Job profile

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: Part Time 25 hours per week

Location of post: Port Talbot Civic Centre, SA13 1PJ

We are currently looking for a Play Devleopment Officer to join our team.

The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting communities and organisations to develop sustainable, high quality play opportunities, and facilities, for children and young people in line with the Neath Port Talbot Play Sufficiency Assessment and Play Strategy. 

The main duties of the post;

• Using the Neath Port Talbot Play Sufficiency Assessment and Play Strategy to identify priorities, work with local communities/community councils/council departments etc. in order to develop play opportunities for children and young people.
• To promote and champion for children’s play.
• To work alongside children, parents and organisations to identify the unmet play needs of children and young people and where possible to help address those needs.
• To actively seek development opportunities to improve children and young people’s access to play.
• To plan and deliver play training and workshops, including assessment for accreditation, if necessary.
• To support play providers to encourage a range of play types and experiences at their provision (spaces and supervised settings), including opportunities for challenging experiences.
• To provide information, advice and support to local initiatives.
• To help recruit and support staff and volunteers to deliver play projects/provision.
• To provide effective supervision and support to casual staff and volunteers, as required.
• To support the Think Family Partnership’s Participation & Engagement Officer to facilitate opportunities for children and young people’s participation in decisions around play, including supporting Play Heroes.
• To ensure that the impact of work undertaken can be measured and to regularly evaluate progress.
• To attend the Play Strategy Implementation Group, as required, to provide reports on work and progress.
• To ensure that play space assessments are undertaken at fixed equipment sites on an annual basis, working with playground owners/managers to support them to do this, and undertaking assessments as required.
• To update GIS mapping systems as required to reflect the quality and quantity of play provision in NPT.
• To contribute to annual progress reports for the Council and Welsh Government.
• To actively seek opportunities for additional funding to help meet unmet play needs and/or improve quality of play, and make applications where possible.
• To purchase resources etc. in line with budget limitation.
• To carry out all administration duties in relation to work.
• To carry out such functions as may be required from time to time to ensure the efficient performance of the department.

To actively participate in supporting the principles and practice of an equality of opportunity as laid down in the authority’s Equal Opportunities Policy

You will have experience in/of;

Proven experience of organising and administering work

Experience of delivering training or workshops

Previous experience of working to a budget

Ideally you will have;

A relevant playwork qualification and/or proven experience of working in a play setting with children and young people. 

4 GCSEs, or equivalent, at Grade C or above, one of which must be English.

Level 3 qualification in Playwork (applicants without this will be required to undertake this during their employment)

Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector qualification or equivalent (applicants without this will be required to undertake this during their employment)

If you think that you have the necessary experience and qualifications for this role, we would love to hear from you.

For an informal discussion, please contact Sophie Ratcliffe on

Phone: 01639 873003 or

Email:  s.ratcliffe@npt.gov.uk

DBS requirements:

• This post is subject to a childs barred DBS disclosure

Neath Port Talbot Council is totally committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  Our schools/employees are equally committed to ensuring the safety and protection of all children and young people/vulnerable adults and will take action to safeguard their wellbeing.

The recruitment process for this post will be underpinned by rigorous safer recruitment assessment to ensure that children and young people are protected.

Welsh Language skills desirable

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, applications submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates who have a disability and armed forces veterans.

At Team NPT, we all work together to serve the people, communities and businesses of Neath Port Talbot.

We are committed to providing training opportunities and the professional development of all our employees.

We look forward to welcoming you to Team NPT.