Project Manager
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JOB DESCRIPTION
Job title: Project Manager
Service: Walsall Special Education Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support (SENDIAS) Service
Salary: Grade 3 Point 24 - 28
Hours: 37hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Walsall
Responsible to: Operational Manager
Summary of job:
You will be responsible for the delivery of the Walsall SENDIAS Service, which provides impartial information, advice and support for children and young people with SEND who reside in Walsall, and their parents and carers.
You will manage a small team of staff and volunteers, and lead the team in a child focused approach to improving outcomes. You will also hold a caseload of your own.
You will ensure that the service meets its statutory duties as set out on the Children and Families Act 2014 and is delivered in accordance with the SEND Code of Practice, as well as ensuring that the service meets all the criteria within the minimum IASS standards.
Key tasks and responsibilities:
1.To be responsible for the day-to-day management and delivery of the Walsall SENDIAS Service.
2.To allocate work and set appropriate priorities which deliver a consistent professional response, ensuring that statutory duties and standards are met, and targets/KPIs are achieved in line with contract specifications.
3.To hold and manage a small caseload of complex cases.
4.To lead, line manage, supervise and appraise team members, ensuring continuous professional development, and that they are appropriately trained and equipped to:
- Provide child-centred information, advice and support to parents, and to follow up discussions with schools, local authorities, and other relevant agencies.
- Provide parents, children and young people with accurate information on their rights, roles and responsibilities within the SEND process and on the range of options and agencies that are available to support them.
- Assist parents and young people in establishing groups to support each other.
- Organise and run workshops and drop-in sessions for parents and young people, and training for professionals, and attend external workshops/conferences/forums for parents, young people and other agencies, to promote understanding of SEND law, guidance and policy.
- Maintain a service user helpline, webpages and a social media account to offer informed information and advice.
- Provide advocacy support for individual children, young people and parents that empowers them to express their views and wishes, and helps them to exercise their rights in matters including exclusion, complaints, SEND processes and SEND appeals.
-Provide information, advice and support before, during and following the SEND tribunal process.
5.To ensure that thresholds for service intervention are met and risk is appropriately managed, initial enquiries are responded to in the most appropriate manner and all information, advice and support is informed, accurate, comprehensive and understandable.
6.To ensure high standards of professional practice, including by advising on initial enquiries and casework, and through regular supervision, case audits, and effective use of Scorecards and the Service Level Report (SLR).
7.To represent the Walsall SENDIAS Service at internal and external meetings, and be the `go-to' contact for the service commissioner/funder, providing data and producing and presenting quarterly contract monitoring reports, impact reports and other papers.
8.To convene and chair a multi-agency Advisory Group for the service, pro-actively building and sustaining professional relationships.
9.To contribute, regionally and locally, to SENDIAS policy and practice and strategic planning discussions, and promote collaborative working with statutory and voluntary agencies and service providers to ensure, as far as possible, a high quality wraparound service in Walsall.
10.To partake in national, regional and local groups, support networks and other events for the benefit of your own continuous professional development and service development.
11.To ensure that children, young people and parents' views are heard and understood, inform and influence the development of the service and local SEND policy and practice, including by running a Children and Young People Forum.
12.To set, manage, monitor and review the service budget, ensuring the cost-effective use of resources.
13.To develop and implement the service Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP), ensuring tasks are carried out to agreed timescales, and regularly reviewed with the Operational Manager.
14.To take an active role in driving up the consistency in delivery and collaboration between Family Action's SENDIAS services, including through regular attendance and playing an active part in the SENDIAS Community of Practice to shape, support and steer national developments in this practice area.
15.To support the Operational Manager with staff recruitment, induction, training and of staff as and when required.
16.To actively take part in Family Action's formal appraisal and supervision processes and be responsive to critical challenge, advice, feedback and direction as part of a process of continuous improvement. Take responsibility for your own professional development, identifying training which would support growth in your role.
17.As the Designated Safeguarding Lead for the service, ensure that you have an understanding (appropriate to this role) of, and comply with, Family Action's procedures for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.
18.To embrace and implement Family Action's Equality and Diversity Policy and our Ethical Policy in every aspect of your work and positively promote the principles of these policies amongst colleagues, service users and other members of the Community.
19.To be able to evidence Family Action's values at all times, which underpin Family Action's mission of 'building stronger families' by:
a) Being people focused
b) Reflecting a 'can do' approach
c) Striving for excellence in everything we do
d) Having mutual respect for everyone we work with, work for and support
through our services.
20.To comply with Family Action's Data Protection and Confidentiality Policies, and Health and Safety Policy, and to protect your own and others' health, safety and welfare.
21.To work flexibly as required by the service and the needs of the families and professionals with whom we work, including early mornings and evenings and weekends, when necessary, and to carry out any other reasonable duties as required.