About this role
Job summary
This is an exciting opportunity to oversee the SEND agenda across the Midlands and help health and care systems translate national policy into meaningful improvements for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families.
The Head of SEND will provide visible and influential leadership, supporting systems to strengthen delivery, address complex challenges and develop sustainable, joined-up approaches that improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
Working closely with Department for Education colleagues, Cluster Integrated Care Boards and local authorities, the postholder will strengthen SEND leadership, governance, planning and assurance; align health and education priorities; and translate national policy and reform into coordinated regional action informed by shared intelligence, learning and local needs. They will build strong relationships with NHS England regional and national teams on behalf of the Nursing Directorate and ensure that the voices of children, young people and families remain central to improvement.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will be responsible for the following key areas:
Act as the primary relationship lead for the Midlands for the SEND agenda providing support, guidance and coordination of improvement interventions to help systems and organisations deliver national priorities and achieve sustainable improvements in people's lives.
Support the development of Clusters and ICBs by sharing best practice and tailoring support to their level of maturity, improving their resilience, capability and autonomy
Maintain oversight of cluster ICB delivery and system maturity in line with regional frameworks and approaches, working with systems to strengthen capability and delivery.
In conjunction with the Regional and National Programme Teams and other functions ensure that there is coordination between improvement activities and systems to provide aligned and helpful support.
Work with wider regional and national teams to develop sustainable strategic solutions, facilitate pan-system discussions where appropriate and sign-post to support.
Ensure the directorate's business functions are delivered effectively, including business planning, risk management, governance, reporting and workforce responsibilities.
Work collaboratively with the Children and Young People team to align priorities, share expertise and support coordinated delivery.
About us
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
Job description Job responsibilities
The successful candidate will build and maintain strong strategic relationships across NHS England regional and national teams on behalf of the Nursing Directorate, providing expert leadership, constructive challenge and trusted advice. They will act as an influential advocate for children and young people with SEND, ensuring their voices and lived experiences are at the heart of decision-making, service development and system improvement.
You can find further details about the job, in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
For further details / informal visits contact: [email protected]
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Relevant qualification in the area of Children and Young Peoples Services e.g. Nurse, Doctor, AHP, Social Worker, Teacher. Member of relevant professional body. Educated to masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area. Extensive evidence of working across varied organisational settings.
Knowledge and Experience Essential
Knowledge and experience of working with Providers of Health and Social Care Experience of managing and successfully delivering high level boards responsible for key NHS /Social Care policies and programmes. Experience of managing an evaluation programme with a view to contributing to future service improvements and change; delivering programmes responsible for service configuration and transformation Significant senior management experience with a focus onto strategic programme management Extensive knowledge of Children and Young Peoples Services Experience of working alongside ICS's/TCP on the deliverable of Transformational Change.
Desirable
Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development
Skills Capabilities & Attributes Essential
Strong leadership skills to take forward a challenging agenda where others may doubt the validity of the programme Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups Demonstrable experience of delivering results through the development and management of teams to ensure success and use a range of levers in the absence of direct line management responsibility
Values and behaviours Essential
Consistently thinks about how their work can help and support clinicians and frontline staff deliver better outcomes for patients Actively develops themselves and supports others to do the same An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of equality of opportunity and diversity taking into account and being aware of how individual actions contribute to and make a difference to the equality agenda
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name NHS England
Address Any office across the Midlands
Any office across the Midlands
B2 4HQ
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/ (Opens in a new tab)