Independent Reviewing Officer

Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)

Children’s Services – Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Do you want to make a real difference for children in Dudley?

Do you have the confidence and expertise to ensure every child’s voice is heard, valued and acted upon?

Are you passionate about driving high-quality, child-centred practice and holding services to account?

If so, Dudley Children’s Services would love to hear from you.

About the Role

As an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) within Dudley, you will play a key role in ensuring that our most vulnerable children receive the care, protection and support they need to thrive.

You will provide independent oversight and challenge to ensure that care planning is effective, timely, and focused on improving outcomes for children and young people.

Key responsibilities include:

• Chairing statutory reviews for children in care, ensuring plans are clear, ambitious and delivered within timescales
• Promoting and safeguarding the rights, voice and lived experience of children and young people
• Ensuring children’s views are meaningfully reflected in all planning and decision-making
• Producing high-quality, child-focused records, review minutes and outcome letters
• Providing robust oversight of care planning, clearly evidencing your impact on children’s journeys
• Offering constructive challenge across the multi-agency network to drive improvement
• Escalating concerns where practice does not meet required standard

About You

We are looking for a confident and experienced social work professional who is committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for children.

You will bring:

• A strong commitment to child-centred, rights-based practice
• Confidence to challenge appropriately and influence practice across agencies
• At least 5 years’ post-qualifying experience in Children and Families social work
• Experience of working with children in care and safeguarding processes
• A sound understandingof relevant legislation and statutory guidance, including:
  • Children in Care
  • Children’s rights and participation
  • Court processes and local authority duties
• Experience of chairing or contributing to multi-agency meetings
• The ability to manage professional challenge and resolve conflict effectively
• Flexibility to travel across the borough where require

About Our Team and Service

At Dudley, our people are our greatest strength, and we are committed to creating a supportive and ambitious environment where staff can thrive.

You will join a skilled and dedicated IRO service that:

• Promotes a culture of reflection, learning and continuous improvement
• Places the voice of the child at the centre of everything we do
• Works collaboratively with social workers, managers and partner agencies
• Has high aspirations for every child and young person in our care
• Is committed to improving outcomes and driving practice excellence

We are on an improvement journey and are looking for professionals who share our ambition to make Dudley one of the best places for children to live and grow up.

Essential Requirements

• Degree in Social Work (or equivalent recognised qualification)
• Registration with Social Work England
• Experience relevant to the IRO role

This post is subject to an Enhanced DBS check (Adults’ and Children’s Barred List).

Benefits of Working for Dudley Council

We are committed to supporting your professional development and wellbeing, offering:

• A supportive leadership team and manageable structure
• Opportunities for ongoing learning and development
• A strong focus on staff wellbeing and work-life balance
• The opportunity to be part of a service committed to meaningful improvement

Further Information

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact:
Karen Ireland-Graham at karen.ireland-graham@dudley.gov.uk

For full details, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification.

Key Details

• Hours: 37 hours per week
• Contract: Permanent
• Closing Date: 26/6/2026
• Interview Date: to be confirmed

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if a high volume of applications is received.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Dudley Council is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are particularly keen to improve representation across our workforce.

We operate a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for eligible candidates who meet the essential criteria.

So that we can demonstrate Dudley’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and to improve bias in the recruitment process that could create barriers for candidates. Your personal data will be anonymised when you apply, to ensure that you comply with our anonymisation process, please ensure you have removed your name and date of birth from any attachments prior to uploading them to your application.

Online application forms will only be accepted for this vacancy, online facilities for jobs are available at public libraries within the Dudley Borough.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation to prove their right to work in the UK.

Please note: Dudley MBC does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

If you require support completing an online or paper application form and or interview techniques, please contact Dudley Adult and Community Learning on 01384 818 143 or acl@dudley.gov.uk who can support with Digital Skills and Job Applications.

If you have a disability and require assistance in making an application please contact the HR Resourcing Team via HR.Resourcing@dudley.gov.uk

If you are experiencing a problem whilst applying for a position, please follow the link below to the WM Jobs Help Page in the first instance https://help.wmjobs.co.uk/

If the WM Jobs Help Page does not resolve your issue then please contact the HR Resourcing Team via HR.Resourcing@dudley.gov.uk

Dudley Council will check the information that you have provided against any details already held for accuracy and completeness. The Council will check, share and cross match your information both internally within the council and with external organisations to protect public funds and prevent or detect crime, only where the law allows us to do so.

The Council’s full Privacy and Disclaimer Statement can be accessed on the website at https://www.dudley.gov.uk/privacy-disclaimer-statement/

N.B. We reserve the right to close this vacancy prior to the advertised date should we receive a large number of applications

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