Head of Sensory and Autism Outreach Teams

Staffordshire County Council is seeking an exceptional and experienced specialist teacher to lead our large, diverse and highly regarded Specialist Teaching Support Service (STSS). This is a rare opportunity to shape inclusive practice at scale and make a tangible difference for children and young people across Staffordshire.

The Specialist Teaching Support Service is a centrally based children and young peoples’ service serving Staffordshire. Our expert teams work alongside settings, families and partners to strengthen inclusion and improve outcomes for children and young people. As Head of STSS, you will provide strategic leadership to the 3 specialist teams

• Deaf / Hearing Inclusion Team
• Vision Inclusion Team
• Autism Inclusion Team

With the Education White Paper and SEND reforms gathering pace, particularly the proposed ‘Experts at Hand’ strategy, this is a once-in-a-generation chance for a Head of Specialist Teaching to build on the outstanding foundations created by the previous post holder and lead Staffordshire STSS into the next era of SEND and inclusion.

You will:

• provide strategic leadership within the Specialist Teaching Teams, including HI, VI, autism and MSI.
• supervise and mentor the deputy heads (Lead Specialist Teachers) of HI,VI and AIT. • To plan and account for the expenditure of the Service budget in accordance with County Council financial regulations.
• identify, plan and implement service priorities through the Service Development Plan including strategic management of referrals, staff deployment, training, business planning and use of resources.
• oversee measures to ensure quality assurance such as data collection, consultations and evaluations in order to report outcomes to NatSIP, SCC, stakeholders and partners.
• oversee the professional development/performance management/MPC/appraisal system for all staff.
• work collaboratively and maintain effective systems of communication with partners, agencies and parents in order to provide a seamless pathway for CYP. •
• support the Head of SEND in the strategic oversight of the service.
• be responsible for Health and Safety issues within the Specialist Teaching Teams and undertake team risk assessments, where appropriate.
• be the lead officer in Child Protection/Safeguarding issues.
• contribute to national data collection and research initiatives for pupil outcomes, benchmarking etc. and Freedom of Information requests.
• represent the county at meetings of local and national boards.
• be responsible for the development and delivery of commissioning and traded aspects of the service delivery.

You will:

• have a strong commitment to leadership, inclusion, and improving outcomes for children and young people.
• hold QTS and substantial additional SEND qualifications (for example, the mandatory qualification as a Teacher of the Deaf and/or Teacher of the Vision Impaired, or autism)
• have significant management and leadership experience within an educational or Local Authority setting.

We are aiming to appoint for September 2026.

Interviews will be held in person in Stafford on Tuesday 19 May 2026.

This post is being recruited to on Teachers’ Terms and Conditions.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dr Halit Hulusi, Head of SEND, at halit.hulusi@staffordshire.gov.uk

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure that only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application in full, particularly the supporting statement, so we can understand what you will bring to the role.

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.