Project Support Officer - Care to Career

Package Description

Responsible to: Programme Lead (LIIA)

Starting salary: £36,342

Working Hours: 35 per week

Contract details: This role is a full-time position. However, part-time (0.6 FTE) applicants will be considered. The 0.6 FTE working arrangements will be based on a 3 day working week. Some remote working will be required by the post-holder. There will be some in-person requirement which will fluctuate in relation to the changing needs of the project.

If you have any queries or would like to informally discuss the role, please contact Matt Raleigh, LIIA Programme Lead at matthew.raleigh@londoncouncils.gov.uk. 

Please be advised that the application deadline for this role will close at 11:59pm on Tuesday 20th May. Interviews are scheduled for Wednesday 28th of May. 

Job Introduction

The London Innovation and Improvement Alliance (LIIA) is the Association of London Directors of Children’s Services (ALDCS) sector-led improvement partnership and is hosted by London Councils. We exist to facilitate collaboration to address ALDCS priorities, provide a platform for innovation, identify and share effective practice and produce and make accessible shared datasets.

 Aligned to ALDCS priorities our programme is focused on five key workstreams; Adolescent Safeguarding, SEND, Resources, Workforce, and Care Leavers, underpinned by crosscutting themes.

 We are seeking to grow the team and require a motivated Project Support Officer to join us in supporting London’s local authorities through collaboration to improve the outcomes and experience for children in the capital.

Main Responsibilities

 LIIA has a varied and exciting programme of work, delivering research, joint projects and policy advocacy to support children’s services within the boroughs.

The Project Support Officer role will enable you to build professional expertise in strategic projects and children’s services, providing direct exposure to all activities associated with our delivery and service to London’s Local Authorities, and working as part of an expert and dynamic team.

The role will support LIIA’s ‘care leaving’ workstream, and a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) being run by Youth Futures Foundation to establish ‘what works’ in terms of supporting young people leaving local authority care into education, training and employment; by contributing to research and data analysis; coordinating meetings, workshops, and governance boards; ensuring effective planning, reporting, and follow-up; providing administration, event planning, communications (including developing content for briefings, newsletters, social media, and website updates), and stakeholder engagement.

Read about the job activities in more detail in the Job Description and Person Specification document attached below.

The Ideal Candidate

We are looking for a highly motivated and organised individual with strong administrative skills, project delivery experience, and excellent written and verbal communication abilities. You should have a basic understanding of children's services in local government and research principles, be confident using Microsoft Office and creative platforms like Canva, and demonstrate excellent attention to detail. A proactive team player with the ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and uphold confidentiality, you will also have a strong commitment to equality, high-quality work, and collaborative working across teams.

 We are passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities, including the care-experienced community.

 All applications will be processed using a blind sifting method. This means that personal identifying details will be removed to ensure fair and unbiased shortlisting of applications.

Please note that anyone using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Copilot to answer sift questions may be marked down if they do not also include original content that demonstrates their aptitude, experience and skills. Using these tools also runs the risk of plagiarism.

About The Company

London Councils is the collective of London local government, the 32 boroughs and the City of London Corporation. They come together through London Councils to work in collaboration to deliver their shared ambitions for London and Londoners.

Through lobbying, collaboration and partnership, we ensure the voice of the London boroughs are united, and heard at a local, regional and national level.

We also run a number of services on behalf of the boroughs including the Freedom Pass, Taxicard and Health Emergency Badge (HEB) and London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS).

Read more about London Councils - London Councils