Assistant Director, Send And Inclusion

Hackney Education provides a range of services to support the education of children, young people and adults in our inner London borough. Hackney is one of the UK’s highest performing local authorities, serving one of London’s best places to live and work. Within our diverse borough we serve a wide range of children and young people. We have a particular focus on supporting less advantaged families: Hackney figures in the 10% most deprived boroughs in England on a number of measures.

Hackney Education’s key priority is to improve the life chances of every child, young person and learner: making Hackney the most forward looking education system in the UK, where schools, settings and partners provide an exciting environment which ensures inclusion and success for everyone. We see our borough as being one of the best places in the country for young people to grow, learn, develop and achieve – and one of the best places for colleagues to work and thrive in our education system.

Job titleAssistant Director, SEND and Inclusion

Salary SM2, £101,880 to £108,660

Terms and Conditions Full time, Permanent

We are looking for an enthusiastic experienced senior leader. You will be the strategic lead for these services and the line manager of an excellent team of colleagues, supporting them to deliver an ambitious expansion of over 300 places to support children & young people with Education, Health and Care Plans. These are career defining challenges providing an excellent opportunity to develop and refine your strategic leadership skills.

You will be the key leader in ensuring high quality provision for all our Hackney children, particularly those with special educational needs. You will be the key Hackney link, with your teams, between children and their families and providers.

You will line manage the SEND service leader.

In leading all this areas, we expect you to be:

• Passionate about highest standards for all, particularly for the most vulnerable
• Clear about strategic direction
• An advocate for partnership working
• Strong on high quality management and delivery, with relevant experience
• Responsible and responsive
• Sensitive to the needs of all stakeholders
• An excellent communicator, in speaking and writing
• Financially astute.

As well as leading and managing these teams, the post holder will be a key member of the Senior Leadership Team for Hackney Education (the education service for Hackney Council), contributing strategically and operationally to running the central education service in Hackney. 

We are looking for a highly motivated, energetic, optimistic and compassionate leader, with an understanding of the challenges and opportunities around including children and young people with high needs in a range of educational settings, and supporting their optimum progress.

You will have senior level relevant experience in a school or local government children’s and education service (service manager or more senior). 

If you have any questions, please contact Paul Senior, Interim Director of Education and Inclusion (Paul.Senior@hackney.gov.uk).

Closing date: 22:59, 3rd March 2024

Interviews: 20th March 2024

Hackney Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff to share this commitment. As this role involves regulated activity, the successful applicant will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check and additional pre-employment checks in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, age and marital status. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people and people from a black and global majority background as these groups are currently under represented in our workforce.