Job Description

The Opportunity

Salary:

Soulbury EIP 9-12, 52,711 to 56,871 per annum

Contract Type:

Permanent

Working Pattern:

37 hours per week, full-time, Monday to Friday

Location:

County Hall Chichester, with hybrid working

Closing date:

Sunday 28 September 2025

Interview date:

Thursday 09 and Friday 10 October 2025





Do you have a good knowledge of SEND and EHCPs?



Are you passionate about leading a team that supports children's learning?



This is an exciting time to join the Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) as an Associate Advisor, helping to shape and influence the team through a time of change.



As an Associate Advisor, you will report directly into the Service Manager. You will be pivotal in the design and impact of service delivery, where you will lead and guide a team of Advisory Teachers and Special Needs Officers (SNO). The team provides advice and guidance to support children with special educational needs (SEN), working closely with families, early years providers, schools, colleges, and external agencies. This includes Educational Psychology Services, Health Services, and Social Care.



You will plan, deliver, and manage appropriate training and consultancy, in relation to meeting the needs of learners with SEN, with a specific focus on EHC Needs Assessment and EHCPs (Education, Health, and Care Plan).

Key responsibilities of the role include:

Ensuring effective support is provided to schools to enable best inclusive practice for children with special educational needs. Delivering on planned and coordinated support for identified children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). Providing guidance and advice around statutory and LA policies, modelling best practice. Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of Education Legislation, the SEND Code of Practice, and Ofsted Inspection Framework. Assisting school staff in implementing the Annual Review process for pupils with EHCPs. Using data and soft intelligence to assess and support the team to optimise service delivery, the offer to schools, and SENAT.

About You

We are looking for someone who can engage and motivate their team with integrity and openness, who will actively seek out partnership working with a drive to develop strong relationships in all areas of work.



You will have experience of teaching, SEND, and EHCPs, with strong organisational and leadership skills. You will need strong personal values and emotional resilience due to the nature of this role.



If you can challenge existing practice, influence others, find innovative solutions, and understand the skills in the developmental and learning needs of children, we would love to hear from you.

Key Skills (these are used as the shortlisting criteria):

Ability to communicate effectively: to persuade, negotiate and influence within or outside the organisation.

Strong leadership skills including integrity and openness, with the ability to engage with and motivate a team.

Excellent organisational, interpersonal and problem-solving skills.

Ability to work collaboratively with the SEN Assessment Team, settings, partner agencies and parents.

Good knowledge of SEND including understanding of national and curriculum developments in education and ability to advise on EHCPs.

Provide high quality and efficient support for pupils, parents and staff in maintained schools.

Anticipate problems, plan solutions and make informed decisions.

Interpret the statutory regulations and Special Educational Needs Code of Practice to advise SEND Officers and parents how they relate to individual pupils.

Ability to use expertise for legal processes such as Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

Commitment to continuous professional development.

Creative, innovative and forward thinking.

Commitment to driving excellence within the SEN Assessment Team as an integral part of the Children, Young People and Learning (CYPL) Directorate.

Contribute to the development and implementation of CYPL policies and working practices.

Ability to collaborate and work with others across multi- agency teams.

Qualifications and Experience:

Educated to degree level with QTS. Specialist SEN qualification or equivalent experience. Further qualifications and/or experience in an advisory role. Recent successful teaching experience. Experience of managing and leading a team. Experience of pursuing individual learning targets and monitoring progress for pupils with EHCPs. Experience of working with children with SEND.

For a full list of the Responsibilities, the Key Skills, and the Qualifications and/or Experience required, please refer to the attached.



Please refer to the key skills in your cover letter as these will be used for shortlisting criteria.

About Us

The Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT) manages the decisions and processes concerned with statutory education health and care needs assessment process for learners with an education, health, and care plan (EHCP), the placement of children in learning settings and the allocation of resources to settings.



The team considers suitability of and where appropriate arranges the assessment and placement of children, young people, and young adults with special educational needs in accordance with the provisions of the Children and Families Act 2014 (Pt 3, SEN) and associated regulations including the SEN Code of Practice to ensure that the statutory assessment procedures are followed and proposed EHCPs are issued and reviewed within the timescales laid down by the regulations.



This will be achieved through direct work with parents, educational settings, young people, health, Social Care and other external customers and partnership organisations to establish the best ways to support learning for children and Young People (0-25).



For more information about West Sussex County Council, please visit our

WSCC About Us

page.

Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.



Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

Employer Pension Contribution:

18.70% (this alters per annum on the 1 April each year).

Annual leave:

31 days holiday + Bank Holidays = 39 days



For a full list this can be found at our

Rewards and Benefits page.

How to Apply

The reference number for this role is

CAFHE05901

.



For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Andrew Parker, Head of Service, at

Andrew.Parker@westsussex.gov.uk

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.



In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.



Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults.

This post is subject to three years referencing, and an occupational health check.

Equity, inclusion, and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.



We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our

application help

page.




Job Reference: CAFHE05901