Service Manager - Special Educational Needs Assessment (SENA) in England

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall Glenfield, Leicester LE3 8RA

Salary: £63,027 - £69,342 per annum (Pro rata for part time)

Working Hours: 37

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 27th March 2026

Interview Date(s): 31st March 2026

Are you an experienced strong SEND leader passionate about improving the lives and outcomes of children and young people? Leicestershire County Council is seeking an exceptional Special Educational Needs Assessment (SENA) Service Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership for our high‑performing SEND services.

About the Role

As the SENA Service Manager, you will champion improved outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities across Leicestershire. You will provide strong oversight of the SENA service, leading Team Managers and ensuring that all statutory Education, Health and Care (EHC) processes are delivered to the highest standards. This pivotal leadership role involves:

• Overseeing the EHC assessment, planning and review process
• Ensuring statutory timescales and quality frameworks are met
• Managing High Needs budgets and forecasting
• Leading performance management, quality assurance and audit processes
• Working closely with schools, settings, FE colleges, partners, health, social care and commissioned services
• Representing the Council at SEND Tribunals, panels, and multi‑agency forums
• Driving service development, improvement and transformation
• Leading and motivating staff to deliver excellence for families

You will play a major role in strategic SEND planning across the authority, working with senior leaders, including the Head of Service for SEND, School Organisation, Inclusion, Commissioning, CYPS DMT and elected members. An enhanced DBS check with barred list is required for this post.

About You

To apply for this post, you must have:

• Relevant Degree or equivalent or Demonstrable and fully evidenced experience developing, managing and delivering an effective service relevant to the above qualification level, with Management qualification and Evidence of continued learning and development.
• Extensive experience of working in SEND, experience of developing and providing high quality service, in accordance with statutory requirements and the strategic business need of the organisation and its external partners, including where appropriate commissioning.
• Successful management of significant and demanding programmes of change including experience of resolving complex organisational and service issues.
• Experience of strategic thinking at a senior level, with significant experience of influencing partners to deliver within the framework of an overall programme of change using leadership, influence and negotiation skills.
• Extensive experience of managing staff and other resources identifying, developing and delivering training to support staff development as required.
• Experience of strong performance reporting and management in a complex service area.
• Understanding of the strategic relevance of the areas identified above within local government and the partnership environment, key local government issues associated with the role and how they affect local government and partners and current legislative requirements, governance and relevant policies and procedures associated with SEN and disability, relevant regulation and guidance relevant to the role, methodologies and risk management strategies and their application, current national policy, High Needs funding, commissioning rules and regulations.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process. Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working? We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact: Michelle White - Head of Service - SEND & Children with Disabilities

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre.