Job Information:

Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us click here.

We are responsible for the entire range of children’s education, health and social care services in all three boroughs. We use a Signs of Safety practice model and approach which ensures the voice of the child is at the heart of everything we do. There’s never been a better time to join AfC, we are growing our workforce, implementing new flexible working arrangements and have increased our virtual wellbeing offer.

We now have the following job opportunity available and we would be delighted to receive your application to continue our story. 

The role of the Associate Director SEN is to lead the service in pursing the best possible outcomes for children and young people through providing strategic management of services to maximise the capacity and quality of provision available.

About The Role:

As the Associate Director Special Educational Need, you will build strategic relationships to work closely with local mainstream and special schools to ensure that Children and young people with SEND are visible and valued within their local community.

The Associate Director is responsible for implementing the Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities part of the Children and Families Act 2014, and the delivery of statutory services related to special educational needs for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. (Statements and EHCP).

The post-holder will contribute to ensuring that well-coordinated and effective identification, intervention and specialist services are in place to support and build the resilience of children and young people with SEN within universal and mainstream settings, as well as in specialist provision.  The post holder will be an active member of the Children’s Services Management Team and will lead on relevant regulatory inspections.

For an informal discussion about the role contact Clive Haines on clive.haines@achievingforchildren.org.uk

The job description/person spec can be found in the "downloads" section.

About You:

The successful candidate will have:

Educated to a degree level with a relevant professional qualification

Postgraduate qualification in a relevant field i.e. leadership and management

A proven track record as a successful strategic leader; leading, managing and improving frontline statutory children’s services that are regulated or inspected

Significant and demonstrable knowledge of statutory legislation, policy, guidance and procedures in relation to functional responsibilities

Direct experience of managing and delegating resources and people (recruitment, supervision, performance management and development of the workforce) delivering good value for money, including the management of complex and substantial budgets and the commissioning and procurement of services for children and young people

Experience of building strong partnerships, maintaining relationships and co-producing solutions to challenges across a diverse set of stakeholders, including children, young people and their families. Advocating the voices of those we are working with.

Expert knowledge of relevant theory that informs practice delivery within this field.

About Our Benefits:

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:

29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years.

Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC

Stable and supportive leadership

Hybrid and mobile working (between home and work) with latest technology to facilitate this

Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)

Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance

A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme

A range of staff benefits and discounts

An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway

To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children click here. For our social work offer click here.

Important Information:

Start dates: Achieving for Children have set start dates meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.

Right to work: 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.

Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

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 return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.