Job Details

Key Responsibilities

1. Referral Coordination & Case Management

• Be the point of contact for overseeing referral activity across all services throughout the organisation.
• Manage and triage all incoming referrals from LAs, NHS CHC/ICB teams, and commissioning bodies.
• Review documentation, risk assessments and care plans to assess suitability.
• Prepare clear, evidence based matching recommendations. Based matching recommendations.‑based matching recommendations.
• Process referrals within required timescales and record all actions accurately.
• Work across multiple CRM systems, placement portals and case management tools to log referrals, track outcomes and maintain audit ready records. Management tools to log referrals, track outcomes and maintain audit ready records.‑management tools to log referrals, track outcomes and maintain audit‑ready records.

2. Relationship & Stakeholder Management

• Maintain strong working relationships with LA placement teams, commissioners, social workers, NHS partners and brokerage teams.
• Provide accurate, timely communication to internal teams (residential, fostering, compliance, operations).
• Represent the organisation professionally and appropriately in placement discussions and review meetings.

3. Matching, Risk Assessment & Safeguarding

• Conduct thorough matching assessments ensuring safety and suitability for children, young people and adults.
• Escalate concerns following safeguarding procedures.
• Ensure compliance with statutory regulations, organisational policies and risk management frameworks.‑management frameworks.
• Support safe transitions by coordinating information handovers and introductions.

4. Procurement, Commissioning & Compliance

• Apply strong working knowledge of Local Authority and NHS procurement processes, including:
  • Frameworks, DPS, spot purchasing
  • Brokerage/placement portals
  • NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC)
  • ICB commissioning routes
  • Contract compliance and tender requirements
• Accurately interpret and respond to referral specifications, funding requirements and commissioning expectations.
• Contribute to service proposals, tenders, pricing discussions and quality submissions when required.

5. Reporting, Data & Performance

• Track referral activity, conversion rates, occupancy, and demand trends.
• Produce weekly/monthly reports for senior leadership.
• Analyse refusal reasons and make recommendations to improve match rates.
• Evidence success through KPIs, audit ready logs, case studies and data driven insights.‑ready logs, case studies and data‑driven insights.

6. Service Development & Continuous Improvement

• Identify service gaps and communicate these proactively to recruitment, operations and leadership.
• Support new service models (SEND, adults, complex needs).
• Contribute to policy updates, audits and inspection readiness.
• Recommend process improvements to strengthen the overall referrals pathway.

Who is Progress?

We are an established provider of specialist services for children and young adults from 0-25, who have disabilities and specialist needs, including profound and multiple learning difficulties, severe learning difficulties, physical disability, sensory impairment, complex health care needs, acquired brain injury, and Autism. This encompasses a fostering agency, residential homes, supported living, a range of short break solutions, home and community support, preparation for independence and much more. As a values-led, family-owned business, we are not prepared to compromise on the quality and safety of our services, which are delivered following our owner’s ethos; ‘if it is not good enough for your own family, it is not good enough for our customers’..

We pride ourselves on enabling a more ordinary life to be experienced through extra-ordinary service delivery, with the people we support being the heart of everything we do. Everyone deserves a childhood and to move on into independence – this takes innovation every day as one size does not fit all where people are concerned!

Why work for Progress?

We asked some of our staff this question and the words they used in response included… friendly, further your career, support, extensive training, like a family, accepted, good team relationships, accommodating, flexibility, work ethic with colleagues, caring, shared passion, values aligned to your own, passion, not just a job; a career, gained skills, personal progression, support for staff; not just the people we care for, be part of a journey and the growth of the organisation, family feel, personal growth, opportunities, acknowledgement and recognition of efforts, not just a number, make a difference, feel appreciated, properly appraised annually with resulting outcomes, thorough induction, personal approach, no hierarchy, delivering on promises, high staff retention, respected as equals.

Even our temp had a positive opinion, “a great supportive team, allowing you to work flexibly with great opportunities to develop and apply your skills to assist across the business”.

We are passionate about developing our staff and their individual careers. We take pride in developing our future managers, with the capability, vision, and ability to meet the changing needs of the sector in a creative and responsive manner. We secured the Gold Investors in People Award, with 84% of staff agreeing we are ‘developing great leaders.’

We are proud of our teams; they really go the extra mile. We are also proud of our consistently high staff retention; we could not deliver the excellence we strive for, without every individual. We care deeply about delivering on our promises and feel extremely privileged to employ so many amazing people who share our vision and our determination! What more could we want!