Job Introduction
Job Title: Placement Review Officer - 2 positions available
Starting Salary: £53,806 progressing to £59,497 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37
Location: Hybrid working - County wide - base location Apsley
Contract Type: Fixed Term until 30th May 2027
Directorate: Childrens Services
About the team
As the Placement Independent Review Officer, you will sit alongside the Independent Review Officer (IRO) team. This team comes under Specialist Services and supports the oversight of Children Looked After in Hertfordshire.
The main focus of this role is to ensure that Children Looked After in Hertfordshire are safeguarded in their residential homes and in-house foster placements, highlighting areas of good practice but also challenging and escalating areas of concern.
The main interactions will be with the eight (current) residential homes; their staff teams, home managers and the senior management within residential services including the Responsible Individual for Hertfordshire, as well as the supervising social workers and fostering managers/senior managers within the Fostering Service. Alongside this, you will work alongside the IROs allocated to the children in residential care and or in foster placements where concerns have occurred.
This part of the IRO team is a small team made up of two workers sharing the role of completing Regulation 44 reports and independent fostering reviews.
About the role
As a Placement Reviewing Officer, you will be responsible for undertaking Independent Fostering Reviews, providing an objective perspective and robust review of Foster Carers. You will complete independent oversight for complex reviews, including those involving concerns about Standards of Care or cases requiring LADO involvement, and present your reports to Fostering Panel.
You will also carry out Independent (Regulation 44) visits to Hertfordshire’s Residential Children’s Homes, ensuring high‑quality oversight of safeguarding, welfare, and the lived experience of children in care.
Across both areas of work, you will place the child at the centre of your practice, championing their voice and contributing to improved outcomes for children looked after by the local authority.
You will play a key role in the quality assurance of placements across Hertfordshire, completing audits and identifying areas for improvement to ensure services remain safe, effective, and child‑focused.
About you
Essential:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required.
- High quality evidenced based, analytical reports are an essential part of this role. You will need to be confident to challenge when necessary, as well as chair complex fostering reviews and present to fostering panel.
- You must be educated to degree level in Social Care, a professional qualified, registered social worker adhering to the Social Work England standards. You will need good assessment, analysis and safeguarding skills.
- You will have a strong understanding of both of the following areas:
- Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, including the purpose and requirements of Regulation 44 monthly independent visits to assure safeguarding, welfare and quality of care.
- Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, covering welfare, safeguarding, behaviour management, health, education, and support for foster carers. You will have an excellent understanding of the National Minimum Standards (NMS) for Fostering, including child‑focused standards, safeguarding, matching, supervision, and quality monitoring of fostering services.
- You must also have experience of managing and/or supervising staff and cases within the context of complex childcare social work. Experience within a Fostering Provider and/or Residential Management would be an advantage.
- There is a requirement to travel both within and outside of this large county; therefore, access to transport is essential. We require you to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle.
Desirable:
- Ability to work under pressure.
- Ability to understand procedures and policy and challenge practice where necessary
- Good organisation skills and time keeping.
We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.
This job role is within the health and social care, level 13 job profile. Please locate this via:
Job profiles - Health and social care
To hear more about this opportunity please contact Nicky Hardwick (Nicky.Hardwick@hertfordshire.gov.uk) for an informal discussion about the role.
Interview Date: 14th April 2026
How to apply
As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.
Secondment
This position is open to secondments. If you work for HCC or any other Local Authority and would like to be considered as a Secondment contract, please ensure you complete the Secondment Form as part of your application. If you do not, your application will be considered as a Fixed Term Contract only.
Additional information
Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.
Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.
English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.