Service Manager - Send Operations

Closing Date: 26th August 2026 at 23:59pm

This post is open to employees currently On Notice/At Risk and Internal. Please note applications from employees currently On Notice/At Risk will be given priority. On Notice/At Risk employees should complete the application form as normal, upon submission you must email the Recruitment Team –  to ensure that your application form is marked as priority.

Blackpool is a place of ambition, resilience and opportunity.

We are committed to ensuring that every child and young person with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) can live a happy, healthy and fulfilling life, achieve their aspirations and be fully included within their community.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in shaping the future of SEND services in Blackpool and making a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families.

As Service Manager - SEND Operations, you will lead and develop key areas of our SEND service, ensuring statutory responsibilities are met while driving forward our ambitious SEND Reform Programme. Working at the heart of Children's Services, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across quality assurance, performance, tribunals, sufficiency planning, inspection readiness and multi-agency improvement activity.

We are looking for a skilled and inspirational leader who is passionate about inclusion and committed to securing the very best outcomes for children and young people with SEND. You will bring substantial experience of SEND leadership, a strong understanding of statutory responsibilities and the ability to build effective partnerships across education, health and social care.

This role offers the opportunity to influence service transformation at a strategic level, lead complex improvement programmes and help shape a responsive, high-quality SEND system that puts children, young people and families at its centre.

If you are an experienced leader who thrives on challenge, can inspire improvement and wants to be part of Blackpool's journey to deliver excellent SEND services, we would love to hear from you. Together, we can ensure that every child and young person with SEND has the opportunity to achieve, thrive and reach their full potential.

Are you a Blackpool resident aged between 16-24? Would you benefit from some free guidance on producing a quality application for job vacancies such as this one? Blackpool Council?s Youth Hub - The Platform, has highly skilled Employment Advisers that can support you with demonstrating how you can evidence you meet the Essential and Desirable criteria requirements on a Job Description.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children/vulnerable adults. This post is subject to satisfactory reference history of at least two years, Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, medical clearance, evidence of any essential qualifications and proof of Right to Work in the UK in accordance with the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and amendments to the exemptions order, which mean that certain offences are ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed, guidance on the "filtering" of offences can be found at New filtering rules for DBS certificates (from 28 November 2020 onwards) -  ()