About The Role

Are you an experienced leader with a passion for inclusion and improving outcomes for vulnerable children and young people? Do you have the drive to lead strategic change and build collaborative partnerships across education, health, and social care? North Northamptonshire Council is seeking a skilled and committed Head of Inclusion and Attendance to lead our efforts in ensuring every child receives their statutory entitlements and the support they need to succeed in education.

What will you be doing?

• Lead with empathy and purpose to support children and young people facing barriers to education.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships across schools, services, and communities.
• Champion inclusive practices that reflect the diverse needs of learners.
• Navigate complex safeguarding and SEND challenges confidently.
• Inspire and support teams to deliver high-quality, impactful services.
• Use data and insight to drive continuous improvement and positive change.

About You

• Be educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Hold a Teacher, Social Worker, or Youth Worker professional qualification.
• Have substantial and sustained experience working with children and young people, particularly vulnerable children.
• Have up-to-date knowledge of current national policy regarding CSE, trafficking, radicalisation vulnerability, and FGM.
• Have proven leadership skills to raise standards of achievement through planning, co-operative working, target setting, and analysis of performance data.

If you're ready to take on a pivotal role that shapes the future of inclusive education in Northamptonshire, we want to hear from you.

Shortlisting w/c 8th December 2025. Interviews w/c 5th & 12th January 2026.

Should you have any queries, please contact us via email at recruitment@northnorthants.gov.uk. We kindly ask that you include a brief description of your enquiry to enable us to respond promptly and appropriately.

Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

• A competitive salary.
• A pension scheme with a significant contribution on top of your contribution, providing life cover and ill-health protection.
• Lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council.
• Generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days.
• Hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you maintain a healthy work‑life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, and support for a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About Us

Our values define who we are and how we operate, forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery:

• Customer-focused
• Respectful
• Efficient
• Supportive
• Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make now and in the future maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that matter most.

We are a recognised Disability Confident Employer and are committed to an inclusive recruitment process. We will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024, highlighting our pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and is working towards achieving Gold status.

Further Information

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk).

Attached Documents

• Job description and person specification.