Care and Support Broker

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our Combined Placing and Sourcing Team (CPST), as a dedicated Care and Support Broker in the CPST Direct Payments team, helping customers access the right care and support services at the right time. We are looking for someone with strong communication skills who can work effectively with a range of services, teams, and customers. You will play a key role in navigating changing demands and ensuring the best support is provided. As part of CPST, you will work across both health and social care. You will be responsible for planning and sourcing support for people being discharged from hospital, as well as for those with assessed social care needs.

This is an office-based role, with occasional travel, and standard working hours between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may come from a health or social care background, or you may bring transferable skills such as negotiation and coordination experience from other sectors. Strong administrative skills- particularly the confident use of Microsoft Excel- are essential. To be successful in this role, you will need to:

• Communicate effectively with a wide range of people.
• Work in partnership with services and organisations across the health and social care system.
• Have a passion for helping people and delivering high-quality support.
• Be well-organised and able to manage multiple caseloads under pressure.
• Influence and negotiate with key stakeholders to source timely, cost-effective support services.
• Understand the duties and requirements of health and social care services and apply these in line with CPST operating procedures.
• Demonstrate strong administrative and IT skills, with regular use of Excel.
• Negotiate competitive rates with providers to ensure best value for money.

If you are committed to making a difference and enjoy working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, we would love to hear from you.

Experience and Skills Key Skills (please cover within your application with examples as these are the short listing criteria):

1. Able to support the planning and arranging of customer focused and strengths-based services for people with care and support needs
2. Able to accurately relay information to service providers and health and social care colleagues to enable appropriate services to be sourced quickly
3. Able to organise / prioritise work, work independently, and work under pressure and to tight deadlines
4. Able to interpret intelligence received to determine risks and communicate safeguarding and service quality issues through the relevant channels
5. Excellent written, verbal, influencing and negotiation skills
6. Sound and accurate IT and keyboard skills

Qualifications and/or experience (please cover within your application with examples as these are the short listing criteria):

• NVQ level 3 in a relevant subject, or equivalent qualification or experience
• GCSE English and Maths, or equivalent qualification or experience operating at this level of literacy and numeracy
• Good up-to-date working knowledge of legislations and organisational policies relevant to the specialist area of the post e.g. Care Act (2014), Hospital Discharge Guidance 2020, Mental Health Act (1983) etc
• Experience of monitoring data and information including financial material and using a range of IT and data systems
• Good understanding of office systems and practices related to carrying out a health or social care role
• Experience of influencing and negotiating with individuals, stakeholders and service providers- Desirable

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.