Placement Co-ordinator – Childrens Services (E3754) in Crewe

About us

At Cheshire East Council we are resident and partner focused with a vision to enable prosperity and wellbeing for all. People really are at the heart of everything we do and that starts with our incredible workforce. We promote a culture of high performance where people can aspire, thrive and flourish, where we strive to deliver best value in everything we do.

For us, success isn’t just about what we achieve, but how we achieve it together. We promote curiosity, excellence, innovation and continuous improvement. We are values led and committed to wellbeing and inclusion for all, where our employees co-created our values of drive, integrity, respect and collaboration which inform all that we do.

We are proud to work for Cheshire East Council and believe you would be too!

Join us on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care at Cheshire East Council. We’re on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care and we’d love for you to be part of it. Joining us means becoming part of a supportive, forward-thinking team that’s passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and young people. Everything we do is about putting them first, helping them grow, thrive and reach their full potential so they can build brighter futures.

If this sounds like the kind of impact you want to make, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Come and join us in shaping positive change for our young people.

At Cheshire East we’re making significant, tangible investments in our foundations. This includes strengthening our commissioning function, expanding workforce development and creating clearer, more ambitious pathways. To realise these ambitions, we’re seeking experienced, flexible individuals who want to help us shape the future.

We have an exciting opportunity for a Placement Coordinator – Children’s Services, based at Delamere House, Crewe. To co-ordinate the placement finding, brokerage and matching process for children and young people across Children’s Social Care and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

About the Role

You will ensure placements are identified, sourced and progressed in a timely, safe and cost-effective manner, working closely with Quality Assurance, commissioning and operational teams to secure provision that meets assessed needs and safeguards children’s welfare in delivering good quality outcomes.

You will play a key part in managing placement demand, supporting sufficiency arrangements and providing operational oversight of placement activities. Close links with commissioning colleagues will be maintained.

This is just a snapshot of some of the exciting things you’ll be doing in the role, to find out more about the other key responsibilities of the role please view the attached job description.

The successful candidate will:

• Act as the central point of co-ordination for placement requests across Children’s Social Care and SEND.
• Match children and young people to suitable provision based on assessed needs, risk, location, availability and value for money.
• Co-ordinate placement searches with internal brokerage officers and external providers, including use of frameworks and spot purchasing where required.
• Work closely with the Quality Assurance function to ensure placement decisions are informed by QA intelligence, provider status and risk ratings.
• Monitor placement demand, capacity and market pressures, providing regular updates to managers.
• Maintain accurate placement records and contribute to performance reporting and management information.

The successful candidate will bring:

• Educated qualification or equivalent in health, social care or business administration.
• Experience of placement-finding or service co-ordination within children’s service or a related sector.
• Demonstrable understanding of Children’s social care, SEND systems, safeguarding principles and placement processes.
• Extensive working knowledge of safeguarding, confidentiality and information governance.
• Strong organisation skills and prioritisation under pressure.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Flexible approach to work.
• Willingness and ability to travel throughout the borough.

To find out more about the essential and desirable criteria for the role please view the attached job specification document.

What we offer in return:

• A competitive salary– Between £41,771 per annum – £48,072 per annum (CEC NJC – Grade 10) with guaranteed yearly pay increases!
• Enhanced annual leave– Start with an impressive 34 days of annual leave (including bank holidays) from day one, and watch it grow to 39 days after just five years of service.
• Purchase of annual leave – Want more time off? You can purchase up to 10 extra days of annual leave each year, giving you the flexibility to balance work and life just the way you want (Pro-rata for part-time staff).
• Flexible working pattern– Enjoy a 37-hour standard full-time work week with the added perks of flexitime and hybrid/remote working arrangements where possible.
• Salary sacrifice green car scheme– Drive green and save green! Lease a brand-new electric or hybrid car through our salary sacrifice scheme.
• White goods salary sacrifice scheme – Upgrade your home with ease. Purchase home and electronic items through our salary sacrifice scheme.
• Enhanced public pension– Secure your future with our career average pension.
• Cycle to work scheme – Save up to 25-39% on the retail price of bikes and safety equipment.
• Employee assistance programme– Access a completely free and confidential assistance service to help manage, reduce, and overcome life’s challenges.
• Discounted gym membership – Stay active and healthy with corporate membership prices for Everybody Leisure.

As an equal opportunities’ employer, we warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We believe that a diverse workforce helps us better reflect and serve our local communities, and together, we can build something truly special.

Cheshire East Council is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults across the Borough. As such, any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings that are ‘not protected’ as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 (as amended in 2013) relating to the non-disclosure of spent convictions do not apply to this job. You must therefore, disclose whether you have any previous convictions where prompted to do so within the application process.