The Children and Families Directorate are committed to developing a system and a way of working that will enable Staffordshire’s children to thrive within their own families and communities by addressing the root causes of difficulties for the whole family at the earliest point.

Staffordshire’s Children’s Service aims to:

• Maximise the achievement of better outcomes for families in Staffordshire using all available resources, effectively and efficiently.
• Support safer, healthier, thriving children whose needs are met within their families and communities where it is safe to do so, reducing the need for higher cost, complex interventions.
• Provide high quality statutory Children’s Service (Staffordshire County Council’s children’s services are currently rated as “Good” by Ofsted) that only works with those children and families who require this specialist level of intervention.

Our commissioning is focused upon reducing demand. We recognise that our commissioning must be evidenced based and future focused. Whilst the service within the cusp of statutory care is dealing with the issues that are presenting today we expect to commission services, relationships and practice smartly to prevent those issues presenting in the future.

The Education Commissioning Team has a focus on ensuring children and young people are able to access suitable education to meet their needs and given the opportunity to achieve their potential.

The Brokerage Officer will focus on ensuring those children who are unable to attend a school placement can access suitable alternative provision to meet their needs.

The role involves:

• Liaising with a range of practitioners and professionals to source and put in place alternative provision packages which meet individual needs.
• Training keyworkers and partners on the process for accessing alternative provision.
• Quality assurance of referrals for alternative provision.
• Promoting the dynamic purchasing system to new providers to increase the range of alternative provision available.

The ideal candidate will have:

• GCSE in Mathematics and English, or equivalent qualification
• NVQ3 or equivalent qualification or the relevant work experience
• An understanding of relevant legislative for Children and Families/Education Services
• Experience of liaising with, training, providing advice to a wide range of professionals
• Effective interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively in partnership with broad range of professionals

For further information about this role please contact Carolyn Knight at carolyn.knight@staffordshire.gov.uk

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too. 

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance. 

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.