An exciting opportunity has become available to join the Educational Psychology Service within Cheshire East Council as a Senior Educational Psychologist (there are two positions available). This is a key leadership role within a dynamic, innovative and relationally focused service working with children, young people, families, schools and partners across the borough.
You will play a vital role as part of the service management team, contributing both strategically and operationally to the development and delivery of high-quality psychological services. Based across Cheshire East with a range of office bases including Macclesfield, this is an opportunity to shape practice, influence outcomes and make a meaningful difference for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
About you
You will be an experienced and motivated Educational Psychologist, registered with the HCPC, with a strong background in applied psychology within a local authority context. You will be confident in taking on leadership responsibilities, including supervision and management of colleagues, and contributing to service development and improvement.
You will be skilled in working collaboratively with a wide range of partners, including schools, early years settings, post-16 providers, health and social care colleagues, and families. Your communication skills will enable you to provide clear advice, training and guidance, and to represent the service effectively in meetings, panels and strategic forums.
You will have a strong understanding of SEND legislation, including the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice, and be confident in applying this within statutory and traded work. You will be committed to delivering a person-centred, inclusive service that promotes positive outcomes and empowers children, young people and their families.
The role is diverse, combining leadership, supervision, service development and direct work with children, young people and settings. You will lead on a specialist area, contribute to multi-agency working, and support quality assurance, policy development and service innovation.
The successful candidate will have:
- HCPC registration as an Educational Psychologist
- At least 3 years’ post-qualification experience within a local authority context
- Experience of leadership and supervision within an Educational Psychology Service
- Strong knowledge of SEND legislation and statutory processes
- Experience of working collaboratively with schools and multi-agency partners
- The ability to contribute strategically to service development and improvement
- Excellent communication, analytical and problem-solving skills
- The ability to manage competing priorities and work effectively under pressure
- A commitment to inclusive practice and improving outcomes for children and young people
- Confidence in using IT systems and maintaining accurate records
- The ability to travel across the local authority area
To find out more about the essential and desirable criteria for the role please view the attached job description specification document.
In return we are able to offer:
- Enhanced annual leave - Start with an impressive 34 days of annual leave (including bank holidays) from day one, and watch it grow to 39 days after just five years of service
- Purchase of annual leave – Want more time off? You can purchase up to 10 extra days of annual leave each year, giving you the flexibility to balance work and life just the way you want (Pro-rata for part-time staff)
- Flexible working pattern - Enjoy a 37-hour standard full-time work week with the added perks of flexi-time and hybrid/remote working arrangements where possible. Your work-life balance just got a whole lot better
- Salary sacrifice green car scheme - Drive green and save green! Lease a brand-new electric or hybrid car through our salary sacrifice scheme. There’s no credit checks, no deposits, just significant savings and exclusive offers on a three-year lease
- White goods salary sacrifice scheme - Upgrade your home with ease. Purchase home and electronic items through our salary sacrifice scheme, spreading the cost of big-ticket purchases like appliances, computers, and tech gadgets directly from your salary
- Enhanced public pension - Secure your future with our career average pension, where contributions are built at a rate of 1/49th of your yearly pensionable pay
- Cycle to work scheme - Save up to 25-39% on the retail price of bikes and safety equipment through Income Tax and National Insurance savings. Get fit and save money!
- Employee assistance programme - Access a completely free and confidential assistance service to help manage, reduce, and overcome life’s challenges, both at work and in your personal life
- Discounted gym membership - Stay active and healthy with corporate membership prices for Everybody Leisure, including:
- Gym, Swim and Group Fitness at all 16 facilities
- Off-Peak Racket Sports
- Athletics Tracks
- Sauna/Steam/Spa
Join us and experience a workplace that truly values and supports you!
Organisation
Cheshire East Council
Grade
Soulbury Senior EP SCP 7 - 10
Salary Min
£66,156 per annum
Salary Max
£70,265 per annum
Employment Type
Permanent
Contract Duration
Permanent
Cheshire East is an amazing place to live and work. As one of the largest employers in the borough, we are able to offer you a wide range of challenging and rewarding career opportunities.
We are working for a brighter future – together and our commitment to you is that our workplace culture will provide a shared purpose, a well-led organisation with valued people succeeding together as one team and one council to deliver the best service for our customers and communities.
If you want to be part of our award-winning council and contribute to our ongoing success, have the flexibility and drive to enable us to innovate, are committed to working as part of a team and striving to deliver exceptional service wherever you can, we would especially like to hear from you.
As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our local communities so that we can all work for a brighter future - together.
Applicants should ensure all sections of the application form are completed as failure to do so will result in their application being rejected. Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application. If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact Dr Rachael King [email protected].
This role is being advertised internally only in line with our recruitment policy and is therefore open exclusively to existing employees. External applications, including speculative submissions, cannot be accepted and will be declined.
If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date then it is likely that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion, however, please do not be discouraged from applying again.
For any technical enquiries please email [email protected]
Please quote job reference number in all correspondence.
Cheshire East Council is committed to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults across the Borough. As such, any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings that are ‘not protected’ as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 (as amended in 2013) relating to the non-disclosure of spent convictions do not apply to this job. You must therefore, disclose whether you have any previous convictions where prompted to do so within the application process.
