SEND and Inclusion Project Officer

Job introduction

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council

About the role

Children and young people with SEND often need support from several different services throughout their lives. Education, health, social care and community organisations all have a part to play, but achieving good outcomes depends on those services working well together.

The SEND and Inclusion team helps bring that shared effort together. Working across West Northamptonshire and the wider partnership, the team supports the delivery of the SEND and Inclusion Strategy, helping create better experiences and outcomes for children, young people and families.

Partnerships, priorities and improvement plans are already in place. What keeps them moving is having people who can build relationships, connect organisations and help ensure commitments turn into actions. This role sits in that space, supporting improvement work that reaches across education, health, social care and the voluntary sector.

You'll be close to the conversations, decisions and improvement activity shaping SEND services across West Northamptonshire, while helping ensure those discussions lead to meaningful progress for children, young people and families.

Planned interview date: 1 December 2026.

This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Children and Adults Barred List check. West Northamptonshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Additional information

You may have found yourself coordinating projects, supporting improvement work or helping different teams stay connected around a shared goal. That experience could have come from local government, education, health, children's services, the voluntary sector or somewhere completely different. What matters most is understanding how to keep progress moving when different people, priorities and organisations are involved.

There's a particular satisfaction that comes from helping ideas become actions. Following up on commitments, bringing people together, solving practical problems and helping important work move forward are often the parts of a job that people enjoy most.

An understanding of SEND and inclusion will help, but just as important is an interest in improving services and achieving better outcomes for children, young people and families. You're probably looking for a role that combines relationship building, problem solving and programme support while giving you a chance to contribute to improvement work that reaches far beyond a single team or service.

Company information

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.