Independent Reviewing Officer in Worcester

Independent Reviewing Officer

Worcestershire County Council

Salary: £49,282 - £54,785

Hours: 37 Hours per Week

Location: Worcestershire

Team: Safeguarding & Quality Assurance

Employment Type: Permanent

The Role

• Do you love working with children and young people?
• Are you looking for a new challenge or change?
• Do you want to further develop your social work career and knowledge working with permanent experienced colleagues and line managers?
• Do you want to work in an environment where equality and diversity is recognised, promoted, and practiced?
• Do you want to work for a service that has been rated as 'Good' by Ofsted?

Then Worcestershire needs to be your next move! We are recruiting to our Safeguarding Quality Assurance Team; we have one full‑time position as an Independent Reviewing Officer for Looked After Children.

Responsibilities and Qualifications

In this role you will be allocated to children and young people who are looked after. You will fulfil the statutory role and function of the IRO, chairing their reviews, and ensuring progressive permanency plans and achieving outcomes for our children – a key priority is ensuring children’s voices are heard, they contribute to their plans, and we support them to attend their meetings. This role is supported by its own Practice Manager and well supported by Business Support.

Ofsted said: "Children’s plans are regularly reviewed at meetings, which are well attended by parents and professionals involved in children’s lives. IROs appropriately visit most children before their reviews to gain their views and encourage them to attend their meeting. Children’s views are well considered at the meetings and IROs ensure that the record of the meeting is written in a child‑friendly way. IROs appropriately and successfully escalates their concerns about the progress of children’s plans."

In this role you need to have the ability to scrutinise, challenge, and support both Social Care Teams and partners; this is crucial, alongside strong quality assurance experience and skills. You will be an experienced and qualified Social Worker with Management Experience, registered with Social Work England, who has a solid knowledge of policy, legislation, and good practice experience, and can demonstrate a strong commitment to strong multi‑agency working and child focused practice. You will have extensive experience of chairing complex and challenging meetings with the ability to manage difficult conversations.

If you would like more information on this position, please contact Sally Branchflower (SQA Practice Manager) on 01905 845996.

Applications can be submitted by completing the online application process.

Benefits

• Great Holiday Entitlement: 26 days paid holiday (pro-rated for part-time staff), increasing to 31 days after five years of continuous service.
• Brilliant Pension Scheme: The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) – a career average pension scheme part of the pay and reward package.
• Professional Learning & Development: We actively encourage learning and development for all staff who wish to progress further or explore other areas within the organisation.
• Flexible Working: Hybrid working options available to provide a better work/life balance where possible.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

This post is exempt under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and appointment will be conditional upon a satisfactory response to a check of criminal records via the Disclosure and Barring Service. This will include details of cautions, reprimands, or final warnings, as well as convictions. The County Council has a commitment to safeguarding service users in our care.

Equality & Diversity

The County Council is committed to equality of opportunity for all citizens and celebrates the diversity of all its residents.