SEND Commissioning Officer

Our Purpose:

To ensure children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and/or those who are at risk of exclusion are supported at the right time, and in the right place.

The Post:

The SEND Commissioning team are looking to recruit a full time permanent Commissioning Officer. You will join a friendly, hardworking and committed team with a passion for achieving the best outcomes for children and young people. As demand for SEND services continues to increase and we work to deliver ambitious improvements across the SEND system, we are seeking an additional team member to help drive forward key commissioning priorities and support the delivery of our SEND Reform Programme.

This is an exciting opportunity to work collaboratively with partners across education, health and social care to develop and improve services for children and young people with SEND and their families.

Note: This is a hybrid role, with an expectation of being available to work from the office and attend face to face meetings as required.

Main Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with a wide range of partners, taking a whole system approach to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
• Support the development and delivery of commissioning priorities that contribute to the improvement of SEND services across Staffordshire.
• Work through the SEND & Inclusion model to ensure children known to their local SEND & Inclusion Hub are supported to have their needs identified and met at the earliest opportunity.
• Enhance the support available to mainstream schools through the Enhanced Assess, Plan, Do, Review (EAPDR) Pathway, helping ensure children and young people receive effective support before a statutory Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment is required.
• Lead and support commissioning activity linked to the SEND & Inclusion model, ensuring new developments are effectively planned, implemented and monitored through robust commissioning arrangements.
• Support the delivery of improvement activity associated with the SEND Reform Programme, contributing to service redesign, stakeholder engagement and the implementation of new approaches to meeting need.
• Lead on the commissioning and development of Speech and Language provision in Staffordshire, working closely with key partners to ensure services are responsive, effective and deliver positive outcomes for children and young people.
• Work flexibly across a range of commissioning priorities as required, responding to emerging needs and strategic developments within the SEND system.

The Ideal Candidate:

We're particularly looking for someone who is equally passionate about improving outcomes for children & young people with SEND; is well organised; proactive; has great communication skills and is able to work effectively with a broad range of stakeholders; including children, young people and their parents / carers.

Desirable but not essential:

• Experience in commissioning, with a strong understanding of commissioning processes and the ability to manage and lead commissioning projects.
• Knowledge about the SEND landscape and the challenges faced by children and young people with SEND.

Candidates should ideally have one of the above desirable experiences or knowledge areas.

We are very much looking forward to a new colleague joining the team!

Interviews looking to take place week commencing 21st September 2026

Don’t feel you meet all the requirements? We value transferable skills, experiences, and qualifications so consider applying anyway or for an informal chat about the role please contact Viki Ashcroft, Interim SEND Commissioning Manager, viki.ashcroft@staffordshire.gov.uk

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

Please note: The minimum criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes, detailed below.

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.