Education Placement Officer

Our Story:

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring two iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services.

We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team:

Our Commissioning and Placements Team help to arrange and manage services and placements for children and young people who need support, especially those in care, with SEND needs, or requiring specialist services. We work collaboratively with foster carers, residential homes, schools, and external providers to make sure children get the right support in the right place, while also managing contracts and quality across Children’s Services.

This role is primarily based at Rutland House with flexibility to work on a hybrid and agile basis.

Hours: 37

Your Contributions:

As an Education Placement Officer, it is vital that you hold an NVQ Level 3 or equivalent and have the relevant experience, as detailed on the job profile.

Some of the main responsibilities of the role include:

• Sourcing and securing suitable education placements for children and young people in independent and non-maintained schools, based on assessed needs and statutory requirements

• Working with other professionals to manage referrals, provide placement advice, and support the placement process

• Maintaining accurate records, contracts, placement agreements, and data systems to track placements, payments, and provider information

• Monitoring invoices, placement activity, and market information - including Ofsted ratings and new providers - to support commissioning and service planning

• Acting as a key point of contact during referrals, ensuring processes are followed correctly and providing guidance and challenge where needed

This role is fixed term for 24 months.

Our Offer:

Aside from working with a great team, our employees have access to a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service

• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions

• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme

• Investment in your personal development

• Free Car Parking at HBC sites

• Flexible working arrangements

• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme

Next Steps:

At Halton Borough Council, we want all of our candidates to feel well-informed so if you would like to have an informal chat about this role, please contact Claire Gurney – Claire.Gurney@halton.gov.uk.

Interviews are expected to take place on 9th July.

At Halton Borough Council we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects. We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions. If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – resourcing@halton.gov.uk

Please refer to the attached Job Profile for further information about the role and our values.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications. If you’re interested, please complete your application as early as possible.

We look forward to receiving your application!