Education Health and Care (EHC) Officer

Are you looking for a new challenge?

Can you make a difference for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability?

The Education Health and Care Team are looking for a new EHC Officer.

The EHC Officer is responsible for ensuring statutory timescales are met for his or her area. This is both statutory assessments and annual reviews.

This is a diverse, challenging and engaging role with officers carrying significant responsibility for ensuring children and young people secure an educational placement.

Duties may include:

• Making decisions to agree EHC needs assessments and issuing EHC Plans
• Attending formal mediation
• Managing a team of caseworkers and admin staff
• Making decisions based on annual review reports
• Liaising with schools and other professionals and parents

Successful applicants will have experience of working with families, children and young people in a professional capacity and will need to evidence that they have worked as an effective team member and leader.

You will have significant experience working with children and young people with SEND, and have the skills to empathise, mediate and support families with complex processes, including giving difficult messages. You will need to be able to organise competing priorities.

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be required to complete a One Page Profile and give a short PowerPoint presentation as part of the selection process.

If you are interested in this exciting opportunity and want to make a real difference to young people and families, we look forward to receiving your application.

If you would like to discuss this position, please call the EHC Service Manager, Anthony Giles on 07912 186307.

We’re a new council, following one of the largest shake-ups in local government reform in recent history. As a new authority, we’re embarking on an exciting journey to deliver exceptional services for our residents, customers and communities.

Our vision at West Northamptonshire Council 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.

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.

When potential is unlocked, talent thrives.

Choose a career that offers you a true sense of achievement, fills you with pride and challenges you in a positive way, every day.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

The council is in the process of implementing a new pay structure and terms and conditions which will be applicable to this role. The outcome could result in a future variation to the advertised salary, and this will be discussed at interview.