Service Provision Officer in Farnham

The Children & Young People’s SEND Brokerage Team located within Specialist and Safeguarding Services in Hertfordshire is looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic person to join our busy team. We work in partnership with children/young people and their families to identify, broker, procure and monitor all packages of care for disabled children and young people as identified by an assessment of need carried out by the social work teams. We ensure services brokered are needs led, represent value for money and are appropriately quality assured. We work in partnership with other agencies to maximise positive outcomes for children and young people. We assist in identifying gaps in service provision and working with strategic commissioning we develop a more varied pool of resources in line with needs.

Do you like making a positive difference to the lives of children and their families? Do you like a fast pace and rewarding role? Are you organised and diligent with excellent communication skills? As part of this role, you will be involved in brokering & securing support for families with disabled children, from a diverse range of valued care provider organisations. Responsibilities in the role include arranging packages of support which are needs led and deliver positive outcomes. You’ll be working in partnership with families, social care professionals and care providers, to identify and arrange the right support, therefore suitable candidates will have effective and proactive communication skills. You will also have the opportunity to promote inclusion for disabled children and young people, through signposting to local community-based activities and resources.

The ability to:

• Analyse, understand and utilise information, in order to broker effective packages, to ensure improved outcomes for children.
• Research and propose alternative solutions.
• Influence providers and stakeholders, through effective and proactive communication.
• Seek solutions and work proactively with partners.
• Build positive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders to support effective collaborations.
• Work flexibly in a changing and learning context.
• Demonstrate use of ICT and maintain accurate records.
• Organise your work and follow a range of processes consistently to promote an effective team working approach.
• Manage and prioritise a number of different demands, engaging the support of colleagues where necessary.

Essential:

• Demonstrable experience of working with disabled children and young people and/or providing children and families social care services.
• Highly organised and ability to prioritise your workload.
• Ability to use own initiative.
• Good ICT skills.
• Good verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience of dealing with a high level of confidentiality.
• Full driving licence and access to transport.

This is a fast‑paced environment; sourcing care packages that make a real difference to families with disabled children, providing personalised support from homecare to short breaks and direct payments. Therefore, you’ll need to be able to work under pressure and be extremely well organised, taking a pro‑active approach to your workload. To identify effective services, you will be flexible and adaptable, a creative problem‑solver, and deliver person‑centred solutions. You will be a strong team worker, committed to ensuring the team maintains its good reputation for being responsive and family focused. This includes covering ‘duty’ responsibilities on a rota for responding to day‑to‑day issues as well as your allocated care package tasks.

We are a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations. The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post.