We are seeking a full-time permanent Lead Children’s Commissioning Home-Finder to join our team of home-finders. The successful candidate’s base is in Truro, but in line with Council policy staff now work a mix of office and home working.

The Lead Children’s Commissioning Home-finder will work as part of the Home-finding hub under the direction of the Commissioning Manager and will hold case responsibility, manage a duty rota, have an advisory role to the team supporting them on a daily basis and deputise for the Commissioning Manager when required.

Home-finders identify and secure homes for children and young people in care. They do this by working collaboratively with internal and external customers including social workers in family assessment teams, children in care teams, child protection teams, foster carers and their supervising social workers, independent fostering agencies and residential providers. The post holder will enter discussions with carers and providers of care in matching and meeting the needs of children and young people referred. Using matching criteria, they seek well-matched homes to enable children and young people in care to achieve positive outcomes.

We are looking for someone with a flexible attitude and diverse range of skills and experience which include: supporting a small team, the ability to appropriately challenge, manage and allocate workloads, and review and quality assure referrals. You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills in order to build and maintain working relationships, and a professional approach applying discretion and diplomacy. You will attend meetings representing the home-finding team to discuss home-finding arrangements and be able to do this in line with regulations and with a creative approach working with professional colleagues. The successful applicant will enjoy the challenge of working within a busy team environment and display flexibility while often working to deadlines.

The Together for Families directorate provides support to children and families within the county. Cornwall Council is an evolving and developing organisation that requires a level of responsiveness within its services and from its employees. The post-holder will respond positively within this type of environment, pro-actively accepting the challenges and opportunities that are fundamental within a changing organisation.

This position will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

For this recruitment please do not upload any additional documentation in support of this application. Applications will be considered based on the screening questions and qualifications and experience provided within the application form and any further attachments will not be considered when the recruiting managers are shortlisting for interview.

Please view the role profile here, your application will need to demonstrate how you meet the required criteria. Please ensure you answer all of the pre-screening questions in full, within the application form. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g. race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

More information about working for Cornwall Council is available here.

We are happy to talk about flexible working options.