Early Years and childcare Brokerage Officer

As the Early Years and childcare Brokerage Officer you will support the delivery of a brokerage service for parents in Birmingham who are facing barriers to accessing early years and childcare places and services to meet the needs of their families. You will support the Early Years service to meet the legislative requirements of Section 12 of the Childcare Act 2006 and Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and be a point of reference for professionals within and outside Birmingham City Council for information and advice affecting families to successfully access childcare provision. What we are about The Data and Information Team within the Early Years and Childcare Service is responsible for providing accurate and relevant information to Early Years Settings, families and the wider public regarding opportunities available to the sector, support available to families and targeted information on Early Years services/provision. We also manage the Early Years and Childcare Service data and reporting systems and look to provide statistics that will underpin the way that we work and to help answer the big questions put to us on how our service is performing and how we plan to drive forward to meet future challenges. What you will do

• Deliver a confidential and impartial brokerage and complex advice service, ensuring vulnerable parents are supported to access appropriate services.
• Liaise closely with childcare providers to actively seek and utilise accurate vacancy data and information to enable successful brokerage of places
• Working closely with families, partner professionals and childcare providers, you will be the key point of contact ensuring high quality communication to identify childcare needs to successfully brokering childcare places
• Work with professional partners to identify vulnerable families, remove barriers and enable them to access support to meet their needs to achieve greater stability and independence.
• Work with partner professionals to ensure effective information sharing is in place regarding good quality provision to meet the needs of the children and families
• Ensure groups and communities such as families with a disabled child, parents/carers with a disability and families for whom English is an additional language have access to the brokerage service.
• Support the Family Information team to deliver Early Help connecting people to local solutions and guided self-help and enabling universal access to direct advice and guidance.
• Promote the Family Information Services across Birmingham to a variety of audiences including families and professionals by attending events and presenting formally or informally on the Family Information service.
• Contribute to the organisation's responsibility to safeguard and understand their own responsibilities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people.
• Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory and ethical requirements such as general data protection regulations.
  
  We welcome applications from people with caring responsibilities and flexible working options will be considered.
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be undertaken Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed.

These are exciting times to be working at Birmingham City Council. The City has experienced significant employment, housing and retail growth in recent years. To support the continued growth the city has agreed it is a priority to make Birmingham an aspirational city to grow up in. Working within the Early Years and Childcare Service, you will play a vital role in delivering the Council's Statutory duties to provide professional support services to all early years and childcare providers to meet the Local Authority statutory duties in respect of childcare sufficiency for children aged 0 -14 (16 for children with SEND) and early education for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. We have huge ambitions for Birmingham. As the shape of local government continues to change, we are determined to rise to the challenge and find new ways to ensure that our youngest children reach their full potential and are ready for their educational journey in school. Working at Birmingham City Council gives you the opportunity to play a part in meeting those ambitions. You must upload a Supporting Statement via the attachments part of your application. This is required for shortlisting; you need to describe how your experience and skills fit the essential criteria for the role as specified in the Person Specification. If you do not attach your Supporting Statement, your application will not be considered. Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people. We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application., Working for Birmingham City Council is more than just a job; it's about making life better for the 1 million plus people who live and work in the city., The Council is a fantastic place to work. You will find an organisation that is both challenging and supportive; with a leadership impatiently adventurous in its pursuit of excellence. There is a clear vision which is ensuring that the Council is working for communities today and building for tomorrow, we focus our resources on five key priorities:
• A Prosperous Birmingham: through a focus on inclusive economic growth, tackling unemployment, attracting inward investment, and maximising the benefits of the Commonwealth Games.
• An Inclusive Birmingham: through a focus on tackling poverty and inequality, empowering citizens, promoting diversity and civic pride, and supporting and enabling all children and young people to thrive.
• A Safe Birmingham: through a focus on making the city safer, safeguarding vulnerable citizens, increasing affordable housing, and tackling homelessness.
• A Healthy Birmingham: through a focus on tackling health inequalities, encouraging physical activity and healthy living, supporting mental health, and improving outcomes for adults with disabilities and older people.
• A Green Birmingham: through a focus on street cleanliness, improving air quality, continuing the route to net zero, and becoming a city of nature.
We see the Council's role as providing strategic leadership - that's being able to visualise a new future for the city and equipping others to share our vision. We want to ensure the provision of services for all, so we can support those least able to support themselves by working with partners and putting citizens and neighbourhoods at the heart of our decision-making. We are always looking for people who put the customer at the centre of their approach, with a commitment to excellence to help us achieve our vision. We will support you to develop and thrive in your role, building a pathway for long-term success, with lots of development opportunities, such as apprenticeships.

In return, we offer you excellent terms and conditions, generous annual leave, a great pension scheme, well-being support, annual travel passes and discounts at a number of city centre establishments.