Children's Brokerage Officer - 05586

Are you passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people? Do you have the skills to negotiate, problem-solve, and build strong relationships with providers and professionals?

West Berkshire Council is seeking a motivated and child-focused Children's Brokerage Officer to join our expanding Children's Commissioning Team.

This is a rewarding role at the heart of Children's Services, where you will help secure the right support, at the right time, for some of our most vulnerable children and young people. Working closely with Social Workers, SEND colleagues, providers, and commissioning professionals, you will play a vital role in identifying high-quality placements and support services that enable children to thrive.

About the Role

As a Children's Brokerage Officer, you will:

• Source and secure placements and specialist support services for children and young people.
• Work closely with Social Care and SEND professionals to understand individual needs and develop effective placement searches.
• Build positive profiles of children requiring support to help providers assess suitability.
• Engage with providers across fostering, residential care, supported accommodation, specialist education, respite care and alternative provision.
• Negotiate costs and secure good value for money whilst maintaining a strong focus on quality and outcomes.
• Maintain accurate records and contribute to reporting, market intelligence, and sufficiency planning.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with local and regional providers.
• Support children, families and practitioners by ensuring placement searches progress efficiently and effectively.

This is a fixed term role (time limited project) 12 months from start date.

About You

We're looking for someone who:

• Has experience working within children's social care, education, SEND, commissioning, or a related field.
• Is highly organised and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Has excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
  Is confident negotiating and appropriately challenging providers and partners.
• Can analyse information and present options clearly to decision-makers.
• Is committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
• Enjoys collaborative working and contributing to a supportive team culture.

West Berkshire Council offer excellent employment benefits such as:

• Flexible working wherever possible between the hours of 07.00-21.00
• Hybrid working wherever possible working 40% in the office
• Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities
• Generous Local Government pension scheme
• Family friendly policies
• A range of local discounts
• Wellbeing Programme including Employee Assistance Programme and employee benefits
• You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days per annum (plus public holidays) Rising by an additional 5 days after 5 years’ service. (Pro rata for FTC)

Please note that the closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Join us at West Berkshire Council and make a positive impact in our community while advancing your career. Explore everything that a career with West Berkshire Council has to offer here: Working with Us

For informal queries relating to this role, please contact Nancy nancy.fernando1@westberks.gov.uk

Equal Opportunities

The Council supports Equal Opportunity of employment and positively encourages applications from people who fall within any of the nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

How to apply

Please now complete a short online application form. You will then be able to upload your CV.

This role has been identified as public facing in accordance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016; the requirement to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English applies.

West Berkshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all its staff and volunteers to share these values. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. This role involves regulated activity with children. As such, appointment is subject to an Enhanced DBS check with the relevant Barred List(s).

In this post you will be required to maintain continuous registration with the DBS Update Service for the duration of your employment.

This privacy notice applies to job applicants applying for vacancies with West Berkshire Council https://info.westberks.gov.uk/pnapplications

AI in Applications

We recognise that candidates may choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support the preparation of their job applications. When used appropriately, AI can be a helpful aid in structuring responses, checking clarity, and improving presentation.

However, applications must reflect your own skills, experience and understanding. If an application appears to rely excessively on AI-generated content, it may not meet the required standard and could be rejected.

We encourage all applicants to ensure their submissions are authentic, tailored to the role, and clearly demonstrate their own knowledge, experience and suitability.