Assistant Placements Officer

Ready to use your skills to help create brighter futures for children and young people? Join Five Rivers as an Assistant Placements Officer and become part of a team that has been transforming lives since 1989. As a social enterprise, everything we do is driven by one goal: delivering high-quality, child-centred services that make a lasting difference.

You can be based at our Salisbury or Bromsgrove with the final location agreed during the recruitment process. You will be joining fostering services that are all rated Good by Ofsted, with Outstanding features.

Our fostering services are growing, and we are looking for someone who can help us respond confidently and efficiently to referrals from across the country. In this varied role, you will ensure local authorities receive timely, accurate and high-quality information, helping us identify suitable placement opportunities and build trusted relationships with referring teams.

Working alongside Placements Officers and our fostering teams, you will be at the heart of the referral and matching process. You will process incoming referrals, prepare clear placement information and help connect children and young people with foster carers who can meet their needs. You will also support financial arrangements and data reporting, including agreeing placement fees and coordinating additional support with local authorities.

At Five Rivers, you will be part of a trauma-informed organisation where fostering, residential, clinical and education colleagues work together to secure the best possible outcomes for children and young people. Because we are a social enterprise, we reinvest in our services, our foster carers and our people-so your work will contribute directly to positive change.

What you will be doing:

• Keep in regular contact with social workers and foster carers, making sure agreed timescales stay on track.

• Gather the information needed to support thoughtful, effective matching and raise any issues promptly.

• Complete placement start paperwork and help local offices manage placement endings, internal moves and external respite arrangements.

• Get involved in foster carer recruitment and welcome newly approved carers through in-person and virtual induction events.

• Maintain agreed contact with foster carers who are currently without placements.

• Work with the Carer Recruitment Team to ensure profiles and welcome books are ready when carers are approved.

• Keep foster carer profiles, availability information and referral data accurate and up to date.

• Produce reports when needed and capture useful feedback from local authorities on unsuccessful offers.

• Support the Senior Placements Officer with framework agreements and complete the daily reconciliation of referrals.

• Step in during Placements Officer absences and contribute to wider administrative tasks and projects.

• Build positive, professional relationships with foster carers, social workers and commissioners.

View the full role profile: Assistant Placements Officer Job Profile - December 2023

What you can look forward to:

• A supportive, structured induction, including training in our paperless recording and management system, CHARMs.

• Regular professional supervision from a Senior Placements Officer or Service Manager.

• Day-to-day support from experienced Placements Officers across our fostering services.

• Opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in our clinical, education and residential teams.

• A competitive annual leave allowance.

• Genuine opportunities to develop your career and progress with us.

• A competitive, market-related salary.

• A pension scheme and access to our Employee Assistance Programme.

• Blue Light Card eligibility.

• Simplyhealth membership.

What you will bring:

• A positive, collaborative approach and a genuine commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for children, young people and foster carers.

• Experience within fostering or supporting children and young people in social care.

• The right to work in the UK.

Could this be your next role?