West Sussex County Council
Quality Assurance Practitioner
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
About Us
Our Children’s Residential Service provides a range of care and support to some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our communities, aged 7–18. Our 7 homes deliver a variety of services including full-time care, short breaks, short term emergency care, and outreach.
We are committed to ensuring that every child in our care is safe, happy, healthy, and able to thrive. We listen to children, place their voices at the centre of everything we do, and work relentlessly to achieve the best possible outcomes for them.
Our service is built on strong values – trust, support, honesty, and putting children first – and we are proud of our inclusive, supportive culture where staff are valued and empowered to make a difference.
Please feel free to review further details of Children's Residential Homes here: [Children's residential care careers](Children's residential care careers)
About the Role
- Salary: £39,862 - £42,839
- Contract: Permanent
- Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
- Location: Working across our multiple homes in Crawley, Haywards Heath, Worthing, and Shoreham-by-Sea.
We are seeking a highly motivated and detail-focused Quality Assurance Practitioner to support our Children’s Residential Homes in maintaining and continually improving the quality of care provided.
Working closely with Registered Managers and the wider leadership team, you will:
- Lead on audit and quality assurance activity across multiple homes
- Review children’s records and operational documentation to ensure compliance with regulations and standards
- Produce clear, analytical audit reports and identify areas for improvement
- Provide constructive, strengths-based feedback to managers, teams, and individuals
- Support homes to prepare for Ofsted inspections and regulatory visits
- Develop and review practice guidance in line with legislative and organisational change
- Deliver training workshops on key themes such as case recording, language, and practice standards.
This is a countywide role, requiring regular travel between our children’s homes. You will need to work both independently and collaboratively, managing your workload effectively to meet the needs of the service.
This is a unique opportunity for an experienced children's residential professional to step into a service-wide improvement role, using your expertise to influence practice, shape standards, and drive positive outcomes for children across multiple homes.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Required Experience and Skills
We are looking for someone with a strong background in children’s residential care and a passion for driving high-quality practice. Some of our qualifications, key skills, and experience required are as follows:
- A relevant qualification in Residential Childcare at Level 4 (Practitioner) or Level 5 (Manager) (or equivalent) is essential
- Recent experience working in a Children’s Residential Care setting
- In-depth knowledge of:
- Children’s Homes Regulations
- Ofsted Quality Standards
- Relevant legislation and safeguarding frameworks
- Experience of auditing, reviewing, or quality assuring practice and records
- Excellent attention to detail with strong analytical and critical thinking skills
- Ability to demonstrate professional curiosity and interpret incomplete or complex information
- Confident in delivering clear, constructive feedback to a range of audiences
- Strong communication and facilitation skills, including delivering training sessions to our residential teams
- Ability to review and develop practice guidance
- Good working knowledge of bespoke recording systems and IT systems
- Ability to work independently, prioritise workload, and manage competing demands
- You must be able to travel independently across the country
For a full list of required key skills, qualifications, and/or experience please review our job description attached, and reference these in your application form.
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer, we recognize that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where you can achieve your full potential and are rewarded for the work you do. For example, you will receive:
- An excellent local government pension scheme
- Generous holiday entitlement
- Access to a wide selection of retail discounts and savings such as groceries, shopping, travel, and more through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.
- A range of commuting and business travel discount and initiatives
- Maternity, paternity, dependency, and adoption leave
- Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme
- Financial wellbeing support including access to educational tools and webinars, loans or debt consolidation options, and savings scheme
- Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee, you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further Information
- The reference number for this role is CAFHE06465
- For an informal conversation or further information regarding the role, please contact one of the following people:
- Lianne Finch (Service Manager) on lianne.finch@westsussex.gov.uk
- Andrew Lewis (Service Manager) on Andrew.lewis@westsussex.gov.uk
- Charlotte Blandford (Resourcing Specialist) charlotte.blandford@westsussex.gov.uk
To apply, upload your CV and complete our application form, explaining how you meet the key skills and experience required for the role, ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Feel free to view our application guide here: [How to create the best CV, Application Form or Cover Letter](How to create the best CV, Application Form or Cover Letter)
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.
This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing, and an occupational health check. A full employment history will be requested and covered for this role.
Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran, or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills