Admissions and Transport Service Manager

The interviews for this post are expected to take place on the 5th or 6th of December.

About Us

Oxfordshire County Council is on an exciting journey towards Delivering the Future Together, our ambitious transformation programme which will enable us to be an employer, partner, and place shaper of choice. We're seeking the right people who can help us get there while embracing our value of daring to do it differently, as we continue to strive to do better.

In our Children, Education, & Families Directorate, we want every child to have the best possible education and with this goal in mind, we've set out to improve and transform our services.

As part of this, we are currently in the process of re-evaluating and restructuring our Specialist Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services, with the objective of advancing the educational outcomes for children and young people.

We've been consistently rated as good by Ofsted, but we are not content with that; we are ambitious and want to do even better! Oxfordshire County Council is a financially stable local authority which is committed to investing in Children, Education, and Families, to ensure that we have the resources we need to make a real difference to the children, young people, and families we work with.

About the Role

This role is a key component of the education service that holds strategic oversight and responsibility for admissions and home to school transport policy. An extensive part of the role will involve working closely with the County Council's Supported Transport Service, utilising a service level agreement and ensuring eligible children have timely, safe and cost-efficient home to school transport. In school admissions, there will be management and oversight of the processes that ensure Fair Access to places and services that are statutorily compliant. The postholder will liaise with multi-academy trusts, diocesan boards, governing bodies and senior leaders in schools to ensure processes work efficiently and children can access school places without delay.

Effective budget oversight will be critical, especially on home to school transport where demand and unit costs are growing significantly.

About you

You will be an experienced manager, who can work collaboratively and successfully across agencies, engaging with service user groups and families to deliver improved outcomes. You will have credibility when working with schools and partners and established ability to quickly develop and maintain positive working relationships with external colleagues and across the organisation at all levels, including elected members.

You will have the ability to undertake and manage complex and diverse nature tasks applying which necessitates knowledge and skills at an advanced level from specialist disciplines such as education, law, finance, management and procedural matters.

Also, you will have a detailed understanding of the legislative framework for both admissions and home to school transport and quickly establish yourself as the Council's subject matter expert for these areas.

Please refer to the role profile attached to this advert for more details.

Our Rewards and Benefits

• Relocation allowance of up to £8,000.
• Annual leave starting at 30 days per year (plus bank holidays).
• A comprehensive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Flexible working.
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to health and wellbeing support 24 x 7.
• Range of family friendly policies.
• Childcare vouchers, cycle to work scheme, electric car scheme, range of staff discounts including travel, holidays, insurance, food, health & leisure activities.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At Oxfordshire County Council we are proud of our diverse workforce. Everyone is accepted for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or on maternity or family leave. We have a number of staff network groups which provide peer support, education and safe spaces for all.

Our Commitment to Guaranteed Interview Schemes

As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee an interview for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the job. We also guarantee interviews to care leavers who have completed further education and who meet the essential criteria for the job. For those leaving care without any further education, we guarantee an interview for our apprenticeships. We are also committed to helping and supporting those transitioning from HM Armed Forces to civilian life and guarantee an interview for those demonstrating the essential criteria for the role, within three years of leaving the service.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding

Oxfordshire 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 these commitments.

Our Commitment to Flexible Working

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which can include flexi-time, part time working, job sharing, nine-day fortnights and annualised hours, depending on the requirements of the role and the service.

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If you encounter any technical issues with the application system, please contact us at: careers@oxfordshire.gov.uk