Project Lead - London, United Kingdom - Penna for London Borough of Lewisham

Description

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK's first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

Introduction

Here in Lewisham, we are proud that most of our looked after children live with supportive, caring, and committed foster families.

Our ambition is to increase the number of Lewisham Council registered foster carers, so more of our children are cared for by local families.

To help meet this objective, Lewisham Council has received a Department for Education (DfE) grant to pilot a new foster carer led recruitment hub, and for Lewisham's foster carers to be the Champions of Fostering in the Borough.

Our aim is to support more members of the public to consider a career in fostering and make Lewisham Council their agency of choice and be proud to be part of the Lewisham fostering family.

What's the role?
This is a temporary role for 12 months.

Working with our effective marketing and recruitment strategy and plan, the foster carer recruitment hub will help raise public awareness about the need for more people in the local community and surrounding areas to work as foster carers.

The project lead will be responsible for devising a programme of recruitment activities, shaped by the marketing plan and work in partnership with colleagues in the fostering service and the dedicated foster carer recruitment marketing officer.

The recruitment hub will be part of the wider fostering service, with social workers in the service completing the carer assessments.

Recruiting foster carers will support applicants through the preparation, assessment, and post approval, when they begin to look after children and young people.

What's in it for you?
Excellent training and development opportunities, plus a range of benefits including:

• Generous holiday allowance
• Local Government Pension scheme
• Flexible working and family friendly policies
• Season ticket and bicycle loans
• A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships
• Supportive staff networks

What we're looking for

We are seeking a suitably experienced project lead who will co-produce the project plan and deliver the aims and objectives of the recruitment hub in accordance with our recruitment and retention foster carers strategy.

A social work qualification is not a required for this role.

Instead, you need to demonstrate a proven ability to lead and manage this work with a group of employed foster carers.

You will be based in the Fostering Recruitment Hub in Catford. Part of your role is to design this space to deliver recruitment activities.

You will ensure the employed carers are suitably trained and supported to undertake this role.

This will include managing a clear project plan to timescale and ensuring regular performance reports are available for senior managers to inform and update the DfE about the progress of this project.

Excellent communication skills are a must.

It is essential that the project lead can proactively invite and engage with all sections of the community, regardless of their backgrounds, be agile and flexible in their approach, look at different options and types of fostering arrangements as potential resources for Lewisham.

You will be expected to work in with partnership with a wide variety of individuals and organisations within Lewisham and surrounding areas, including foster carers, social workers, the communications team, community and faith groups, local businesses, and the media.

We are seeking an innovative and creative individual who has experience of delivering community-based projects and can evidence their success with a similar project and who has relevant transferable skills.

You will have a small budget to manage costs associated with recruitment activities.

You will be managed by the Head of Service for Care Resources and receive ongoing support and supervision.

Due to the anticipated and regular face to face engagement needed, this role requires the successful applicant to be office based at the Fostering Recruitment Hub in Catford with flexibility for some hybrid working.

Closing date:
Tuesday 05th March 2024, 23;59pm

Job Types:
Full-time, Temporary contract

Contract length: 12 months


Salary:
£46,053.00-£48,063.00 per year


Work Location:
In person