Independent Reviewing Officer

North Yorkshire County Council; Harrogate; Hybrid; GBP 49,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

North Yorkshire Council is seeking an Independent Reviewing Officer to lead multi-area reviews and ensure safety and welfare for children and young people in care. The role requires chairing complex meetings, oversight of care plans, and driving high standards in safeguarding within a county-wide service.

You will contribute to quality assurance, collaborate with partners, and work across bases with the option to remote or hybrid working to deliver the best service while meetings with families

Qualifications

• Experience as Independent Reviewing Officer or equivalent is desirable.
• Strong safeguarding knowledge and commitment to looked-after children.

Responsibilities

• Chair reviews for Children in Care and oversee plans.
• Chair Child Protection Conferences and Regulation 44 visits.
• Lead Annual Reviews for Foster Carers and ensure high standards of care.

Skills

Chairing reviews

Quality assurance

Flexible / remote working

Job description

Salary: £48,738 to £53,051 per annum

Grade: M

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 37 per week

Location: Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Are you looking for a challenging and exciting role in a dedicated team? Do you have a passion for ensuring that children and young people receive the best care and support possible? As an IRO in North Yorkshire, you will have a key role in ensuring the safety and welfare of children and young people.

About the service

North Yorkshire Council have a national reputation for excellence, and we are looking for Independent Reviewing Officers with a variety of experience and skills.

This is a great opportunity to become part of a well-established, experienced team, who are determined to achieve the highest standards of care and safety for children and young people. The successful candidates will be required to work from other parts of North Yorkshire as required.

About the role

In North Yorkshire IROs are expected to deliver on all aspects of the Independent Reviewing Officer guidance, chairing reviews and overseeing the plans for Children in Care, chairing Child Protection Conferences, undertaking Regulation 44 visits to our children's homes and also Annual Reviews for Foster Carers.

You will have a crucial quality assurance role and will have the opportunity to significantly contribute to improving outcomes for children and young people and promoting high standards of care to those who are looked after by the Local Authority.

The service is county wide and therefore candidates will be expected to work across other locality areas as needed to meet service demand. We very much promote flexible working with the ability to work remotely from a variety of bases as well as from home, whatever makes sense and is suitable to provide the best service. However, the post holders will be required to Chair complex meetings across North Yorkshire as required and as set out below. It is expected that meetings with children and their families take place in person.

It is an exciting time in Children and Young Peoples Services in North Yorkshire as we plan our approach in respect of the Families First Partnership Programme and how we will be responding to the social care reforms. Work is underway to plan our approach and implementations for 2027. As a result of this, some realignment may happen with job roles in the future, we want to be transparent about this in respect of this role.

For full details of the role and to help with your application please see Job description

To find out more about what we offer please see Total rewards

For an informal discussion about this role please contact Rachel Kingdom at [e-mail]

Key dates:

Closing date: 21 st November 2026

Interview date: w/c 30 th November 2026

An enhanced DBS is required for this post.

NYC are committed to directly recruiting staff and will not accept applications nor services from agency suppliers in respect of our vacancies.

We are committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community and aim to have a workforce reflecting this diversity. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

It is a criminal offence for people who are barred from working in Regulated Activity (under the Safeguarding and Vulnerable Groups Act 2006) to apply for roles that require them to work unsupervised with adults at risk.