Quality Assurance Officer - Regional Fostering Recruitment

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO3 £44,331 - £47,532
Contract Type: Full-time - Fixed term contract ending 31/03/26 with potential to be extended beyond
Working hours per week: 36 

Application Deadline: 26/05/2025

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC
Reference: 1745

About Us: 

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. 

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents. 

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment. 

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method. 

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice. 

About the role: 

The purpose of the Quality Assurance Officer role is to produce high-quality analysis and reporting to drive operational decision-making and service improvement. This involves planning and delivering quality assurance projects, sharing insights with senior managers, and supporting the development of an insight and intelligence culture throughout the service and its partners.
 

>> Click here to download the Role Profile << 

Key Responsibilities: 

Prepare and analyse qualitative and quantitative data to produce intelligence and insights about fostering recruitment across the Local Community Partnership.

Design audit and quality assurance systems in consultation with Senior Managers to enable tracking  against national and local indicators / standards.

Support managers in auditing and prepare written reports on outcomes, following through on recommendations to ensure improvement. 

Develop systems to disseminate insights arising from qualitative and quantitative analysis to ensure opportunities for improvement are acted upon.

In consultation with senior managers, write and update procedures, policies, and practice standards to support good practice across Local Community Fostering and partner authorities.

Ensure audit and quality assurance activities link with partner agencies to enable wider learning and service improvement.

Design and develop visual reports and dashboards to provide actionable intelligence for managers and decision-makers.

Present QA reports to Governance Boards, Senior Management Groups and other forums as required.

Contribute to (and lead where appropriate) the completion and submission of statutory reporting requirements, including returns required by government departments and regulators

Identify and assess problems with the quality of data that is used for and presented in data reporting, and take action to address issues identified.

Research developments in relevant area. Collate process and analyse information / data. Translate outputs into advisory reports / documents / actions as appropriate. 

Lead on the development, implementation, maintenance and management of systems, policies, procedures and / or standards within area of responsibility.

Prepare and present a full range of reports (both standard and non-standard) covering area of responsibility.

Qualifications and Requirements: 

• Highly numerate, with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience of recording and reporting complex data and information, preferably within a public sector context.
• Understanding of how data is organised and managed in complex business environments.
• Knowledge and experience of data analysis tools and methods, including technology such as Excel and Power BI.
• Ability to learn how to extract and manipulate data using a coding language such as SQL, R and/or Python.
• Ability to produce clear data visualisations in reports and dashboards.
• Thorough understanding and experience of applying the requirements of GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

Terms and conditions: 

The below terms and conditions apply to this role: 

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks; 

Satisfactory declaration of interest; 

This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults; 

Satisfactory DBS check; 

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English. 

How to Apply: 

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy. 

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.  

Equal Opportunity Employer: 

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value. 

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy. 

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview. 

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us. 

Contact Information: 

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Roberta Onyekwelu, Head of Service at  Roberta.onyekwelu@walthamfores.gov.uk. 

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.