Childcare Sustainability Officer

Ciwmjobs; Birkenhead; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Wirral Council is seeking a motivated Childcare Sustainability Officer on a 2-year fixed term contract. You will work across childcare sufficiency, family engagement, early years funding, provider sustainability and service improvement to ensure access to high-quality childcare for local families.

You will collaborate with schools, childcare providers, Family Hubs and partners to develop and implement local priorities, analyse demand, identify gaps and support sustainable childcare solutions.

Qualifications

• Experience in early years, childcare, education, family support or related sector.
• Understanding of how childcare provision operates in practice.
• Able to manage multiple priorities within a busy evolving service.

Responsibilities

• Support the Council's childcare sufficiency responsibilities.
• Analyze local need and identify gaps in provision.
• Develop sustainable childcare solutions with providers and partners.
• Collaborate with schools, Family Hubs and Children's Centres to deliver projects.

Skills

Data analysis

Communication skills

Stakeholder engagement

Problem solving

Teamwork

Education

Level 3 qualification in Early Years

Job description

Wirral Council is a place where your work truly makes a difference. Employees are empowered to "#BeTheDifference" and help improve life for residents across one of the happiest and most welcoming areas in the UK. With its stunning coastline, vibrant communities, and ambitious vision for the future, Wirral offers an exceptional setting to grow your career and feel valued every day. If you're looking for a role where you can thrive, develop, and make real impact, Wirral Council is the perfect place to apply.

Childcare Sustainability Officer - 2-year fixed term contract

Are you passionate about ensuring families have access to good quality sustainable childcare? This is an exciting opportunity to join Wirral's Early Years Entitlements Team.

The role provides an opportunity to work across a variety of areas including childcare sufficiency, family engagement, early years funding, provider sustainability, and service improvement. You will support the implementation of local priorities and national initiatives, contributing to programmes that make a real difference to children, families and communities. This is a varied and rewarding role that would suit someone who enjoys building relationships, solving problems, working with data and developing practical solutions to improve services and outcomes.

About the Role

Working as part of a supportive and ambitious team, you will contribute to the delivery of key local and national priorities, helping to improve access to childcare and early years services for families across the borough. Working collaboratively with schools, childcare providers, Family Hubs, Children's Centres and a range of partners, you will play a key role in supporting service development, delivering projects, analysing local need and helping to ensure children and families can access the support they need.

A key aspect of the role would be supporting the Council's childcare sufficiency responsibilities, helping to understand whether there is enough childcare available in the right places to meet the needs of local families. You will work with providers and partners to identify gaps in provision, understand barriers to access and support the development of sustainable childcare solutions. You will also work closely with childcare providers, schools and stakeholders to support the long-term sustainability of childcare provision. This may include supporting providers to understand statutory guidance, reviewing delivery models, and developing business plans.

About the Candidate

We are looking for a motivated, organised and collaborative individual who is passionate about supporting children and families. You will have experience of working within early years, childcare, education, family support or a related sector and will understand how childcare provision operates in practice. This may include experience of delivering, managing or supporting childcare services within the private, voluntary, independent or school sectors.

The successful candidate will understand the opportunities and challenges associated with delivering sustainable childcare provision, including awareness of different childcare delivery models, funding arrangements and the factors that influence parental demand. You will be confident building effective relationships with a broad range of stakeholders and capable of managing multiple priorities within a busy and evolving service.

You will be comfortable working with information and data, supporting projects and translating policy and guidance into practical solutions. You will have strong communication skills and a commitment to delivering high-quality services that meet the needs of children, families and providers. You will hold a minimum Level 3 qualification in Early Years, Business Administration, Business Studies or a related discipline and be committed to improving outcomes for children and families across Wirral.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a forward-thinking service and play a meaningful role in delivering Wirral's ambition for children and families.

If you would like to discuss the role, please contact: [e-mail]

We believe in giving you the flexibility to work where you're most productive. This role offers a hybrid working arrangement, combining the benefits of remote work with the collaboration and connection of in-office days, twice a week.

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. For this vacancy, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK before commencing employment. Skilled Worker visa sponsorship is not available for this post. Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process.

This is not legal advice, and we advise you to seek your own independent legal advice tailored to your own personal circumstances.

If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest's employment and skills team on [e-mail] or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.

If you're already a Wirral Council employee, as part of our Talent Strategy, we're committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing [e-mail]

Working at Wirral

You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:

Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things and behave.

We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing and investing in our people.

We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, enrolment into the local government pension scheme (an excellent defined benefit scheme), immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.

We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.

Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions differences and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.

We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you'd like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible please contact [e-mail]

Please note that in accordance with the Council's policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.

It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.