SEND Officer

Derby City Council; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in the East Midlands is seeking a SEND Officer to help children with special educational needs. This role emphasizes the need for collaboration with health professionals and schools to create effective education, health, and care plans. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong empathy, resilience, and problem-solving skills. This fixed-term position offers competitive salary and excellent benefits, including flexible working, professional development, and generous annual leave.

Benefits

Flexible work/life balance scheme

Hybrid working

27 days annual leave

Local Government Pension Scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Passionate about providing opportunities for children with special educational needs.
• Ability to work collaboratively with various stakeholders.
• Experience in formulating EHC plans.

Responsibilities

• Formulate education, health, and care plans.
• Work with health, schools, and social care colleagues.
• Identify solutions for service improvement.

Skills

Empathy

Problem-solving

Resilience

Job description

Job description

Role: SEND Officer
Salary: Grade J £40,777 - £45,091 a year
Location: The Council House
Hours: 37 hours a week
Closing Date: 01/02/2026
Contract Type: Fixed term for 1 year

We want every child and young person with special educational needs and/or disabilities in Derby to be able to ‘live their best life’. The SEND Service plays a massive part in making sure that this happens.

We work with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to make sure that they achieve well in their early years at school and in college and lead happy and fulfilling lives.

You will join a dedicated team of decision makers, formulating education, health and care (EHC) plans in accordance with the SEND code of practice. You will work with colleagues in health, schools, and social care, to fully involve children and young people, and their parents and carers, to ensure that they get the support they need and achieve their potential, through co‑produced EHC plans.

You will be passionate about giving the best possible opportunities to our children and young people and will be innovative and creative in how you solve problems. You will need to show empathy and resilience in supporting children and young people, and their parents or carers, through the assessment process.

You will support the service on our continuous improvement journey by highlighting blockages and identifying solutions to ensure that the service can meet its statutory obligations.

Who We Are

Here at Derby City Council, we’re dedicated to delivering nearly 250 first‑class services to citizens and businesses in the heart of the Midlands. People are at the centre of all that we do, and we have an outstanding track record of recruiting and developing talented individuals by providing them with varied and fulfilling career opportunities. Find out more about what it’s like to work for us.

What We Offer

• Flexible work/life balance scheme
• Hybrid working
• Modern office environment
• Continued professional development opportunities & career conversations
• 27 days annual leave (rising to 32 days after 5 years' service), plus bank holidays
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Team Derby Rewards – retail and leisure discounts
• Tusker Car Benefit Scheme
• Cycle2Work Scheme & free cycle training
• Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Calendar and Support
• Access to our Equality Employee Networks – LGBTQ+, Disabled Employee Network & Carers and our Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Employee Support Network and Neurodiversity Network
• Support for colleagues who are carers

Next Steps

If you would like to apply for this vacancy, please apply via the Derby City Council portal.