This is a Gloucestershire County Council job.
1. Job Title: Independent Reviewing Officer
2. Job Location: Shire Hall, The Link, 1st Floor
3. Salary: £52,413 - £54,495 per annum (Pro-rata)
4. Hours per Week: 29.6
5. Contract Type: Permanent
6. Closing Date: 08/02/2026
7. Job Requisition Number: 13347
8. This job is open to job share
We are currently recruiting for a Independent Reviewing Officer to join the Reviewing Service Team on a part-time basis.
Reward and support
For all your hard work, you will receive the following:
9. between £52,413 - £54,495 per annum subject to experience per annum
10. £5,000 welcome payment*
11. £2,000 retention payment*
12. up to £8,000 relocation package**
13. flexible and agile working opportunities
14. 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years continuous service (pro rata for part-time staff)
15. option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part-time staff)
16. family friendly policies and benefits to help support you and your family
17. supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
18. Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
19. access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone
20. an in-house Occupational Health service
21. employee discount scheme
22. links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) and the Young Employees Network
23. career development and qualification opportunities
24. access to our Social Work Academy
25. Cycle to Work scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply)
26. Green Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme (eligibility criteria and t&cs apply)
*Please note that all our welcome and retention payments are subject to terms and conditions as well as tax and national insurance deductions
*Please note that our relocation policy is subject to terms and conditions
Right child, right support, right time, every time
In our recent inspection in June 2025, our Children’s Services have been officially judged as ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ elements. Ofsted also said ‘Leaders have set out a clear vision for delivering success for children, by modelling values and creating a culture where the workforce, children and families feel valued and heard; risk is managed confidently with bottom lines clearly set out.’
This marks an important step in our journey to improve outcomes for our children and young people, and we remain focused on our mission: to continue building on this success and ensure that every child and young person in our county has the opportunity to thrive.
Gloucestershire offers a range of opportunities to develop your career, supported by a phenomenal Social Work Academy offer, a developing systemic practice methodology, an ambitious leadership team and an award-winning workforce.
We are a local authority adopting, and training all colleagues in, systemic social work practice. If you would like to be part of an authority that takes a relational approach to working with families and focuses on what needs to change in the system around a child and family to enable children to thrive, then consider a role with GCC.
About the team
You will be joining a stable team of lively, hardworking IRO. We know that to be effective we must hold the child at the centre of all we do and not shy away from the difficult conversations that may be necessary to bring about best outcomes for children. We seek as a service to fulfil our statutory responsibilities with a relational and systemic approach to practice recognising that respect, collaboration and authentic relationships facilitate opportunities for better outcomes for children. We have a culture of shared responsibility and shared learning. We value the expertise of each member of the service which collectively provides a rich environment for further strengthening and development of the service. We encourage reflective supervision at all levels and we will be able to offer you protected time to ensure it takes place on a regular basis.
About the role
This is a newly created role that will involve working closely with the Independent Reviewing Service Manager to oversee Gloucestershire’s Independent Reviewing Officers. It is essential that you have previous IRO experience and ideally some leadership or management experience.
The Independent Reviewing Officer will be responsible for line-management of up to 7 Independent Reviewing Officers and will hold a small caseload themselves.
You will ensure high standards are upheld by Independent Reviewing Officers and contribute to the development of best practice though active engagement with the wider authority by engaging in service and departmental developments.
You will have a proven ability to scrutinise care provision robustly and holistically for children and respectfully challenge any area of their care that does not meet their welfare needs, while leading and inspiring others to do the same. It is expected that you will contribute to the development and quality assurance of service standards, and as such, support the Service Manager in activity related to improving performance.
About you
As well as your experience working as a Independent Reviewing Officer there are some things we require of you to be successfully appointed to this post:
27. Social Work England registration
28. a recognised qualification in Social Work
29. a full driving licence and willingness to drive
30. DBS clearance
How to apply
31. Interviews will be in person 27 February 2026. Please note that this will be the only day for interviews.
Or please find further information on our website:
Additional Information
To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:-
This position is subject to a DBS check.
Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.
It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.
Hybrid working arrangements are available for the majority of our roles, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice, with a mix of both remote and office working.