• This role offers hybrid working, allowing you to work either from home or from our offices at County Hall, Taunton. There is an expectation that you will be in the office a minimum of two days a week.
• 30 Days’ annual leave (plus Bank Holidays).
• This is a key role in ensuring effective provision is in place to meet the needs of young people with Education, Health, and Care Plans in Somerset.

As a member of the Statutory SEND team, your day-to-day work will involve supporting in the delivery of the statutory functions of the Local Authority in respect of the Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs); In addition, you will be required to use your knowledge and skills to support partners to meet the wider needs of children and young people with these processes.

We’re working to improve the lives of children and young people and their families in Somerset – and you’ll be a key part of that. Your day-to-day work will involve:

• Managing a team of Officers responsible for delivering tasks relating to Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP’s) or managing a workload of dispute resolutions (tribunals/mediations).
• Monitoring performance and holding to account to ensure the delivery of a family focussed, high quality service which meets the legal requirements of the EHC processes.
• Chairing multi-agency meetings and resolving complex situations with a range of stakeholders across the local area.

We are looking to have people with diverse backgrounds join our team to support young people in Somerset. Specifically we are interested in those with:

• Education experience (Education Leadership roles, Teachers, Pastoral Leads)
• Social Care experience (Team Leaders, Experienced Social Workers, Residential Care Managers)
• Health Experience (Therapists, Nurses, experience Health Care practitioners)

We are looking for someone who has:

• Strong Communication skills- these are paramount – with a desire to work hard to support families – adaptive when connecting with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Strong Management or Leadership Skills – the ability to coach and reinforce ‘the bigger picture’.
• Good Problem-solving skills at a multi-agency level – taking ownership and accountability with complex situations.
• A Positive mindset with the ability to learn complex policy matters and processes.
• Strong IT skills – use of Microsoft Office packages such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Outlook.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset and that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more

The salary for the role is Grade 10, ranging from £34,834 - £39,186 per annum.

For an informal chat about the role, you can contact Katie Knight, SEND Service Manager, on 01823 355 691 or Katie.knight@somerset.gov.uk

Interviews will be held 24th and 25th July 2024

If you have everything you need, just hit the apply button. We can’t wait to hear from you.

This job requires a criminal background check (DBS) via the basic disclosure procedure.