Job Title: Recruitment Consultant — Children's Social Care (Temp & Perm)
Department: Sales & Recruitment
Reports To: Director
Location: London — Hybrid Stratford /Home, split between office and remote/client-facing days across Greater London and the surrounding boroughs)
Salary: £30,000 – £35,000 base (depending on experience) + uncapped commission / desk bonus structure
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week (some flexibility for out-of-hours/urgent shift placements)
About the Role
This is a newly created, sales-led role with one clear mission: put more people into employment in the children's care sector — whether that's placing experienced professionals into temporary and permanent roles, or opening the door for new entrants through government-funded apprenticeship and training routes.
We are looking for a commercially driven Recruitment Consultant who thrives on winning new business, growing accounts, and converting conversations into placements. You will own the Children & Young People (CYP) care desk end-to-end — building the client base, driving revenue, and filling roles across residential care, fostering, education, and children's social care.
Every sale you make has a double outcome: revenue for the business, and a person moving into meaningful work. Alongside placement fees and temp margin, you will cross-sell our apprenticeship and workforce development offer — giving clients a way to bring in and train entry-level staff at little or no direct cost through government funding, and giving people without sector experience a genuine route into employment. You'll build on established relationships already in place on the apprenticeship side of the business.
Reporting directly to the Director, this is an autonomous, target-carrying role for someone who wants real ownership of a desk, a direct line into leadership, and the chance to build a cross-selling proposition from the ground up — with clear progression to Senior and Principal level as the desk grows.
Why London: London and the surrounding boroughs are home to one of the UK's largest concentrations of children's homes, independent fostering agencies, and local authority children's services — with persistent staffing shortages driving strong, year-round demand for both temporary cover and permanent hires. This is a high-volume, high-value market with real headroom for a consultant who knows how to sell.
What Success Looks Like
- A growing book of billing clients across local authorities, fostering agencies, residential providers, and education settings.
- Consistent delivery against revenue, GP, and fill-rate targets — with clear month-on-month desk growth.
- A steady flow of people placed into work: temp shifts covered, permanent roles filled, and new entrants started on funded training routes.
- Qualified apprenticeship leads handed to the training division from your recruitment client base, growing total account value.
Key Responsibilities
Sales & New Business Development (Primary Focus)
- Proactively generate new business through outbound calls, client visits, networking, referrals, and market mapping — building a pipeline of CYP care clients with live hiring needs.
- Lead client meetings, pitches, and contract/rate negotiations, including framework and preferred-supplier agreements.
- Own and exceed clearly defined sales targets: revenue, gross profit, fill rates, and new client wins — agreed with the Director and reported at leadership level.
- Grow existing accounts by widening the range of roles filled and introducing additional services (temp cover, perm campaigns, apprenticeships, training).
- Develop and maintain senior-level relationships with decision-makers across London borough councils, independent fostering agencies, residential care providers, and education settings in Greater London and the Home Counties.
- Spot and act on market opportunities — new provider openings, Ofsted registrations, contract awards — before competitors do.
Putting People into Employment — Placements & Talent Pipeline
- Source, screen, and register candidates for roles such as Residential Support Workers, Children's Home Managers, Youth Workers, Foster Carers, SEN Teaching Assistants, and Personal Advisors — across temporary cover and permanent vacancies.
- Own the end-to-end candidate journey — registration, compliance, interview preparation, offer management, and aftercare — so every suitable candidate has the best possible chance of securing work.
- Match candidates quickly and accurately to live vacancies, prioritising urgent shift cover and time-critical placements alongside longer permanent campaigns.
- Build and maintain an engaged talent pool through headhunting, referrals, job boards, and social media — keeping a ready supply of work-ready candidates for client demand.
- Champion routes into the sector for career-changers and entry-level candidates, connecting them to funded training and apprenticeship opportunities where a direct placement isn't the right fit.
Apprenticeships & Workforce Development (Cross-Sell)
- Treat every client conversation as a dual opportunity: placements today, and upskilling or entry-level training tomorrow.
- Pitch and position our apprenticeship offer as a value-add — helping clients train new entry-level staff and upskill existing teams with costs met through government funding (apprenticeship levy/ESFA) rather than charged directly.
- Hand over qualified leads to the apprenticeship division and support joint client meetings, acting as the day-to-day commercial link between the two sides of the business.
- Help build a joined-up recruitment-plus-training proposition that increases client retention, account value, and — crucially — the number of people entering employment in the sector.
Desk Leadership & Pipeline Management
- Take full ownership of the CYP care desk, managing both temporary/agency staffing and permanent placement workstreams as a revenue-generating business unit.
- Maintain accurate CRM/ATS records — pipeline, candidate availability, compliance status, and placement outcomes — and report regularly to the Director on revenue, fill rates, and pipeline health.
- Mentor junior consultants and resourcers, sharing best practice on business development, sourcing, and client management.
- Act as escalation point for client and candidate issues that junior team members cannot resolve.
Compliance & Safeguarding (Non-Negotiable Foundation)
- Ensure all candidates meet statutory and regulatory requirements: enhanced DBS checks, right-to-work verification, safeguarding-specific references, and qualification checks — speed of placement never compromises safety.
- Maintain accurate, audit-ready candidate files in line with Ofsted, Working Together to Safeguard Children, and REC Codes of Practice.
- Stay current with sector legislation and safeguarding best practice, and act as quality-control point for compliance across the desk.
Essential Skills & Experience
- A proven biller: recruitment experience (typically 2+ years at consultant level) with a demonstrable track record of hitting and exceeding revenue and fill targets — ideally in children's social care, health & social care, or education recruitment.
- Strong new-business development skills — confident with outbound sales activity, pitching, and winning clients from scratch.
- Experience running a temp and/or perm desk independently and negotiating contracts, rates, and terms directly with senior client stakeholders.
- A genuine motivation for the outcome of the job: getting people into work, and helping clients build sustainable teams around vulnerable children and young people.
- Strong understanding of safeguarding requirements and compliance frameworks relevant to working with children and young people.
- Comfortable having broader workforce-development conversations with clients (upskilling, training needs) beyond pure placement — full apprenticeship/funding knowledge will be supported by our in-house team.
- Some experience mentoring, coaching, or informally leading junior recruiters or resourcers.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills, with the gravitas to operate at Director level.
- Resilient, commercially astute, and comfortable in a fast-paced, target-driven, sometimes emotionally demanding sector.
Desirable
- An existing book of clients and/or candidates within children's residential care, fostering, or education — ideally in London or the South East — ready to bill from day one.
- Knowledge of the London children's services market, including borough frameworks and pan-London agency arrangements.
- Experience cross-selling complementary services (training, L&D, compliance) alongside recruitment.
- Familiarity with apprenticeships, the apprenticeship levy, or government-funded training routes (training provided where needed).
- Knowledge of Ofsted regulatory requirements and the Children's Homes Regulations.
- Experience using recruitment CRM/ATS platforms and reporting on desk and sales KPIs.
- A relevant qualification in recruitment, sales, HR, social care, or education (not essential).
What We Offer
- £30,000 – £35,000 base salary (depending on experience) with an uncapped commission/desk bonus structure — the more people you place into work, the more you earn.
- Direct reporting line to the Director, with real influence over desk strategy and growth.
- A warm start: established apprenticeship relationships and an in-house training team to cross-sell alongside your recruitment offer.
- Clear progression pathway into team leadership, management, or equity/partnership conversations as the desk scales.
- Hybrid working, balancing office collaboration with flexibility for client-facing and remote work.
- A commercial role with real social purpose — every placement and every apprenticeship start puts someone into employment and improves outcomes for children and young people.
- [Insert additional benefits: pension, holiday allowance, wellbeing support, car allowance, etc.]
Safeguarding Statement
This role involves recruiting individuals to work with children and young people. As such, the successful candidate will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check and demonstrate a strong commitment to safeguarding throughout the recruitment process. We are committed to safer recruitment practices in line with statutory guidance.
Pay: £30,000.00-£35,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
