Children and Young People
Early Help
Family Group Decision Making Co-ordinator (2 posts)
Ref: 001687
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £39,152 £42,839 per annum (Grade 7)
Hours: 36.66 per week
Based: Spindles Centre
Closing Date: Sunday 13 September 2026
Interview Dates: TBC.
Role Overview:
The Families First Partnership Programme is a once in a generation chance to reshape Children’s Social Care alongside council colleagues, education, police, health voluntary, faith, community groups and most importantly our residents, to change and improve our offer of help and protection. Families First Partnership Programme is enabling us to do just that! Through this work, we will create a system that delivers better experiences, stronger relationships, and lasting changewhere families feel supported, professionals feel empowered, and children thrive. This is our moment to make it happenlet’s do it together.
Greater use of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) is a key part of the programme, and these posts will assist in delivering this. Based within Children’s Social Care and Early Help, you will be part of a well-established team using Family Group Decision Making to enable family networks to support children. You will also help embed a culture of involving family networks through contributing to training of family help practitioners.
Key Responsibilities:
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To co-ordinate Family Decision Making Meetings acting as an independent and impartial facilitator
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To work in partnership with referring agencies to plan and deliver FGDM meetings
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To manage the meetings positively and sensitively, enabling family members to draw up family plans which help address current areas of concern
- To help families identify strengths and resources within their own family network
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To support the Team Manager in delivering training to family help practitioners about the facilitation of effective family network meetings.
Key Requirements:
To succeed in this role, you will need as a minimum:
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Experience of working with Family Group Decision Making in a Children and Families social work or Early Help setting, including work around child protection, pre proceedings and court proceedings.
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Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to engage children, young people, families and professionals in the FGDM process
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Experience of completing accurate and sensitive assessments of service users, carers and families to produce Care / Support Plans
About Us:
We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:
A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.
We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.
Our Values and Behaviours:
By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.
We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:
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Work with a resident focus
- Support local leaders
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Committed to the borough
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Delivery high performance
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Take ownership and drive change
You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page
Our Benefits Package:
At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:
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25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
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The option to purchase additional annual leave.
- An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
- Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
- Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
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Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
- Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
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Staff recognition and celebration events.
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Peer support groups
Inclusive Recruitment:
We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.
If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.
If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer, someone who has served in the Armed Forces, or you’ve participated in the GM Elevate Programme, and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.
Data and Privacy:
For details of how we use your data please see our Privacy Notice
Important Information:
Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.
Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc
