Job Description

About us

At West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We are committed to improving our services for the children and families in West Sussex that we support and care for.



Children, Young People & Learning are focused on delivering a significant shift to prevention of needing to bring children into care where it is safe not to. Closer working with partners, and a focused commissioning strategy will achieve better outcomes for our children and young people.

About the Role

Salary

: 31,586 to 34,314 per annum

Working Pattern

: Full Time (37 hours)

Contract Length

: Permanent

Location:

Bridge House, Durrington with some flexible working

Closing Date:

25 August 2025

Interview Date:

03, 04, and 05 September 2025





This role will involve working across all areas of the commissioning function, but you will be based in the Children's Placement Stability Team which has responsibility for working with independent children's homes and foster care agencies to ensure they are supported to care appropriately and achieve the required outcomes for our children as well as ensuring costs are reviewed and compliant with departmental processes and within budgets.



This is an exciting opportunity to join the Children's Placement Stability Team, where you will deliver a customer focused and efficient service, contributing to the Directorate objectives of securing best outcomes for children.



As a Placement and Commissioning Officer you will be part of a dynamic team that work hard to prevent additional moves for our children and young people in care.



Relevant commissioning experience is desirable or experience of working in roles that have the required transferable skills.

What you will be doing

You will work alongside commissioning colleagues to prevent placements ending through a high level of communication with providers of independent children's homes and foster agencies and working alongside our social care colleagues and other key stakeholders.



You will be expected to engage and build trusted relationships with providers, commissioning colleagues and other stakeholders such as social care colleagues to review placements and ensure they are needs led with a child first approach, delivering high quality and cost-effective provision for our children and young people in care.



You will have the ability to prioritise work, support your colleagues and be able to work under pressure.



No day will be the same.



You will cover a duty rota, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.

About You

There is a need to have strong communication skills enabling you to engage with providers as well as interacting across the wider teams within West Sussex County Council.



Being able to organise and prioritise your own workload and meet deadlines within a pressured environment is essential.



You enjoy a varied workload.



You will have the ability to negotiate and influence providers and have the confidence to challenge when required to ensure our children and young people are in safe high-quality placements that offer best value.



Most importantly you will have a passion for delivering the best outcomes to ensure placements are maintained across our independent children's homes and foster care agencies.

Key Skills (used for shortlisting):

Excellent literacy and numeracy skills to understand the referral processes, tender documents and contracts, and to check statistical financial information and other documents.

Ability to present information clearly, concisely, accurately and in ways that promote understanding, either verbally or in written/electronic form, and have sound and accurate IT skills.

Good analytical skills to interpret complex information, with the ability to organise, plan and meet set targets.

Good communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively with a range of partners and create and maintain effective working relationships. This will include the ability to negotiate good outcomes and advise and guide others to make sound decisions.

Ability to work on your own initiative, anticipate problems, present solutions, and make frequent informed decisions

Ability to work flexibly as required across different areas within the Children's Services Commissioning Team, embrace change and have the flexibility to respond to the needs of the service.

Qualifications and/or experience:

HNC or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating that level of numeracy, literacy and communication skills. Experience of working in brokerage and/or contract management - Desirable Experience of working within Children's Services - Desirable Experience and enthusiasm for work within a department to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people. Experience of working as part of a team, independently and with a range of professional groups.

Benefits

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.



For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.



In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:

How to Apply

The reference number for this role is

CAFHE05811

.



For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Catherine Price at

catherine.price@westsussex.gov.uk

To apply, please follow the links below to complete the application and upload your CV and Cover Letter. Please outline your motivations for applying and explain how you meet the key skills listed in full and the experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.



For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our

application help

page.



Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!




Job Reference: CAFHE05811