Special Needs Officer 0-25

Salary Range: £40,643 - £45,077 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 15 March 2026

Start Date: 1 May 2026 or 1 September 2026

Applications will be reviewed upon receipt and successful candidates will be contacted regarding interview arrangements soon after their application has been submitted.

We are accepting applications for full time positions for Special Needs Officers within our SEN locality teams to provide advice and support regarding the provision of SEN services to parents. This is a full time position, 37 hours per week over 5 days Monday - Friday.

We are a very busy and dynamic service working with over 20,000 families across the education, health and care professions.

This is an exciting and challenging time for our service, where we are working hard to improve the service we offer, whilst meeting the demands of the SEND reforms. To find out more about SEN and the services we provide, please visit our website.

The Locality Special Needs Officer is an interesting and exciting post. The role is to support the service to fulfil the local authority's statutory obligation to assess, meet and review the needs of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN), through engagement with families and support professionals across a locality within Hampshire.

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of the statutory framework and key policy issues affecting services for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
• Provide clear, accurate advice and support to parents, schools, and professionals on statutory SEN processes and procedures.
• Communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders to negotiate outcomes, ensure statutory deadlines are met, and secure appropriate provision and placements.
• Attend and contribute to case planning meetings, liaising with professionals and families to support coordinated decision making.
• Lead and manage the Tribunal and Mediation processes, ensuring timely, high quality case preparation and representation.

You will have the experience to manage a team of EHC Coordinators for a specific locality in Hampshire and to lead your team in challenging circumstances. You will have excellent people skills as you will need to work closely with a range of professionals, families and colleagues. You will need to have excellent organisational skills as this is a fast moving, complex and ever growing service. You will need to be able to interrogate complex reports and use data to plan and prioritise the work of your team. You will need to understand and work within the SEN Regulations and the SEN Code of Practice.

We offer a flexible, motivating and inclusive workplace, where talent is truly recognised and developed. We have created an environment that you can look forward to being a part of and where you are empowered to be your best and believe in creating a workplace built on teamwork where people can grow and develop in their roles.

If you think you have what it takes to make a real difference in Hampshire, get in touch!

To find out more about what we can offer you in return, please see our benefits package.

This post is subject to a Criminal Records Check. As such, please note that under safer recruitment requirements for Children's Services, references will be requested prior to interview.

Hampshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment.

In order to combat discrimination, no unnecessary conditions or requirements will be applied which could have a disproportionately adverse effect on any one group. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.