SEND Principal Officer

The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) team in Staffordshire are working hard to improve services for children, young people and families.  We have a number of exciting projects planned and are looking for an additional Principal Officer for SEND to join us to continue our improvement journey.

The Central SEND teams provide specialist SEND expertise and support, working closely with the 8 District Teams to enable them to fulfil their statutory duties (Children and Families Act 2014).  Central SEND Teams are managed by the Head of SEND and work closely with the Educational Psychology Service, Specialist Teaching Teams and ASSIST.

You will:

• provide strategic support to the 8 District SEND Teams in order to ensure the efficient and effective delivery of the Local Authorities statutory duties.  
• supporting the District Teams, Principal Officers also take a lead on strategic SEND improvement projects for the Local Authority. 
• support the development and maintenance of SEND practice standards, assist with training and development for the district based SEND offer.
• be required to lead task and finish projects and work with diverse groups of professionals.  

You will have:

• knowledge of all SEND related law and code of practice. 
• project management skills will be essential as will a restorative and relational disposition to working with groups.
• an interest in digital innovation and AI to support our developing digital programme in SEND. 

The focus of work for the next 2 years will be supporting the design of the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHNCA) and annual review pathways process and therefore skills in business design, writing procedures and change management would be essential. 

Above all, you will share our passion for improving SEND services in Staffordshire and ensuring that every child or young people with SEND have access to excellent services that ensure they achieve their best.    

“We’re happy to talk flexible working”  

Don’t feel you meet all the requirements? We value transferable skills, experiences, and qualifications so consider applying anyway or for an informal chat about the role please contact Halit Hulusi, Head of SEND by email: halit.hulusi@staffordshire.gov.uk

Interviews will be held week commencing 19 May 2025.

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too. 

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance. 

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post. 

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.