School Age Childcare Project Officer

D S D; Bedford; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedford Borough Council is seeking a Project Officer to shape the future of school age childcare in Bedford through the Holiday Activities and Food programme and broader childcare provision. You will work with schools, childcare providers and partners to engage providers, perform QA visits and use data to drive improvements.

We are looking for someone with sector experience who can build relationships, inform decisions with data and develop high-quality, sustainable services for children and

Qualifications

• Experience of working within or alongside the childcare, education or family support sector.
• Confident in building relationships and using data to inform decisions.
• Proactive, organised and passionate about improving opportunities for children and families.

Responsibilities

• Lead provider engagement and undertake quality assurance visits.
• Use data to identify gaps and support childcare sufficiency.
• Drive service improvement and contribute to monitoring and evaluating government funded programmes.

Job description

Job Title

Grade

BBU09

Salary Range (£ pro rata for part time roles)

BBU09 36,581 - 39,481

Contract Type

Full time fixed term

Contract Hours

37.00

Fixed term for 2 years

Job Advert

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of school age childcare across Bedford Borough, helping to improve access to high quality provision for children and families through the delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme and the development of wider school age childcare provision.

Are you passionate about improving outcomes for children and families? Do you enjoy building partnerships, using data to drive improvement and delivering high quality projects? Working closely with schools, childcare providers, partners and internal teams, you will lead provider engagement, undertake quality assurance visits and use data to identify gaps, support childcare sufficiency and drive service improvement. You will also play a key role in the delivery, monitoring and evaluation of government funded programmes, ensuring high quality provision and positive outcomes for children and families. We are looking for someone with experience of working within or alongside the childcare, education or family support sector, who understands the opportunities and challenges of delivering high quality school age childcare.

You will be confident in building relationships, using data to inform decision making, and supporting providers to develop high quality, sustainable services. If you are proactive, organised and passionate about improving opportunities for children and families, we would love to hear from you.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. If your application is successful you will be required to declare any spent and unspent convictions, adult cautions (simple or conditional) that are not "protected" as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020).

Closing Date: 25/09/2026

Interview Date: 08/10/2026

Please note:

• a severance payment (within 12 months of leaving)
• a local government pension (applies to Senior Officers only)

unless the appointment is business critical

For further information, please email [e-mail]

Bedford Borough Council is proud to be a member of the Armed Forces Covenant and the Care Leavers Covenant, we pledge to interview any eligible job applicant who meets the minimum criteria for the job they are applying for. Bedford Borough Council is also a Level 2 Disability Confident employer and guarantees to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role.

Additional Vacancy Information

Allowance (pro rata for part time roles)

N/A

Work Pattern

Monday to Friday 9:00 to 5:30pm (37 hrs)

Is this an enhanced DBS role?

Yes

Is this a politically restricted role?

No

Is this a customer facing role which requires a fluent English Speaker?

Yes

Vacancy Location

Location

Bedfordshire

Location

Borough Hall, Bedford

Is this a designated car user position?

Yes

Attachments

School-Age Childcare Project Officer Job Profile.pdf (186 Kb)

CV Template.docx (16 Kb)

General information

Reference

005337

Closing Date

25/09/2026

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• Borough Hall, Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AP