Vacancy details

Are you passionate about helping foster carers feel heard, valued and supported? In this role, you will lead foster carer participation, voice and wellbeing across a regional partnership of local authorities in the South East. You will build trusted relationships, create meaningful opportunities for co-production and use lived experience to shape practical improvements that strengthen wellbeing, influence service development and make a lasting difference for fostering families across the region.

Any successful internal candidate will be offered the position as a secondment and, in line with Section 8.1 of the Secondment Policy, must consult with their manager before applying. Search ‘secondment policy’ on the intranet for more information.

At Bracknell Forest, we pride ourselves on being a council which is stable and well-managed where our employees can thrive in a supportive environment. We understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance and offer a variety of flexible working practices, including options for remote working and arrangements that allow you to work from home, dependent on the needs of the service.

The role is based at Time Square, Bracknell, with around 5–10 days per month in the office and the remainder working from home. Some travel across partner authorities and occasional travel to London will be required to support programme delivery and sessions.

If you would like an informal chat or a tour of the office prior to submitting your application, please contact helen.gore@bracknell-forest.gov.uk to arrange a suitable time.

About you…

As a Regional Foster Carer Wellbeing and Participation Programme Lead, you will champion the voice of foster carers across a pioneering Regional Foster Carer Wellbeing Programme, ensuring their experiences and perspectives help shape services and wellbeing initiatives.

You are an experienced participation and engagement professional with excellent communication, facilitation, relationship-building and analytical skills. You will be confident engaging foster carers from diverse backgrounds, gathering and interpreting insight and turning lived experience into practical recommendations.

As an effective facilitator, you will create inclusive spaces where foster carers feel comfortable sharing their experiences and contributing to discussions. Your ability to work confidently with people at different levels will be important, from foster carers and frontline practitioners to senior stakeholders and local authority partners.

You are passionate about improving outcomes for fostering families and understand the importance of preventative wellbeing approaches and meaningful participation. You will bring a collaborative and inclusive approach, with the ability to influence, build consensus and turn ideas into practical action across organisational boundaries.

Your analytical skills will help you identify themes, trends and opportunities from participation activity, enabling partners to understand what matters most to foster carers and where improvements can have the greatest impact.

About the team…

You will join a collaborative and innovative regional team committed to improving outcomes for children, young people and foster families.

Working closely with the Regional Programme Delivery and Marketing Manager and local authority partners, the team leads a shared approach to foster carer voice, participation and wellbeing across the region. Together, you will work across organisational boundaries, bringing foster carers, practitioners, senior stakeholders and partner organisations together to develop approaches that are inclusive, practical and sustainable.

The team values partnership working, fresh ideas and practical solutions, with a shared ambition to influence regional practice and create meaningful, lasting change. 

Please note: Children's services are currently progressing its Families First transformation programme. This role may be subject to changes to its responsibilities, reporting arrangements and/or job description. Any proposed changes would be managed in accordance with the council's relevant consultation processes and policies.

Key responsibilities…

• Lead the development and delivery of a regional foster carer participation and wellbeing framework that embeds co-production and ensures foster carers' voices shape service development and programme delivery.
• Design and facilitate inclusive participation opportunities, including forums, focus groups, workshops, listening events and co-production activities that encourage meaningful engagement.
• Develop and support regional foster carer representative and champion networks, providing matrix leadership, practice guidance and coordination to strengthen participation across partner local authorities.
• Analyse feedback, participation data and emerging themes, producing high-quality insight reports and evidence-based recommendations that inform regional decision-making and continuous service improvement.
• Build strong relationships with local authority partners and stakeholders, providing expert advice on participation, monitoring the impact of engagement activity and identifying and escalating risks to successful delivery where appropriate.

Our benefits…

• 28 days annual leave increasing to 33 days after 3 years continuous service, with the opportunity to buy up to 10 and sell up to 5 days.
• Hybrid working opportunities to support your wellbeing and work-life balance. 
• Paid employee volunteering scheme.
• Local government pension scheme, with life insurance cover.
• Recognition of continuous service attained within the NHS and UKHSA when calculating some benefits. (Terms and Conditions apply)
• Career development through internal and external training opportunities. 
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and fostering leave. 
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support your health and wellbeing
• Inclusive and social working environment with a variety of staff networks and a sports and social club. 

Find out more about all our benefits or see the candidate pack.

Our values…

At Bracknell Forest Council our values define who we are and what is important to us. Our core values are inclusive, ambitious, and always learning. These values influence the way we work with each other and the way we serve our residents and engage with our communities. We make our values real by demonstrating them in how we behave every day. If you are excited about joining a diverse team that celebrates learning and strives for excellence, we would love to hear from you. 

Reasonable adjustments…

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process for all applicants. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application or interview, please let us know by contacting recruitment@bracknell-forest.gov.uk. We will work with you to support you throughout the process. Find out more about reasonable adjustments.

Disability confident and inclusive recruitment…

Bracknell Forest Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and an inclusive employer. This means that if you tell us on your application form that you have a disability, are an armed forces veteran or are a care leaver, you will be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.

Interview date

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 20th October 2026.

Interviews will be conducted in person, providing candidates with the chance to personally meet the team and experience our work environment.

We will be reviewing applications regularly and reserve the right to close the advert early if suitable candidates are identified. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to submit your application as soon as possible.

Please note AI is prohibited during the interview, any candidate using AI will be withdrawn from consideration.

Want to ask us a question?

For an informal discussion or to ask any questions about this role, please contact:

Helen Gore, Principal Children's Social Worker: helen.gore@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Bracknell Forest Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect everyone employed with us to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to a DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) check as part of our pre-employment checks process.

We can only accept applications from candidates currently residing in the UK.

Candidates currently residing in the UK who require sponsorship to work are encouraged to assess their eligibility for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) based on the relevant criteria. Please be aware that sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

No agencies please. 

Equal Opportunities

Bracknell Forest Council – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

How to apply

Please apply online via the link provided.

Please include a personal statement with your CV specifying why you are applying for this vacancy.