Assistant Director, SEN and Youth Directorate - 3 posts in Belfast

Reports to: Chief Transformation Officer

SEN Assistant Directors are responsible for providing strategic leadership for the effective and efficient delivery of all SEND statutory and support services and services provided to special schools and specialist provisions in mainstream school.

CORPORATE LEADERSHIP

Assistant Directors are responsible for working flexibly and collaboratively with the Chief Executive and Chief Officers to provide corporate leadership to EA, particularly in regard to progressing EA’s improvement journey and ensuring corporate alignment across the organisation. These are challenging roles requiring proven skills in leading and working collaboratively with others to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• As part of the Senior Leadership Team, optimise business structures, harness strengths and make EA a great place to work.
• Lead a portfolio of services to enable the delivery of high-quality services to schools and other stakeholders and/or deliver projects and programmes in line with EA's priorities and business plan.
• Working collectively with other Assistant Directors to align, agree and progress corporate priorities.
• Support the Chief Officers in considering the resourcing profile and organisational changes required to deliver the optimum structure for EA.
• Focus on corporate leadership duties, offering leadership that empowers individuals managing services to focus more on operational excellence.
• Support the Chief Officers in leading detailed reviews of EA’s core functions and current challenges to inform a more balanced structure.
• Work towards EA’s long‑term improvement ambitions, ensuring that the future structure is aligned with its vision, purpose and strategic goals.
• Provide support to Chief Executive and Chief Officers in prioritisation of EA’s activities to determine which are essential and which may need to be discontinued, paused or reconfigured.
• Ensure that EA lives within its annual budget allocation from the Department of Education.
• Work in partnership with staff and stakeholders including partners across the education sector, governing bodies, school leaders, trade unions, elected representatives, other related agencies, the media and the public.
• Maximise opportunities for improvements while promoting innovation and ambition.
• Provide corporate leadership for all programmes and projects relating to improvements to service delivery models while ensuring that EA adheres to relevant legislation and standards.
• Ensure that service delivery is shaped by service user input.
• Advise the Department of Education on policy issues and contribute to policy reviews.

The above responsibilities apply to all Assistant Directors (ADs). Whilst ADs are initially appointed to a specific post there may be opportunities to move to another AD position in any directorate, providing personal development opportunities for a wide-ranging and varied career and supporting the organisation in the most effective use of strategic leadership experience at this tier.

KEY AREAS OF FOCUS

• Post 1 – SEND Statutory Services: The Assistant Director for SEND Statutory Services leads statutory special educational needs services for schools, overseeing the SEND Assessment and Review service and the Educational Psychology service. Budget: £304 million Staff: 462
• Post 2 – SEND Support Services: The Assistant Director for SEND Support Services leads and oversees pupil support services for children with special educational and medical needs. Budget: £78 million Staff: 599
• Post 3 – Special Schools and Specialist Provisions: The Assistant Director for Special Schools and Specialist Provisions leads and oversees all services delivered to special schools and specialist provisions in mainstream schools. Budget: £214 million Staff: 67

The vision for SEN Transformation is to ensure that all children and young people with special educational needs can reach the maximum outcomes throughout their educational journey. That means that we will tailor services to meet the needs of the children and young people who need the services. To reach this point we need to change the approach to supporting children with SEN, we need to listen to the expertise (teachers, principals and others) who deliver education on a day to day basis, we need to understand best practice through research and comparative studies with other jurisdictions and we need to understand the needs of our children and young people with SEN.

In practice this means:

• A system that identifies the specific intervention required for the child to have the best education possible.
• A system that empowers local decision making to meet the needs of the children in local schools, disregarding of stage on the Code of Practice.
• A support offer which provides the options to meet the local need, across all stages of the Code of Practice.

These Assistant Directors collectively hold the following high-level responsibilities, along with overall leadership for these divisions, fostering a culture of improvement and engagement:

• Providing leadership to the directorate, fostering a culture of improvement, collaboration and engagement.
• Lead service delivery across relevant area of special educational needs.
• Lead on relationship-building with all stakeholders and ensuring that services are providing for the effective delivery of advice, support and assistance to parents and schools.
• Provide leadership of continuous improvement and transformational change across SEND Statutory services.
• Develop and implement a strategic, long-term plan to promote and sustain inclusion for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN).
• Review, reset and enhance statutory assessment and annual review processes, ensuring a robust support model for all children with SEN.
• Drive the transformation of the support model for children holding statements of SEN, focusing on improved outcomes and service delivery.
• Design, pilot and evaluate enabling support programmes delivered outside of standard school hours and term times.
• Secure and direct investment in classroom assistants and teachers, including those in pre‑school leadership roles, to enhance support for children with SEN.
• Lead the design and launch bespoke data dashboards to monitor and improve outcomes for children with SEN.
• Lead the development and implementation of alternative interventions programmes to maximise the outcomes of children and young people.
• Implement transitional support programmes tailored to key stages of the learner’s educational journey.
• Tackle key challenges in special schools and enhance their support for inclusion across Northern Ireland communities.
• Improve planning processes to accommodate a changing pupil profile and evolving needs.

OTHER

Any other duties related to the role which may be required from time‑to‑time by the Chief Executive and the Board. In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), be expected to promote Good Relations, Equality of Opportunity and pay due regard for Equality Legislation at all times. This job description will be subject to review considering changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Candidates must demonstrate on their application form that they meet the following essential criteria:

• A minimum of two years’ experience in a senior management role successfully leading services across several areas and having an impact on multiple people.
• Experience of working collectively across a senior team to align goals, resources, policies and processes to optimise use of the organisation’s resources to deliver maximum value for the public/customers.
• Experience of leading and championing continuous improvement in complex service delivery that has delivered improved outcomes for the public/customers.
• Strong communicator with proven skills to engage across a range of stakeholders, demonstrating successful impact.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the potential and the challenges of delivering SEND related services to children and young people and schools.

The successful candidate will be required:

• to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion; OR be able to provide sufficient information on the application form that will satisfy the employer that he/she has access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion.

OUR VALUES

Through the selection process we will also seek evidence that the personal values of candidates align with those of the EA. This will include evidence of commitment to equality and excellence in service delivery. These reflect our aim which is to meet the needs of all our children and young people equally, removing barriers to learning and ensuring equality of access to excellent education services so that every child can develop to his or her full potential.

DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’. In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you will be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre‑employment stage. Further information can be accessed at NI Direct or the Department of Justice.