Participation Lead

Job Title: Participation Lead
Starting Salary: £41,511 progressing to £45,718 per annum (pro rata for part time) – pay award pending
Hours: 37.0
Location: Countywide

The role is countywide, and the office base is Farnham House

Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

Hertfordshire County Council Children’s Services Improvement & Transformation Team are recruiting a Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) Participation Lead.

In Hertfordshire we believe in putting the views of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND), and their families at the heart of everything we do.

The SEND Participation post will work across the partnership and expand on our participation and coproduction work with children and young people with SEND.

Our Voices of Hertfordshire model is dedicated to children and young people across Hertfordshire with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as those who are passionate about inclusion.

Within Voices of Hertfordshire there are many groups that have a variety of functions that include young people who share their experiences with disabilities and SEND on our online channels which signpost young people carefully to more support. To our experts by experience who work on projects such as reverse mentoring with directors and coproduction events targeted to ensure positive change for SEND services.

About the role

This is a key role within the Local Area Partnership, with involvement in exciting transformation work for Children’s Services and partners, and opportunities to contribute to a wide range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities service improvements across social care, health and education.

In this post, you will support Hertfordshire’s SEND and Inclusion Strategy by effectively developing, facilitating, and monitoring involvement and participation activities for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).

This role will ensure the voices of children and young people are heard and they are able to influence and support the development of all aspects of the work undertaken by the partnership in Hertfordshire.

We are looking for a passionate and dedicated Children and Young People's Participation Lead to join our team. Your role will include undertaking specific tasks in support of several service areas, planning, and delivering regular participation groups and a range of participation activities that involve young people in service delivery, service development, recruitment and training activities, depending on young people’s interests and needs.

About you

Essential:

• Full UK driving licence & regular access to a vehicle.
• Recent experience of working directly with children and young people.
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing and an ability to engage children and young people, families, professionals, and stakeholders.
• Ability to prioritise workload and manage competing demands and deadlines within timescales.
• Confident in using ICT.
• Awareness of issues facing children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• Proven experience in participation and engagement with children and young people.
• Excellent interpersonal skills: ability to recognise and respond appropriately to situations requiring tactful or diplomatic handling at all levels of the organisation.

We want someone who places a focus on improving outcomes for children and young people. The ideal candidate will have experience of participation work with children and young people, will be able to work closely and cooperatively with managers from across Education, Health and Care settings, have good communication skills, a professional approach to working with children and young people, openness to extending your knowledge and skills – and a genuine desire to fulfil the responsibilities of an evolving role.

This role will be an excellent opportunity to raise your profile delivering on projects of local importance and to gain experience working with senior management.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Health and Social Care Services, level HSC11 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Health and social care

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Jonathan Jack (jonathan.jack@hertfordshire.gov.uk)

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.