SEND, AP and Pupil Commissioning Manager

About the Borough

In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

About the Service and Team

In Sutton, the Pupil-Based Commissioning Service plays a crucial role in ensuring that children and young people, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) or who are otherwise vulnerable, receive the appropriate support to access education. This team is involved in strategically planning, procuring, and managing services that aim to improve outcomes for these pupils.

You will be joining a small team of commissioning managers responsible for the commissioning of mainstream, specialist and alternative education provision and places across the Early Years education phase all the way through to post-16 and post-19 specialist provision, working closely with partners in other education services in Sutton, school and other education providers, and colleagues in Health and Social Care.

This collaborative approach ensures that tailored interventions and alternative provisions are in place where needed, aiming to support children in mainstream education where possible and to facilitate successful transitions, and prepare them for adulthood.

The service is supported by data and finance support colleagues, and sits alongside provision of admissions and SEND services, delivered within Cognus Education Services, and our Children's and Adults social care, assisted transport and therapy services commissioning colleagues.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Working to the Head of Pupil Based Commissioning to lead on the Council’s SEND place planning and commissioning responsibilities in relation to education access and sufficiency across the Borough across Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Post 16 provision.

The post holder has no direct line management responsibility but will will be expected to ‘matrix manage’ across other areas including the Council’s central commissioning hub as well as the SEND service in Cognus - the Council’s wholly owned Local Authority Trading Company where the majority of school support services are currently provided.

The post holder will have a particular focus on developing, leading and implementing our SEND commissioning strategy to ensure that the Council ensures a sufficiency of high-quality school specialist school places in the Borough contributing to our ‘Ambitious for SEND’ agenda.

Role Duties:

Apply professional judgement to interpret and apply policies and procedures to meet specific local or service needs.

Provide day to day management and professional supervision to staff to ensure operational plans and activities are delivered effectively.

Analyse customer needs and the provider market in order to provide data and evidence to inform commissioning and service design decisions for specific services.

Plan, design and procure specific services to ensure they deliver their intended outcomes for customers.

Work with specific organisations to deliver intended outcomes through collaborative working.

Lead small projects and implement changes and improvements within agreed cost, time and quality standards.

Where relevant, manage service level budgets and resources in order to support the delivery of intended outcomes and demonstrate value for money.

Responsibility for coordinating the High Needs Capital Provision Fund (special Provision Capital Fund).

The balance within this budget currently sits at approximately £10M and is part of the Council’s overall education capital budgets overseen by the Head of Pupil Based Commissioning (HoPBC).

Responsibility for setting top-up funding at a provider level through the revenue funding model. Overall budgetary responsibility will sit with the Head of Pupil Based Commissioning.

SEND Commissioning Strategy, including development of primary enhanced SEND provisions, and formally commissioned secondary Specially Resourced Provisions (SRPs) and SEN units.

SEND Commissioning Agreements with in-borough state-funded pre-16 providers

Place Change Notification Process and annual / regular commissioning discussions with schools and settings

Recommissioning provision to meet needs of Sutton population

Responsible for Transition Planning with primary and secondary schools and liaison with SEND service to make best of of data.

Responsible for re-commissioning provision following needs analysis to best meet the needs of local children and young people

Oversight and development of Schools Specialist Funding Model and Top Ups

Implementation of Government’s Green Paper recommendations as they relate to SEND commissioning, and any changes due to the planned Children’s Wellbeing bill

Liaison and engagement with the SEND service at Senior Management Level

Produce and maintain the SEND Commissioning Handbook

Deputise for the HoPBC Produce and present reports at Member Committee meetings and brief lead members, councillors and Directorate management as necessary.

Responsible for producing the Ambitious for SEND termly newsletter.

Responsible for overseeing the special school and bases moderation process.

Responsible for managing the exceptional funding process for special schools and bases.

Develop AP Quality assurance framework, particularly with regard to cross borough working, and out of borough placements.

The successful SEND, AP and Pupil Commissioning Manager will ideally possess a comprehensive blend of strategic vision, operational acumen, and a deep-seated commitment to improving outcomes for all children and young people.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong understanding of current SEN legislation, AP pathways, and mainstream educational provision, coupled with proven experience in commissioning services within a public sector or educational context.

They will apply a data-driven approach, demonstrating excellent analytical skills, and the ability to navigate complex challenges with resilience and innovation. This will enable them to strategically shape a diverse and inclusive educational landscape that meets the evolving needs of the pupil population in Sutton.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• General Council Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Public Health Service Localised Flexi-time Scheme - accrual of up to 5 days per year
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Additional Information

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.