Placements Officer

Placement Officer 

Location: Bedford
Contract: Initial 3 months
Hours: 37 per week
Pay Rate: £31.77 per hour (Umbrella) | £25.00 per hour (PAYE exclusive)

Bedford Borough Council is seeking an experienced and highly organised Placement Officer to join our Children’s Services team on an initial 3-month contract.

This is a key role within a high-profile area of children’s social care, responsible for sourcing, securing, and managing high-quality placements for children looked after and care leavers, including those with complex and high-level needs.

You will play a vital role in ensuring children and young people are placed in safe, suitable, and well-matched placements, while working collaboratively with internal teams and external providers to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead on searching for, sourcing, and securing suitable placements for children looked after and care leavers, including complex cases
• Manage placement searches from referral through to placement confirmation
• Quality assure placement referral forms and provider documentation, ensuring regulatory compliance
• Verify provider registration and highlight any compliance concerns
• Negotiate placement packages, terms, and costs with external providers
• Work closely with social work teams, particularly fostering services, to ensure internal options are fully explored
• Manage and maintain placement databases, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information
• Develop and improve systems for effective data use across the wider council
• Contribute to commissioning activity including tendering, framework development, evaluation, and monitoring
• Produce and analyse management information, financial data, and performance reports
• Attend placement/resource panels and contribute to decision-making processes
• Manage respite placement requests for in-house foster carers
• Oversee payment processes to external providers and respond to financial queries
• Ensure clear, professional, and confidential communication with all stakeholders

About You:

We are looking for a proactive and detail-focused professional who can thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment. You will ideally have:

• Experience in placement commissioning, brokerage, or children’s social care placements
• Strong knowledge of children looked after systems and care leaver pathways
• Experience working with external providers, fostering services, or social work teams
• Confidence in negotiation, costing, and contract/package management
• Strong analytical skills with experience handling data, reporting, and management information systems
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities
• A high level of accuracy, compliance awareness, and attention to detail
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to handle sensitive information with professionalism and discretion

This is an excellent opportunity to join a busy and impactful children’s services team, supporting some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the local authority system.

If you are interested, please apply with your CV or contact us for further details.