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.
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
