Independent Reviewing Officer

This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.

• Job Title: Independent Reviewing Officer
• Job Location: Shire Hall, The Link, Ground Floor
• Salary: £54,143 - £56,293 per annum
• Hours per Week: 22.2
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Closing Date: 04/11/2026
• Job Requisition Number: 14908
• This post is not open to job share

We are currently recruiting for an Independent Reviewing Officer to join our Reviewing Service on a part-time basis, to champion the needs of children in the care of Gloucestershire County Council.

Reward and Support

For all your hard work, you will receive the following:

• Between £54,143 - £56,293 per annum subject to experience (pro rata for part-time staff)
• £5,000 welcome payment* (pro rata for part-time staff)
• £2,000 retention payment* (pro rata for part-time staff)
• up to £8,000 relocation package**
• flexible and agile working opportunities
• 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years continuous service (pro rata for part-time staff)
• option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part-time staff)
• family friendly policies and benefits to help support you and your family
• supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone
• an in-house Occupational Health service
• employee discount scheme
• links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) and the Young Employees Network
• career development and qualification opportunities
• access to our Social Work Academy
• Cycle to Work scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply)
• Green Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply)

*Please note that all our welcome and retention payments are subject to terms and conditions as well as tax and national insurance deductions

*Please note that our relocation policy is subject to terms and conditions

Right child, right support, right time, every time

In our recent inspection in June 2025, our Children’s Services have been officially judged as ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ elements. Ofsted also said ‘Leaders have set out a clear vision for delivering success for children, by modelling values and creating a culture where the workforce, children and families feel valued and heard; risk is managed confidently with bottom lines clearly set out.’

This marks an important step in our journey to improve outcomes for our children and young people, and we remain focused on our mission: to continue building on this success and ensure that every child and young person in our county has the opportunity to thrive.

Gloucestershire offers a range of opportunities to develop your career, supported by a phenomenal Social Work Academy offer, a developing systemic practice methodology, an ambitious leadership team and an award-winning workforce.

We are a local authority adopting, and training all colleagues in, systemic social work practice. If you would like to be part of an authority that takes a relational approach to working with families and focuses on what needs to change in the system around a child and family to enable children to thrive, then consider a role with GCC.

About the role

As an IRO, you can expect to:

• chair statutory reviews for children in care in line with IRO Regulations and national guidance
• ensure that reviews are timely, child-centred, and delivered to a high professional standard
• monitor the progress and quality of Care Plans, actively addressing any drift or delay
• provide robust challenge and escalate concerns to senior management and CAFCASS as needed
• ensure the meaningful involvement of children, young people, families, and carers
• collaborate with professionals across agencies and support improvements to practice
• promote equality and consider the individual needs of each child, including factors such as race, disability, religion, and identity

About You

There are some things we require of you to be successfully appointed to this post:

• a full driving licence and willingness to drive
• DBS clearance (Enhanced Adults and Children’s)
• to have completed your ASYE year (if you qualified after 2012)
• Social Work England registered
• at least 5 years post qualifying experience in Children's Social Work, including child protection and care proceedings
• experience in management and/or supervision within a Children's Social Work team
• experience chairing complex meetings and managing conflict
• strong understanding of legislation, permanence planning, safeguarding, and quality assurance

How to apply

For an informal chat about this role, please contact Sarah.Leonard@gloucestershire.gov.uk

We reserve the right to close an advertisement earlier than the stated closing date if we receive a suitable number of applications.

Interviews are due to take place in person at Shire Hall on Friday 23rd October 2026.

If you would like to find out more about our Children's Service please take a look here: Children's Social Care Careers | Careers hub

We welcome applications from newly qualified and social workers in the early years of their career. Depending on your qualification date and previous experience, you will be invited to either join our accredited ASYE programme or to complete an alternative early‑career development in-house pathway. The appropriate option will be explored and confirmed as part of the interview and offer process.

We may be able to offer sponsorship for this role, in line with Home Office guidance and subject to pre-employment checks. Applicants must already hold a valid right to work in the UK that Gloucestershire County Council can transfer.

Under the terms of our Safer Recruitment Policy, if you are invited to interview, we will take up safeguarding references prior to your interview to understand your suitability to work with vulnerable children. These references will then be discussed in your interview. Please give details of at least two referees, one of whom must be your present and/or last employer and the other from a previous employer(s). These will need to cover the last three years of employment/education. In the case of applicants leaving full time education or not having worked since doing so, the Head of School, College or University should be one of the named referees. We do not accept references from friends or family members or workplace colleagues (who are not more senior). To ensure we process your application in a speedy and efficient way, we will contact your referees by DocuSign. Where appropriate, please inform them of your application.

Additional Information

To access the job profile for this role, please follow the link below:-

IRO job profile

This position is subject to a DBS check.

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.