Early Years SEND Advisor

About The Job

Salary: £33,143 – £36,363 a year plus £963 essential car user allowance

Hours per week: 37

Contract type:
Permanent

As an Early Years SEND Advisor, you will work directly with young children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families to ensure they receive timely, coordinated, and effective support. You will undertake professional assessments and develop family support plans in partnership with parents and carers, ensuring the voice of the child is central to all decision‑making.

You will carry out regular direct work with children and families within the community and in family homes, managing risk appropriately and in line with Luton Borough Council policies and procedures. Working within a multi‑agency framework, you will co‑produce and co‑deliver support alongside partner agencies, using agreed working arrangements with families to meet identified needs.

The role involves developing and delivering targeted interventions to support families with areas such as parenting skills, building confidence, managing challenging behaviour, supporting child development, and addressing parental mental health needs. You will also develop specialist expertise in an agreed area of family support to enhance service delivery.

You will take a lead role in coordinating multi‑agency responses for children in need, ensuring effective planning, implementation, and review of interventions. This includes organising and chairing multi‑agency meetings, negotiating resources, and consulting with professional colleagues and service users to ensure outcomes are met.

You will complete professional assessments of need and risk in line with Department of Health guidance and Luton Council criteria for disabled children in need. Accurate case recording, data collection, and report writing are essential, including the preparation of case reports and witness statements for court when required.

Throughout your work, you will promote anti‑discriminatory practice, equality, and the empowerment of service users, ensuring that changing circumstances and newly identified needs are responded to promptly through regular review and reflective practice.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

You will have experience working with disabled children and with children who have a wide range of needs and abilities. You are confident in making sound professional judgements within a multi‑disciplinary setting and are able to manage complex cases involving vulnerability and risk with minimal supervision.

You will be an effective communicator, able to engage sensitively and clearly with children, families, and a wide range of professionals, both verbally and in writing. You are able to maintain high‑quality case records and produce clear, concise reports and professional correspondence, using IT systems confidently for case recording and information management.

You will be able to work both independently and as part of a team, sharing expertise and contributing positively to service development. You are organised and resilient, able to work to strict deadlines and targets, and capable of influencing service delivery through the identification of gaps and unmet needs.

You will have experience of chairing multi‑disciplinary meetings, negotiating resources, and coordinating support across agencies. You are able to undertake statutory duties under the Children Act 1989 and manage crisis interventions effectively, while adhering to health and safety policies and procedures.

You will demonstrate a strong understanding of equality and diversity issues and a commitment to anti‑discriminatory practice. You will also have knowledge and understanding of child development and family dynamics, enabling you to work effectively with children and families in a strengths‑based and inclusive way.

You will hold a minimum Level 3 qualification in childcare, social care, counselling, youth work, education, or have equivalent relevant experience. You must be able to visit children and families in their own homes on a regular basis and work outside normal office hours on occasion to meet service needs.

This is a…