Senior Delivery Officer – Vulnerable Children’s Unit, Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Reform & Partnership Case Lead

Job summary

We are a friendly and supportive team and put a lot of emphasis on making South West Regions Group a great place to work. We are supportive of each other professionally and personally. You will benefit from a coaching environment, a strong team commitment to personal development and learning, a focus on wellbeing and a range of social activities.

We are the Department’s main interface for academy trusts and local authorities across our region of England. Our team is led by Lucy Livings, the Regional Director for South West.

Regions Group is responsible for the stewardship of the school, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and children's social care system across the country. We work with stakeholders to ensure that we develop the best educational, SEND and social care landscape for the children of our region.

As a successful candidate, you will join our Vulnerable Children’s Unit (VCU) team.

The Department for Education's ambition is that all vulnerable children, no matter where they live, receive the same high-quality education, care and support, and that the best outcome for every child is at the heart of every decision made.

As part of the Vulnerable Children's Unit (South West), you will play a key role in achieving this ambition by supporting local area partnerships to improve services for children with SEND and their families.

We strongly encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are a welcoming and inclusive workplace where colleagues can bring their whole selves to work.

Job description

Your work will have an impact on the lives of children and young people with SEND and their families and is hugely rewarding.

As a SEND case lead you will forge positive relationships with key individuals in local areas across the South West, leading a portfolio of ‘high risk’ and other cases, identifying needs, solutions, challenges and opportunities to drive forward SEND performance improvements. You will lead senior leader meetings and put in place innovative solutions to support improvements in local and regional SEND performance issues, ranging from practical solutions to influencing policy development impacting on SEND. You will also work with expert advisers and internal colleagues to support and challenge local authorities in the development of financially sustainable Local SEND reform Plans. You will form part of a small team which will go on to scrutinise and monitor long-term implementation of the plans, directly supporting lower risk Local Areas while remaining sighted on wider SEND reforms and system re-organisation.

Job Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Acting as the key contact and working with expert advisers to advise, support and challenge Local Area Partnerships both following a SEND inspection from Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) and in developing and implementing financially sustainable Local SEND Reform Plans;
• Maintaining an overview of Local Area improvement in the delivery of SEND services and driving progress across your portfolio of cases in the SW region.
• Identify trends, trajectories, and risks in Local Areas to inform proactive intervention or suitable support packages.
• Collaborating with suitable partners to scrutinise Local SEND Reform Plans submitted to the department, making recommendations to senior officials and ministers by providing high-quality, evidence-based advice through oral and written submissions.
• Building and maintaining relationships between DfE and Local Area SEND system leaders, including health colleagues and Parent Carer Forums as appropriate.
• Engage specialist support from DfE SEND and NHS England advisers and manage DfE contracts and grants.
• Assessing and managing risk effectively on your cases, tackling risks and issues at an early stage and escalating complex or high-risk cases where appropriate.
• Collating, analysing and acting on local intelligence and data relating to SEND provision and local SEND Reform plans in Local Areas, including developing and maintaining a thorough knowledge of SEND in your Local Area, its strengths and challenges, and local issues and risks.
• Support and inform SEND and AP, wider DfE policy development and strategy by providing relevant data and intelligence around SEND services, SEND reform implementation and local performance.
• Identifying and disseminating examples of strong local practice across the region to inform wider implementation.
• Providing clear and timely information, reports and briefings to Ministers and wider DfE team around the status and progress of Local Inclusions Plans, including responding to internal correspondence and parliamentary questions as required.
• Collaborating with VCU and Schools teams to maintain a broad strategic overview of SEND priorities, the organisation of provision and facilitation of mainstream inclusion across local areas.
• You may support the SW SEND Regional Improvement Support Lead (RISL), and their work with the Regional Improvement & Innovation Alliance (RIIA), which may include attendance at SW SEND strategic meetings, monitoring of RIIA delivery plan and KPIs.
• You may also co-ordinate the effective delivery of SEND work that cuts across regions and / or has national significance, e.g. contributing to national portfolio work or SEND reforms, engaging with LA financial packages, liaising with policy teams and central teams, where relevant. This could include leading on briefing and advice on your work area to colleagues across the region or in other regions and providing suggestions for continuous improvement.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Strong stakeholder management skills and experience of building effective relationships with a range of internal and external senior stakeholders.
• Organised and able to handle a varied and demanding workload, working at pace to manage risks and respond flexibly to emerging priorities.
• A ‘can-do’ mindset, resilience, and the ability to work both autonomously and as part of a proactive team.
• Maintaining accurate and timely records and management information to support effective governance and delivery.
• Process and synthesise evidence, drawing conclusions and weighing up conflicting information to make clear recommendations.
• Ability to see the bigger picture, considering contextual factors and long-term implications to inform decision making.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to clearly and succinctly explain complex issues.

Desirable criteria:

• Knowledge: a good understanding of SEND or local authorities more widely, and appetite for continuous development to understand the changing landscape and evolving complexities of the SEND system.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview in the event of a tie break situation to make an informed decision.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,806, Department for Education contributes £12,400 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Strengths and Experience.

Application

To apply for this role, you will be required to provide a CV and Statement of Suitability (statement max word count 1000 words). We will use your CV and statement to assess your suitability for the role against the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the Statement of Suitability is 1000. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be considered.

The sift will be restricted to just assessing personal statements in the event of a large volume of applications.

More guidance on personal statements can be found here – completing your application.

Interview

If successful at sift, candidates will be assessed via interview. The interview will involve two types of questions – Strength-based and Experience

You will be asked questions to assess your experience in line with the essential criteria listed.

Strengths are a way for Hiring Managers to understand what motivates you and what you enjoy doing, which helps the panel to understand your areas of strength. Evidence shows that people do better work when a job aligns well with what they enjoy and find motivating. We don’t advertise which strengths we are going to assess you on as we want to be able to assess your first, natural response to the questions.

Information Session

There will be an information session on Thursday 15 January 2026 at 4pm where you can speak to members of the Regions Group team about the role. If you are interested in joining the session, please do confirm at RG.SW@education.gov.uk quoting the job reference (442556), an invite will be sent to you.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Mohamed Jimale / Heather Camobell
• Email : Mohamed.Jimale@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version (3) Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)