INTERNAL ONLY VACANCY. This post is open to existing Leeds City Council employees only. Applications will not be considered from external candidates.

Job title: Information Officer

Salary: B1 £25,185- £25,989

Hours: 37

Contract: Permanent

Location: Merrion House, Leeds

As an Information Officer, you will be working in the Family Information Service (FIS) team which is responsible for the administration of Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) and maintaining a website to provide families in Leeds with information on a range of Family, Childcare and support Services. You will support the Senior Information Officer and Free Early Education Entitlement Officer with the administration of FEEE claims, raising payments, maintenance of the Ofsted download, search functionality on the FIS website and being a signposting family services for all families within Leeds.

It’s not about just about inputting data, answering calls and making payments.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As an Information Officer, you will bring to the role:

Use databases, spreadsheets, and templates.
Work to deadlines and balance conflicting priorities / needs.
Communicate effectively in both written (including word processing), email correspondence and spoken word.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Working with high levels of accuracy for tasks.
Identify problems and areas for improvement and offer solutions.
Work unsupervised, using your initiative to adhere to time scales and deadlines and manage your own workload.
Ability to collate data and use it to produce reports.
Knowledge and experience of adhering to procedures and legislation relating to confidential information.
Willing to actively participate in training and development activities to ensure up to date knowledge, skills, and continuous professional development.

About the role

Do you have experience in working with IT systems?

Are you a good communicator?

Would you be interested in supporting families in Leeds?

You should be a motivated, enthusiastic, and organised individual. The post holder will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements of the Childcare Act 2006, the Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2022, and Early Education and Childcare 2026 legislation.

You will need to have excellent communication skills and work well as part of a team.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Michelle Adam, FIS and Appeals Manager. Call 0113 3782758 or email michelle.adam@leeds.gov.uk.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people

and vulnerable adults.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job description

Job purpose

The post holder will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements of the Childcare Act 2006. You will be responsible for providing a wide range of information and advice to parents/carers and others on services and activities that will promote and support successful and rewarding family life.

Responsibilities

The post holder is specifically responsible for:

Operating the Family Information Service (FIS) telephone help line and using departmental IT applications and channels, to provide parents/carers with accurate and up to date information.
Maintaining and updating the Family Information Service database systems on a routine basis, by regular collection, analysis, collation and audit of services and activities.
Responding to telephone, written, face to face, electronic and any other requests for information.
Understanding and operating the FEEE database and processes.

The range of duties are:

To work from home using IT equipment provided by the local authority, where necessary (own internet access is required).
To attend face-to-face meetings where required.
Adhering to strict administrative protocols in order to meet the service and data protection requirements.
To understand and be able to share the choices of early years education and childcare available.
To answer all queries associated with Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) for 9-months-23months, 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds and Early Years Pupil Premium with parents, carers, and providers.
To provide accurate written and verbal information for providers of FEEE in relation to claims for payment.
To deal with enquiries from young people or their families regarding things to do, places to go in Leeds.
To be able to share other services for children, including short breaks, children’s activities and family support services.
To be a signposting service for any other enquiries from parents, carers, employers and other service professionals.
To identify and respond to the information and advice needs of families with children with Special Educational Needs (SEND) to enable equality of access to information and ensure that information is presented in an appropriate format.
Attend training sessions when necessary to ensure up-to-date knowledge of the appropriate legislation.
To support the maintenance of the Family Information Service website and social media.

Essential requirements It is essential that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

Proven ability to use effectively a variety of IT applications including Microsoft.
Ability to communicate well with all enquirers.
Ability and experience to advise parents/carers on personal issues and give information in a sensitive and confidential manner.
An NVQ level 2 or equivalent experience.
Ability to manage and prioritise own workload
Work as a team member to ensure that services are effective and maintain good channels of communication.
Ability to catalogue and retrieve information.
An ability to work with other professionals in the provision of the service.
Time management to ensure deadlines are met at all times, including hot spots throughout the year.
To develop good customer relations.
To motivate others.

Essential Behavioural and other Characteristics

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures. Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

Desirable requirements It is desirable that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates are not required to meet all the desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

Ability to use Dynamics.
Ability to use Synergy.
Providing an information and advice service to the public, face to face and by telephone.
Liaising/dealing with statutory, voluntary, private and independent agencies.
Knowledge of Early Education and Childcare 2026, the Childcare (Free of Charge for Working Parents) (England) Regulations 2022, and the Childcare Act 2006.
Knowledge of meeting procedures (notice, confidentiality etc).
Geographical knowledge of Leeds.
A basic knowledge and understanding of the context of the FEEE system.

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