Southend City Council are looking to appoint a full-time, permanent Fostering Senior Placements Officer.

The Placement Officer plays a central and strategic role within the Fostering Service, ensuring that children and young people who require care are matched with the most appropriate in-house foster carers. The purpose of the role is not simply to find a bed, but to facilitate thoughtful, child-centred matching that promotes stability, safety, and positive long-term outcomes. The Placement Officer is responsible for coordinating and leading the day-to-day placement process for children who require short-term, long-term, respite, emergency, or parent-and-child placements. This involves receiving and quality assuring referrals, analysing the child’s needs, and working closely with supervising social workers, children’s social workers, team managers, and commissioning colleagues to identify the most suitable placement options.

A key function of the role is to undertake robust and defensible matching exercises. This means carefully considering the child’s presenting needs, trauma history,

Within this position, hybrid working opportunities are available. However, you are required to be on-site at the Civic Centre a minimum of 2 days a week.

To be shortlisted for this position, you must be educated to degree level and have previous experience within children social care and fostering services.

You are required to have a combination of knowledge, judgement, analytical ability, and strong relational skills. This is a pivotal role that directly impacts placement stability, child outcomes, and foster carer retention. It requires someone who understands both the urgency of placement finding and the importance of thoughtful, child-centred matching.
A successful Placement Officer will have a strong understanding of the needs of Looked After Children, including the impact of trauma, attachment disruption, neglect, and instability. They must be able to interpret referral information critically and identify gaps, inconsistencies, or risks. This includes confidently challenging incomplete referrals and seeking clarification to ensure decisions are based on accurate and sufficient information. The ability to undertake robust matching is central to the role. This involves analysing a child’s needs alongside a foster carer.

This is not a case holding post.