Social Care Placements and Sufficiency Officer

Children and Young People

Children's Integration

Social Care Placements and Sufficiency Officer

Ref: 001156

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £34,434 to £38,220 per annum (Grade 6)

Hours: 36.66 per week, hybrid working arrangements

Location: The Spindles, George Street, Oldham OL1 1HD

Closing Date: Wednesday 3rd December 2025

Interview Date: TBC.

Hiring Manager: Helen Kostyk, Children's Commissioning Manager Placements

Role Overview:

This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of Oldham Council's Children and Young People's Commissioning Team. You will work in a fast paced rewarding role to identify and secure placements for Oldham's children and young people. You will be part of a team and service area driving improvements and working with providers and the market to ensure we understand and address changing needs and demands.

Key Responsibilities:

• To source and support the provision of placements for children and young people who are looked after by Oldham Council to ensure suitable, timely and quality placements are made to meet needs.
• To quality assure placements to ensure they are safe and delivering the best outcomes for Oldham's children and young people and can demonstrate value for money
• To track placements activity and to contribute to the overall management and oversight of placements that are made within the Children and Young People Directorate.

Key Requirements:

• Work as part of a team including multi-agency arrangements in an exciting and fast paced working environment
• Demonstrate excellent communication skills at a range of levels and work collaboratively with a range of settings including external organisations and providers
• Ability to use negotiation, persuading and influencing skills to achieve desired results/outcomes
• Understand the placement market and contribute to new and creative models of delivery

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the 'About You' or 'Supporting Statement' section of your application.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

About Us:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We've identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We're looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

Our Values and Behaviours:

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are 'Proud, Ambitious, and Together', and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

• Work with a resident focus
• Support local leaders
• Committed to the borough
• Delivery high performance
• Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our Oldham page

Our Benefits Package:

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

• 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years' service
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
• Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
• Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
• Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Staff recognition and celebration events.
• Peer support groups

Inclusive Recruitment:

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

If you're an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer or someone who has served in the Armed Forces and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under ourGuaranteed Assessment Scheme.

Data and Privacy:

For details of how we use your data please see our privacy notice.

Important Information:

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

While we embrace the use of AI as an innovative tool to maximise our services at Oldham Council, we are looking for authenticity in applications we receive. We therefore ask you to think carefully if choosing to use AI when completing your application and ask that you ensure you read all instructions carefully and that your application is written by you and reflects your skills, knowledge and enthusiasm.