Salary: Band 10, £41,510 to £45,718 per annum
Contract: Fixed Term to 31 July 2025
Hours: Full time (37 hours per week)
Location: Based in the Civic Offices, Portsmouth, with the option to work remotely (up to 3 days depending on the needs of the service)
Closing date: Sunday 12 January 2025, 23:59
Interview date: Tuesday 28 January 2025
Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children.
DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.
Why come to live and work in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth is a great waterfront city and a vibrant place to live and work. It is an island city with an “inner city” feel, a seaside location packed with attractions and events, and the advantage of fantastic countryside on its doorstep. With fast road and rail links to London, Brighton and major airports, and ferry links to Europe, it is the perfect place to live and work. Portsmouth has a strong history of partnership working and has successfully integrated several local services.
The Service:
The Children, Families and Education Directorate is primarily focussed on delivering its statutory duties as well as a range of high-quality supporting traded services. Within the Directorate, the Sufficiency and Resources Service supports school organisation, school management and school improvement.
Your New Role:
You will work alongside the School Place Planning and School Organisation Officer in relation to school organisation and place planning matters, and to develop and implement appropriate systems to ensure the effective management of school, SEND and alternative provision place planning. You will analyse data and develop projection methodologies which build a holistic, robust and accurate picture of the supply and demand for school places in Portsmouth. You will monitor and report on school placement to ensure that the relevant information is provided to enable the local authority to meet its statutory obligations.
Please read the job profile for the full details of this role.
What you'll need to succeed:
You have knowledge and experience of pupil place planning, school organisation, benchmarking, school capital funding requirements and ideally Academy transfers, at a senior level, as well as data management and analysis and of preparing and writing reports and briefing notes. You have strong communication and influencing skills, excellent project management and contract management skills, can deliver presentations and work to tight deadlines. You are innovative and open to new ways of doing things, interested in best practice and able to guide others and drive change. You are an excellent team player who understands and appreciates the benefits of a diverse workforce and recognises the value in different styles, approaches and contributions.
Please read the job profile for the full details of this role.
You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.
What you'll get in return:
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
- Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave.
- A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return.
- Flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview.
- Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships.
- Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme
- Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme
- Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more.
Staff rewards: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/working-for-the-council/
Additional Information:
The full job profile is attached here.
Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:
Jo Hill, Sufficiency and Capital Strategy Manager, jo.hill@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 437 598
A commitment to our values:
We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.
Application process:
How to complete your application: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/how-to-apply/
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
Please submit both a CV and a cover letter/personal statement. Remember to demonstrate in your cover letter/personal statement why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' section of the full Job Profile, using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.
If you upload a CV without a cover letter/personal statement, it is unlikely that your application will be successful.
Please ensure you provide your full education history from secondary school, include name/address of establishment, details of relevant qualifications & awarding body. Please explain any gaps - this is essential for all safeguarding children's roles.
We will email applicants from time to time; please ensure you check e-mail folders as sometimes our e-mails may go into spam/junk folders.
We look forward to speaking with you soon.
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
