Education Lead

SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 71,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Woking is seeking an Education Lead to support the Families First Partnership Programme. This full-time role offers a salary of £70,975 and emphasizes collaboration, educational reform, and strategic leadership in social care. A hybrid working model is available, and the position is crucial to improving educational outcomes for children and families in Surrey.

Benefits

26 days' holiday, rising to 31 days with service

Generous local government pension

Employee Assistance Programme

Wellbeing discounts including gym and travel

Qualifications

• Demonstrated strategic leadership and operational excellence.
• Success in multi-agency collaboration to support children and families.
• Ability to translate strategic objectives into impactful practice.
• Understanding of statutory responsibilities and best practices.

Responsibilities

• Engage education partners in reform initiatives.
• Champion education as a vital multi-agency partner.
• Support data flow from education to inform the programme.

Skills

Proven track record as a Senior Leader within education settings

Extensive experience in the education sector

Multi-agency collaboration and partnership working

Service design and policy development

In-depth knowledge of safeguarding and child protection

Job description

This full-time position has a starting salary of £70,975 per annum based on a 36-hour working week.

We're excited to be recruiting an Education Lead to support the implementation of the Families First Partnership Programme (FFPP) in Surrey. This is a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of social care in Surrey. If you're passionate about education, collaboration, and making a real difference in communities, we'd love to hear from you.

This is a 12-month fixed-term contract or secondment opportunity. Part-time hours will also be considered. Due to the partnership nature of this role, a secondment arrangement can be explored by both internal and external candidates if this is supported by your current organisation.

The team is based at our Woking office, and the role is open to hybrid working. As a team we split our time between collaborating with colleagues in the office and working from home.

Our Offer to You

• 26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
• A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents

About the Role

The Families First Partnership (FFPP) is a multi-agency programme focused on early intervention and prevention to improve outcomes for children and families. You can read more about the FFPP programme in the attachment to this advert.

Working within the Children, Families and Learning Directorate, your role as an Education Lead will be to ensure education partners are engaged in reform initiatives, facilitate effective communication, gather feedback to inform proposed changes and report project progress to stakeholders. As a key liaison between Education, Social Care and the wider partnership, you will champion Education as a vital multi-agency partner, promoting early intervention and prevention outcomes for children and families.

Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

• Act as a liaison between schools, colleges and early years education settings as well as with Education and Lifelong Learning services within SCC, social care, the Virtual School including links with ELL Early Intervention Prevention and Support Services and Mindworks Schools Based Needs Teams.
• Engage stakeholders (including school leaders, parents, children, and young people) in shaping developments within the education sector, including identifying the changes that will make the most difference to children and their families.
• Communicate and seek feedback to inform proposed changes and project progress to stakeholders.

The role emphasises co-production and collaboration between services to shape reforms, particularly considering children with emerging or formally identified additional needs, and those for whom the Virtual School has statutory responsibility under the new DFE duties.

Strategic Leadership

• Be a key lead in the development of the new ways of working, building on the work of the Virtual School to improve educational outcomes of children with a social worker and the DFE's national evaluation of this.
• Make decisions on operational service delivery, such as design of new ways of working and structures.
• Support workstreams in reducing inequalities and overcoming systemic challenges.

Data and service Integration

• Support data flow from education and the Virtual School to inform the programme
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• Ensure appropriate services are accessed for reform initiatives

Your will work closely with the Assistant Director for Children's Services Innovation and Reform, as well as other partner leads, and be accountable to Surrey County Council.

Your Application

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours:

• Proven track record as a Senior Leader within education settings, demonstrating strategic leadership and operational excellence
• Extensive experience in the education sector, with a strong focus on cultivating high-performance cultures and driving continuous improvement
• Demonstrable success in multi-agency collaboration and effective partnership working to support children and families
• Experience in service design and policy development, with the ability to translate strategic objectives into impactful practice
• In-depth knowledge of safeguarding and child protection within schools and educational settings, with a clear understanding of statutory responsibilities and best practice

To apply, we request that you submit a CV and you will be asked the following 4 questions:

• Please describe a time when you led a significant change initiative within an education setting. What was the challenge, how did you approach it, and what impact did it have on children and families?
• How have you successfully worked multi-agency partnerships to improve outcomes for children? What were the key factors in building effective partnerships?
• Please give an example of how you have engaged children, families, and education professionals in shaping service delivery or policy. What methods did you use to gather feedback and ensure their voices were heard?
• Please tell us how you have used data and evidence to inform service design or policy development in education?

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 9th December 2025 with interviews planned for Wednesday 7th January 2026.

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

A basic DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) will be required for this role.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

Join our dynamic team and shape the future of local government. Make a lasting impact with innovative solutions and improved services for our community. Help us build a brighter future for our residents! Please see more information on our website.

Our Commitment

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we're committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.