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 Charlie Lowe, Head of SENSAP & SEND Funding (charlie.lowe@leeds.gov.uk).

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

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. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose
Strategically lead in framing and developing social care elements of the SEND strategy across the local authority, in compliance with the SEN Regulations 2014, Children & Families Act 2014, Care Act 2014, and other legislative requirements referenced within the SEND Code of Practice 2015. Act as regional and national interface, representing Leeds City Council at key regional and national events, and will be a source of expert professional advice on SEND reforms relating to social care within the Council.

Responsibilities

• Identify areas where social care is weak or non-compliant within the SEND Code of Practice - generating solutions and implementing strategies and plans to address this - aligning these to social care’s operational and business plans and statutory obligations.
• Accountable for developing strategies, action plans, and processes which support and enable the SEND reforms agenda to become embedded within social care operations and practice.
• Contribute to and influence SEND organisational design and assisting in the development of 0-25 Children & Young People with Disabilities Service and its policies.
• Interpret national strategy and local initiatives into protocols and practice at city-wide and locality levels, ensuring alignment with the local authority’s statutory role in assessing and monitoring children and young people with SEN.
• Establish and lead a network of social care SEND ‘champions’ and link workers. Facilitating and overseeing the implementation of the SEND agenda within social care through this network, and gathering insight and intelligence from them and other groups such as the parent carer forum to inform future planning.
• Responsible for developing social care aspects of the Local Offer that provide relevant advice and information and meet all legislative requirements.
• Analyse complex and varied work strands across functions, services, and agencies in order to identify and exploit opportunities for co-production and integrated working between social care, health, and education to progress SEND reforms agenda.
• Work collaboratively with social care directors and service managers to ensure social care meets statutory responsibilities under the Children & Families Act (2014) and Care Act (2014), and drive forward organisational culture change aligned to the SEND reforms.
• Constructively challenging practice, systems, processes, and protocols to enhance SEND reform compliance as part of this collaboration.
• Responsible for framing social care elements of the local authority’s self-evaluation process to ensure readiness for SEND Ofsted & CQC Inspections.
• Involvement in and initiation of varied multi-stakeholder projects and work streams. Themes include: participation and engagement, person-centred approaches, joint working initiatives, outcomes frameworks, operational function design, IT systems connectivity, EHC processes, quality assurance, joint commissioning, Early Years, Preparing for Adulthood, the Local Offer.
• Contribute to social care workforce development by formulating programme of blended learning/training relating to the SEND reforms across varied audience profile and functions.
• The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.
• Deputise for the SENSAP Team Manager as required, contributing to the strategic leadership of the service.
• Take ownership of specific areas within the Service Development Plan, particularly those linked to improving social care integration within the EHC process.
• Lead the preparation and representation of Leeds City Council in high-profile and high-risk Tribunal & Mediation cases, ensuring robust case preparation and risk mitigation.
• Lead all aspects of people management for a team of named officers, fostering a culture of high performance, shared accountability, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Appropriate professional qualification (Degree, DipSW, CQSW, or equivalent)
• Registration with Social Work England upon commencement in post and maintain yearly registration.

Essential requirements
Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

• Able to and experience of managing, leading, mentoring, and supervising staff, and contributing to their development through appraisal, supervision, and training.
• Able to and experience of working effectively as part of a team and to demonstrate organisational and time management skills prioritising own and team’s work to meet conflicting deadlines.
• Able to develop constructive working relationships and work in partnership with others.
• Able to work within and interpret financial policies and procedures ensuring value