication skills with internal and external colleagues Excellent negotiation skills with foster carers and local authorities to influence decision making The ability to digest, analyse and process complex and often highly sensitive information regarding children and young people The ability to market the services of the fostering agency, including the skills and experience of foster carers by gaining an in-depth knowledge of foster carers The ability to develop effective, positive relationships with foster carers The ability to be able to manage difficult and challenging conversations with stakeholders, including foster carers and local authorities An ability to quickly develop an understanding of the needs of children who are referred, in order to assist foster carers with their decision making An ability to negotiate effectively with local authorities regarding complex finance and contractual arrangements A proven ability to work effectively as a team player, whilst also able to work unsupervised, using own initiative Proven ability to prioritise and manage own workload Your responsibilities will include: Marketing and promoting the services of the agency, through direct contact with Local Authorities Negotiate with Local Authorities and foster carers to influence and inform decision making Monitoring referrals of children and maintaining management information systems, including those required for Ofsted Digesting, analysing and processing complex, sensitive information regarding children/young people and foster carers including foster carers’ Form F assessment Develop effective relationships with foster carers from the point of approval and throughout their journey to include a range of Placement engagement events including post approval visits, placement workshops, ongoing matching and profile conversations Contribute to own professional development by taking part in supervision, team days, training, and appraisals To be part of the Placements team and the wider regional team working with looked after children, working collaboratively to ensure outstanding outcomes To commit to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and protecting them from risk of harm. The Agency recognises its responsibility to ensure safe and appropriate policies, working practices and systems are in place for all staff working with children and young people Please note - this is not an exhaustive list - a full list of responsibilities is available on request. A full list of employee benefits is also available on request. Pay rate for this role is £9756 to £11319 per annum (fte £23228 to £26950). If you are interested please apply using the below link.