SEND Engagement & Communications Officer

About the role

Do you have experience in SEND and a passion for working collaboratively with parents and carers? Are you skilled in engagement and communication, and keen to build those skills with our support? If so, this may be the opportunity for you. We are looking for a dedicated SEND Communications and Engagement Officer to join our team in Bury. Your hours of work will be 37 per week, but the hours and pattern of working are negotiable as our priority is to get the right person with the right skill set for the job.

This is primarily an engagement role, and as part of that you will be responsible for ensuring effective communications with parents and carers, and ensuring that information about SEND services is clear, timely and accessible. The role is to ensure that there is true collaboration between parents, carers, and key stakeholders involved in delivering support to families. Central to this will be designing and delivering co-production events, surveys, and focus groups to capture the voice of parents, carers, children and young people. You will hold regular meetings with parent carer forums/groups and also put systems in place to capture the views of the young people themselves, to make sure their voices are heard and considered. You will also present feedback to strategic boards as part of Bury’s Co-production Network.

The post holder will also be responsible for managing the content on the Bury’s Local Offer pages, regularly reviewing it and ensuring materials are kept up to date so families know what support is available and how to access it. This is our core engagement and communication digital platform. Another key function will be to communicate Bury’s SEND Strategy including successes and progress to parents, carers, staff, and wider partners, using a range of channels. This will include:

• Producing and distributing the monthly SEND Newsletter from the Local Authority.
• Managing social media channels.
• Creating clear, consistent written communications that parents and carers can easily access.
• Promoting SEND services and signposting families to the right support.

About you

We are seeking someone who:

• Has experience of working with families, ideally those with SEND.
• Can build strong relationships and bring people together.
• Is confident in producing written communications and has digital skills for managing social media and newsletters.
• Is organised and flexible, able to travel across the borough and sometimes work outside normal hours to meet families’ needs.

In this role you can make a real difference to relationships between parents, commissioners, professionals, and services helping to ensure that the experiences of children and young people with SEND in Bury are the best they can be.

The appointment is subject to a satisfactory basic disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service. Normal hours of work are 37 hours per week based around the usual business working week. Dependent on service requirements, you may be required to work on a rota basis.

Benefits of working for Bury Council

We support employees to work with agility, where appropriate for the post and service requirements.

Equal Opportunities

We are committed to Bury being an equal society that recognises values and embraces all people, regardless of any difference, for the skills, abilities and experiences they bring into the workforce and the wider community. Therefore we guarantee an interview for disabled people, looked after children/ care leavers, armed forces personnel (including reservists and veterans) and carers of adults or disabled children if they meet the essential criteria.