Job Description

Job description
We are recruiting for a Senior Project Officer to join the Lifelong Learning and Skills Service within Sheffield City Council. This role will have a particular focus on improving opportunities for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) as they prepare for adulthood.



For this role, we have combined two key contracts to create a very exciting opportunity. You'll champion the ambitions of young people with SEND by connecting schools and colleges with employers across Sheffield, helping to shape inclusive careers education and modern work experience opportunities. At the same time, you'll lead strategic projects that open doors to employment, good health, community involvement, and independent living--empowering young people to thrive as they prepare for adulthood. Your work will bring together educators, employers, and families to create meaningful pathways and brighter futures for young people in Sheffield. The two key projects are:

South Yorkshire Careers Hub (

https://www.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/explore/careershub)

The South Yorkshire Careers Hub brings together schools, colleges, employers, and specialist establishments in the region, to provide high quality, broad, structured, inclusive careers education that reaches every young person and bridges the gap between employers and education.



This role forms part of the Sheffield division of the South Yorkshire Career Hub. The successful candidate will:


Have a caseload of up to 15 schools, the majority of which will be our secondary or post-16 specialist education establishments Work with Careers Leaders and Senior Leaders to achieve or maintain all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and facilitate consultancy and peer evaluation to ensure careers outcomes are improved for all young people Work with wider partners, such as universities, other education and training providers, and employers to support education establishments on their continuous careers improvement journey Support schools to develop their modern work experience offer and promote skills pathways, including Supported Internships.

Preparation for Adulthood

Alongside your work with the South Yorkshire Careers Hub, you will also coordinate strategic projects that support young people with SEND as they prepare for adulthood. This includes:


Supporting the development and expansion of supported internships across Sheffield, working with employers and education providers to create meaningful pathways into employment. Collaborating with stakeholders across education, health, social care, and the voluntary sector to embed PfA principles into careers-related activity. Organising and delivering events that engage young people and families in their PfA journey, raising aspirations and promoting career progression. Applying strong project management, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills to deliver impactful programmes that improve outcomes for young people with SEND.

Bringing It Together

You will be encouraged to explore and create opportunities where these two strands of work intersect--leveraging employer relationships and careers guidance frameworks to enhance Preparation for Adulthood outcomes and ensure that young people with SEND are fully included in Sheffield's evolving employability landscape.



An awareness of Government strategy for careers guidance in education settings is key, along with experience of engaging and working with employers as volunteers.

Additional Information

This role will mainly support our specialist schools, colleges and providers in Sheffield, so it is important that the successful candidate has sound knowledge and experience of education for young people with special educational needs, ideally within a careers context.



This is a very varied and rewarding role. This work is a blend of home and office based and outreach, visiting different education establishments, employer premises, events and meetings with stakeholders. Occasional travel across South Yorkshire (e.g. for South Yorkshire Career Hub meetings or events) or further afield (e.g. for specialist training) is also expected within this role.



This is a temporary or secondment opportunity until 31st August 2026 and is full-time, 37 hours per week. Our offices are in the Central Library, Surrey Street.



We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly. It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.



Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.



We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful candidates will be required to complete an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check.



Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.



If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.



Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our New job evaluation process to be introduced at Sheffield City Council | Sheffield City Council



Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.



Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.



We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful candidates will be required to complete an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check.



If you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact maria.swift@sheffield.gov.uk

Job details

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Job reference
REQ003749
Date posted
16/09/2025
Application closing date
29/09/2025
Location
Sheffield
Salary
Grade 7 38,220 - 41,771
Package
1 x Temporary until 31/08/2026
Contractual hours
37
Basis
Blank
Job category/type
Project Management