About the role
Are you a strategic leader with a deep commitment to inclusion and improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). North Northamptonshire Council is seeking a dynamic and experienced professional to lead our SEND services and shape a more inclusive future for our communities.
What will you be doing?
As Head of SEND, you will play a central role in delivering high-quality, integrated services that make a real difference to children, young people and their families. You’ll lead a skilled and passionate team, working across education, health and social care to ensure that every child with SEND receives the support they need to thrive.
You will:
- Provide strategic and operational leadership across the SEND system.
- Drive service improvement through robust performance and quality assurance.
- Lead collaborative partnerships and joint commissioning to deliver integrated, effective support.
- Ensure the voice of children, young people and families is central to service design and delivery.
- Manage resources effectively, ensuring value for money and sustainability.
About you
You will bring:
- A strong professional background in education, social care or a related field.
- In-depth knowledge of SEND legislation, the SEND Code of Practice, and the wider children’s services landscape.
- A proven track record of leading complex services and managing significant budgets.
- A collaborative, inclusive leadership style that empowers teams and partners.
- A commitment to continuous improvement and delivering the best outcomes for children and families.
If you’re ready to lead with integrity, drive meaningful change, and help shape a more inclusive future for children and young people in North Northamptonshire, we’d love to hear from you.
Shortlisting w/c 8th December 2025.
Interviews w/c 5th & 12th January 2026.
Should you have any queries, please contact us via email at recruitment@northnorthants.gov.uk.
We kindly ask that you include a brief description of your enquiry to enable us to respond promptly and appropriately.
Our benefits
Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.
You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!
Why choose us?
We offer a vibrant working environment with:
- A competitive salary
- A pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
- Lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
- Generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
- Hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.
We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.
About us
Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:
Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy
Our Key Commitments
Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.
We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.
North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.
Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)
Attached documents
The following content displays a map of the job's location.
