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Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, Leicestershire, LE3 8RF

Salary: Soulbury B 5-8 (£63,638 - £67,526 + up to 3 SPA) per annum (pro rata for part-time)

Working Hours: 37 per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 6th September 2026

Interview Date(s): 22nd September 2026

As we prepare to address the ambitions and expectations of the SEND Reforms, Leicestershire Educational Psychology Service (LEPS) is expanding its Leadership Team. This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled and experienced Educational Psychologist to bring fresh thinking, shape strategic direction and help drive meaningful change within an ambitious and vibrant service.

About the Role

LEPS offers opportunities to undertake varied, innovative and meaningful work within a supportive and values‑driven environment. Our core purpose is to improve outcomes for children and young people by delivering high quality psychological practice within and across multiple systems. Our versatile thinking and practice enables us to support families, schools and partners across the local area. The work of the team is acknowledged across the Directorate and is highly valued by our Council leaders and our stakeholder groups; we have a reputation we can all be proud of!

This post provides a unique opportunity to contribute to leadership and service development within and beyond the service. The role will combine strategic leadership, people management and applied psychological practice, enabling you to achieve optimal reach and impact

You will:

• Lead on key areas of service development and delivery, including work driven by the SEND reforms and Families First Reforms.
• Work closely with the Principal Educational Psychologist and the EP Senior Leadership Team, supporting key decision making and representing LEPS in critical spaces within the LA, the Local Area Partnership and the East Midlands region.
• Line manage and supervise a team of Educational Psychologists, acting as a leader, role model and mentor within the service.
• Contribute to the monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement of the service.
• Balance a caseload of applied work alongside team leadership, strategic projects and systems‑level activity.

An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post.

For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.

About You

To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• Professional postgraduate qualification in Educational Psychology, and HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist.
• Significant experience as an Educational Psychologist in an LA environment, with expertise in applying psychological skills at child, group, and systems levels.
• Proven leadership experience, including project management.
• Experience of applying skills knowledge and expertise leading to change and positive outcomes.
• The ability to work flexibly, decisively and independently, demonstrating a collaborative approach with the ability to develop successful partnerships.
• Detailed understanding of relevant legislation, guidance and policy in relation to SEND and safeguarding, with the ability carry out all duties in line with LCC Safeguarding policies and procedures.

Leicestershire Educational Psychology Service

We are currently a partially traded service, who are looking to expand our offer. Our diverse offer includes:

· Service level agreements with individual schools including specialist provisions

· A traded training offer which supports inclusive practice in schools

· Accredited ELSA training and ELSA supervision

· Whole School Approach project work in partnership with Public Health

· Critical Incident Response Team offer supported by the whole service

· A funded EBSA consultation offer to schools

· An SLA with the Virtual School

· Statutory work undertaken for the SENA Service

New from September 2026:

· Experts at Hand offer delivered via a locality-based model, with a focus on MDT working, training, implementation support and staff well-being

· Inclusion Base Support – Psychological coaching, bespoke training and implementation support for all LA commissioned Inclusion Bases

· Direct educational psychology input into Family Hubs as part of the Best Start in Life offer.

· A developing role within the Families First Programme, focussing on supporting Social Care colleagues via training and group supervision.

Leicestershire EPs have access to:

· Excellent whole-service and individual CPD opportunities

· Structured time-allocation model promoting well-being and a balance of work

· Regular and high-quality individual supervision sessions and access to peer supervision

· Well-appointed central office base and first-class facilities within County Hall, Glenfield

· Local ‘touchdown’ bases across the county to reduce travel time

· Up-to-date ICT equipment for mobile / agile working

· Flexible, family friendly working arrangements

· A very strong team culture with regular social and connection-building events

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Dr Helen Tyson Principal Educational Psychologist

Phone: 0116 305 5100

Email: Helen.Tyson@leics.gov.uk

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support.

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About us

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us