Children’s Social Care and SEND
We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Senior Fieldwork Manager to undertake the role of Designated Social Care Officer for SEND. This is an important strategic and practice leadership role, identified nationally as a key function to strengthen social care’s contribution to the SEND system and improve outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
The postholder will work across Children’s Social Care and SEND, providing expert leadership, advice and challenge to ensure that social care responsibilities are fully understood, embedded and delivered within Education, Health and Care needs assessment, planning and review processes. The role will support stronger partnership working across education, health and care, with a clear focus on improving children’s lived experiences, strengthening compliance and ensuring that families receive coordinated, timely and effective support.
As Designated Social Care Officer, you will be the senior social care lead for SEND, supporting the local authority to meet its statutory duties and ensuring that social care practice is visible, consistent and influential within the wider SEND partnership. You will provide oversight of the quality of social care advice within Education, Health and Care Plans, contribute to strategic development, and support service improvement across children’s social care, disabled children’s services, early help, safeguarding, transitions and wider SEND arrangements.
The role requires someone who can operate confidently at senior manager level, influence across service boundaries and bring together operational understanding with strategic insight. You will need to be able to work collaboratively with colleagues across Children’s Social Care, SEND, education, health, commissioning and adult services to improve pathways, strengthen decision-making and ensure that children, young people and families experience joined-up support.
Further information from: [email protected]/[email protected]
We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.
It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.
Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.
Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.
If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.
Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.
