Participation Officer – 2 Positions – Children’s Services Full Time

Vacancy Information

Hourly rate of pay: £19.15 – £21.44

Temporary for 23 months from appointment
Days and Hours of Work:
Monday – Friday, 09:00-17:00
To start asap.

East Lothian Council is seeking 2 Participation Officers to help us deliver our Transforming Services for Children programme.  The programme aims to transform how services are designed and delivered for children, young people and families in East Lothian in order to identify and meet needs at an early stage, preventing the need for high tariff interventions and statutory social work involvement.   

The Participation Officers will work within a growing team to help us focus on delivering targeted support at the right time.

You will need to speak to communities about their lived experiences, support and engage with local authority partners, the 3rd sector and local services at all levels. We are looking for someone who is confident to interpret data to enable us to identify need in a more targeted way and increase our partnerships with the 3rd sector.

This position will be key to helping us to ensure the right support is available for children and their families at the right time.

A secondment will be considered. If you would like to discuss this further please contact [email protected] 

Home Working Consideration  
Applications for homeworking or hybrid working will be considered for this post, subject to a trial period and in accordance with East Lothian Council’s Home Working and Worksmart Policies which can be found here. Home or Hybrid working options can be discussed with candidates invited for interview. All applicants must live in the UK and will be expected to attend Council offices from time to time as required.

Job Details

To develop systems, procedures and initiatives to facilitate effective communication between Children’s Services and children and families as users, potential users, and former users of services in the planning, delivery and monitoring of integrated services for children.

To advise and support all services working with children in East Lothian in integrating consumer involvement into their practice, to share skills and to disseminate training to staff.

To advise, support and train staff in methods of engaging and involving children and families, carers, and other relevant people in policy development, reviews of services, and personalising our services.

To co-ordinate the presentation of public information on multi-agency services.

To implement strategic initiatives as appropriate and to develop, promote and facilitate consumer involvement within services for children and families provided by agencies in East Lothian.

To communicate with and support parents/carers and service users’ forums and facilitate their involvement in the planning processes.

Please download the Job Outline/Person Specification (available under ‘Job Attachments’) for the full range of tasks and duties associated with this job.  You will need to refer to these in order to complete the application form.  You must ensure you meet every ‘essential’ criteria stated on the Person Specification to be considered for interview.

The ‘East Lothian Way’– values and behaviours we expect our employees to demonstrate in their everyday work.  Should you be invited to interview, you may be asked questions based on these behaviours.  Please refer to the document via the link to familiarise yourself with them.

Job Requirements

Relevant Qualifications
Educated to degree level in a relevant discipline e.g. Social Work, Community Work/Education, Health, Training and Development, Quality Assurance. 

Driving Licence
A full current driving licence is desirable for this post.

PVG Membership
This post is considered as Regulated Work with vulnerable children and/or protected adults, as specified in the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.

All preferred candidates for posts carrying out regulated work with these groups will be required to become a PVG Scheme member, or undergo a PVG Scheme update if they are already a member, prior to any formal offer of employment being made by East Lothian Council.

Please note: PVG member’s records are constantly updated with any new vetting information that arises. Any information that is disclosed on a PVG membership or update check, if relevant to the post being applied for, will be discussed with the applicant and investigated prior to any formal offer being made.

Please note:
If you have spent more than 3 months working or living outwith the UK in the last 5 years then you will be required to present a copy of an overseas criminal record check. Details of how to apply and contact details can be found on the GOV.UKwebsite.

Additional Information

For additional East Lothian Council employment information please click on the following link: www.eastlothian.gov.uk/nonteachinginfo

If you have any difficulties creating an account on MyJobScotland or applying for this post please contact the MyJobScotland support team via this link https://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/contact-us.

If you require further information about this vacancy, please call 01620 827868, or email us on [email protected]

Please note: We do not accept CV’s (either electronically or by mail).  All our vacancies must be applied for by fully completing the on-line application form.  Although there is an ‘import data from my CV’ function on MyJobScotland, this only imports very limited data and should not be relied upon to complete the application form.