Project Professional in Ipswich

Our client is looking for an experienced SEND Project Manager. You will be responsible for the delivery plan for approximately 36 schools (primary and secondary) for Suffolk’s pilot EAH offer. You will work alongside LA staff, Health staff and Education settings. A clear plan has been established and you will be expected to:

• Lead the day-to-day implementation and mobilisation of the EAH pilot across participating schools and settings.
• Coordinate pilot school onboarding, briefing sessions and implementation support, working alongside existing SEND, Specialist Education Service, Psychology and engagement teams to ensure a coordinated offer to schools.
• Track progress against the agreed delivery plan, identifying risks, issues and dependencies and escalating where appropriate.
• Coordinate activity across education, health and Local Authority colleagues to ensure delivery milestones are achieved.
• Coordinate implementation communications and engagement activity with participating schools, health partners and locality stakeholders, ensuring actions align with the agreed programme communications plan.
• Support the implementation of the Team Around the Setting (TAS) model, including coordinating meetings, actions and follow-up activity.
• Ensure agreed resources, tools, templates and guidance are available and consistently implemented across pilot schools.
• Monitor pilot readiness and support delivery of key mobilisation requirements, including service specifications, operational processes, workforce deployment and partnership agreements.
• Work with colleagues to collect, analyse and report pilot performance data, feedback, risks and lessons learned.
• Support the development of case studies, evaluation evidence and impact reporting to inform future phases of the EAH programme.
• Prepare progress reports, highlight reports and papers for programme governance meetings.
• Facilitate collaborative working between schools, health partners and Local Authority services to ensure the pilot reflects the principles of co-design, early intervention and inclusive practice.
• Maintain programme documentation, action logs, risk registers and implementation trackers to ensure robust programme governance and assurance.

This is for a 16-week assignment until the LA recruitment process finalises. Reporting to the SEND Reform Senior Transformation Manager, you will be responsible for the delivery plan for approximately 18 schools (primary and secondary) for Suffolk’s initial Inclusion Base rollout. You will work alongside LA staff and Education settings. A clear plan has been established and you will be expected to:

• Lead the day-to-day implementation and mobilisation of the Inclusion Base programme across participating schools and settings.
• Coordinate the onboarding of participating schools and facilitate regular engagement, planning and progress meetings.
• Drive delivery of the agreed implementation plan, ensuring key milestones, dependencies and deliverables remain on track.
• Support schools to understand and implement the Inclusion Base model, service specification and operational requirements and work with associated roles pertaining to the development of EAH, Comms and Engagement sprints.
• Coordinate activity across Local Authority, health and education partners, including SEND, Education, Capital, Finance, Property and Admissions services where required to support successful mobilisation.
• Monitor school readiness and ensure all minimum viable criteria for launch are achieved within agreed timescales.
• Support implementation of agreed operational processes, referral pathways, governance arrangements and reporting mechanisms, ensuring these are embedded consistently across participating schools.
• Work with schools and relevant outreach and inclusion services to identify workforce, training and development needs that support successful implementation and sustainability of Inclusion Bases.
• Coordinate communications, engagement activity and information sharing across participating schools and stakeholders.
• Maintain oversight of programme risks, issues and dependencies, providing timely escalation and mitigation where appropriate.
• Collect, analyse and report progress, implementation data, feedback and emerging learning from participating schools.
• Support development of evaluation frameworks, case studies and evidence of impact to inform future rollout decisions.
• Prepare highlight reports, programme updates and governance papers for programme governance meetings.
• Maintain programme documentation including action logs, decision logs, risk registers and implementation trackers.
• Facilitate collaborative working between schools and the Local Authority to ensure a consistent and high-quality approach across all Inclusion Bases.

Expected outcomes during the 16-week assignment:

• All 18 Inclusion Base schools successfully engaged and supported through mobilisation.
• Inclusion Bases are preparing to be (or are) launch-ready and operating in line with agreed specifications and implementation requirements.
• Schools have clear operational processes, pathways and governance arrangements in place.
• Key delivery milestones are achieved to time and quality.
• Programme risks and issues are effectively managed and reported.
• Robust implementation, evaluation and impact evidence is collected to inform future phases of rollout.
• Strong foundations are established to enable a smooth handover to the permanent Local Authority postholder and support sustainable expansion of the Inclusion Base programme.