SEND Co-Production Manager

Suffolk County Council; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS

Flexible working options

Career development opportunities

Training and knowledge expansion

Travel, lifestyle, health and well‑be…

Job summary

Suffolk County Council is seeking a Co-Production Manager within the CYP Engagement Hub in Ipswich. You will lead strategic co-production activity, align with priorities, and influence service design across education, health, social care and community partners.

This role emphasizes engaging children, young people, parents and carers in policy development and service transformation. The post requires strong leadership, extensive engagement experience and the ability to manage complex

Qualifications

• Proven experience of co-production and engagement
• Strong strategic leadership and change management skills
• Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills
• Successful multi-agency partnership working
• Strong planning, problem-solving and performance management abilities

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for co-production across SEND Local Area Partnership
• Ensure children, young people, parents and carers shape services and decisions
• Develop and embed high-quality co-production practice
• Build and influence strong multi-agency partnerships
• Lead governance, communication and assurance, presenting to senior leaders and boards

Skills

Co-production experience

Strategic leadership

Communication & negotiation

Multi-agency partnership work

Planning & performance management

Job description

• Suffolk County Council
• Address: Endeavour House, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX. Hybrid work
• Salary: £49,752 per annum (pro rata for part time)
• Hours: 37 hours per week, flexible working options available
• Contract: Permanent

At Suffolk County Council, every role is a chance to create positive change.

As a Co-Production Manager in the CYP Engagement Hub, you'll see the direct impact of your work on the people and places that make Suffolk special.

Join us and turn your passion for progress into action.

Reimagine the possibilities.

Your role and responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for co-production across the SEND Local Area Partnership, aligning activity with shared priorities, statutory duties and long-term plans.
• Ensure children, young people, parents and carers shape services and decisions, championing their voices in policy development, service planning and transformation.
• Develop and embed high-quality co-production practice, creating innovative partnership-wide plans and supporting colleagues to strengthen standards and ways of working.
• Build and influence strong multi-agency partnerships, working across education, health, social care and community organisations to secure commitment and integrated delivery.
• Lead governance, communication and assurance, presenting complex or sensitive information to senior leaders and boards, monitoring quality and performance, and ensuring risks are managed appropriately.

What you will need

• Proven experience of co-production and engagement, working directly with children, young people, parents, carers and communities to shape policies and services.
• Strong strategic leadership and change management skills, with the ability to develop and deliver partnership-wide plans and embed new ways of working.
• Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills, including the confidence to present complex or sensitive information to senior leaders and partnership boards.
• Successful multi-agency partnership working, ideally across education, health, social care and community organisations.
• Strong planning, problem-solving and performance management abilities, with experience of managing competing priorities, risks, resources and service improvement, ideally within a complex partnership environment.
• Knowledge of SEND services and the wider SEND Local Area Partnership, or the ability to quickly develop expertise in this area.

This role requires flexibility, with variable working hours to accommodate occasional early morning and evening meetings.

The team

The CYP Engagement Hub is a collaborative, partnership-focused team working to improve outcomes for children and young people across Suffolk. The team works closely with education, health, social care and community partners, alongside parents, carers and young people, to ensure lived experience meaningfully shapes SEND services, priorities and decision-making.

Empowering Everyone

We're big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We're always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report .

For more information

Please contact Harriet Wakeling (she/her) for a casual conversation. You can reach them by calling 01473 260696 or emailing [e-mail]

Planning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Please ensure your application still reflects your own skills, experience and ideas. If used inappropriately, your application may not be processed. Please read our guidance for using AI to understand what's acceptable.

Do you need any reasonable adjustments to help you to apply? If you are disabled and/or have additional support needs, you can request reasonable adjustments. You can do this by contacting our Recruitment Team by either emailing [e-mail] or calling 03456 014412. You can find examples of possible adjustments on our Reasonable Adjustment pages.

Closing date: 11.30 pm, 29 October 2026.

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.

As a modern and effective council, we offer a wide variety of careers to suit people with a range of skills, abilities and ambitions. We offer working options that flex to reflect the way people work today and take the time to understand and support your individual needs. We're driven to make a positive difference to the world around us and encourage everyone with drive and focus to join us and build an influential and impactful career. Reimagine the possibilities.

In return, you'll enjoy:

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

Plus lots more!

If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk) .