Designated Health Officer - SEND


Location
Salary
£57528.00 to £64750.00
Profession
Officer (discipline unspecified)
Grade
Band 8
Deadline
27 Oct 2026
Contract Type
Permanent
Posted Date
20 Oct 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job requirements

Essential

36 listed

Requirements the employer expects applicants to meet.

  • Attributes

    Demonstrable high level of personal professional autonomy and accountability.

  • Attributes

    Adhere to the core principles of the professional code of conduct, demonstrating respect and dignity and be open and honest, acting with integrity, upholding the reputation of your profession.

  • Attributes

    Excellent inter-personal and communication skills with the ability to build personal and professional credibility at all levels of the organisation as well as with external partners.

  • Attributes

    Excellent interpersonal skills to encourage facilitation, diplomacy, and negotiation.

  • Experience

    Have substantial clinical experience as professional in the field of SEND or other related areas of care.

  • Experience

    Ability to coordinate complex assessments using a person-centred planning approach ensuring clear outcomes are identified for children and young people.

  • Experience

    Have good negotiating and leadership skills - negotiate on difficult and controversial issues including performance and change.

  • Experience

    Able to demonstrate an understanding of professional issues, their relevance and application across all health care interfaces.

  • Experience

    Knowledge and experience of developing needs-based services specific to SEND.

  • Experience

    Evidence of ongoing personal clinical supervision.

  • Experience

    Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development.

  • Qualifications

    Educated to Degree level or equivalent level of clinical experience, working at a senior level which includes SEND as a specialist area.

  • Qualifications

    Masters level degree in related subject or equivalent experience.

  • Qualifications

    Professional qualification as a health professional (occupational therapist, speech & language therapist, physiotherapist, or registered nurse), with experience in working with children and young people/SEND.

  • Qualifications

    Evidence of partnership/cross organisational working to promote clinical excellence.

  • Skills and Competencies

    In-depth knowledge and understanding of the Children and Families Act 2014, Care Act 2014, continuing care frameworks and SEND Code of Practice 0-25 (2014).

  • Skills and Competencies

    Knowledge and skill to write, update and implement SEN policies, practice guidance.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Knowledge and understanding of the main issues affecting outcomes for children, young people, and families, particularly children and young people with SEND.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Demonstrable knowledge and understanding of childrens services at both a local and national level.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Knowledge and understanding of key issues affecting health services/modernisation/local commissioning agendas including national policy on reforms in the NHS.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Clear and precise presentation, reporting and teaching skills in both informal and formal settings with focused aims and outcomes.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to develop and provide education, training, and supervision as appropriate to the role.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Able to makes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be several courses of action.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Demonstrated capability to plan short, medium, and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Must be able to use initiative to decide relevant actions and make recommendations to supervisor and stakeholders.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues, working to tight and often changing timescales.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Experience of identifying and interpreting national policy.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Experience of researching best practice and interpreting its relevance.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Competent in use of Microsoft Programmes, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to challenge poor practice and support individuals to improve.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to motivate colleagues/peers leading through example.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Ability to work effectively within a team.

  • Skills and Competencies

    Effective communication skills, including electronic, written and verbal which are empathetic to the clients needs as well as staff.

Desirable

Not listed in the available specification.

Job summary

The Designated Health Officer (DHO) for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) will work in partnership with the Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO), the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (NHS SYICB) Quality & Patient Safety team and Head of Transformation and Delivery for Children and Young People (CYP). The DHO will work in collaboration with the local authority.

The post holder will provide the strategic leadership necessary to ensure that the NHS SYICB and providers for whom it has responsibility for, meet the statutory duties of the Children and Families Act (2014) and the SEND Code of Practice (2014) for CYP with SEND, aged 0 25 years.

The post holder will:

  • Act as a strategic health lead for the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) identification, planning, process and pathway.
  • Provide professional and clinical leadership and be a source of expertise on matters relating to SEND for the NHS SYICB, local authorities, health care providers and other local agencies and organisations.
  • Ensure healths compliance with the legislation and spirit of the SEND Code of Practice to improve outcomes for CYP with SEND.

Ensure that the outcomes for CYP with SEND are maximised by working to improve quality of life, school absences, mental and physical health problems, personal autonomy and involvement in further education and employment, independent living and community inclusion.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be part of the quality, safety and improvement function and work closely with CYP transformation teams in each Place They will provide expert input into strategic and clinical planning, standard setting, and assurance process in the service provision for CYP with SEND.

The post holder will be a source of expertise and specialist knowledge for all issues relating to the local and national SEND agendas. The post holder will provide specialised clinical advice in safeguarding and children looked after in association to SEND.

About us

NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board oversees health and social care for a population of 1.4m people. Working through our 4 places, Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield, we are building on the strengths, capacity and knowledge of all those directly involved with our local communities to deliver our four key aims of Improving outcomes in population health and healthcare; Tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience and access; Enhancing productivity and value for money; and Helping the NHS support broader social and economic development.

Our near 1,000 staff are committed to addressing the broader health, public health, and social care needs of the population across South Yorkshire through our values of One Team, Empowered and Innovative. We work as a key partner with the Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) of health and care providers within the South Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS) to collectively deliver health and care services that meet the needs of the local population. In total there are 186 GP practices in the region, 72,000 health and social care professionals working across seven NHS trusts and four local authorities, and a further 6,000 voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) organisations. We work alongside all these colleagues through local councils, our VCSE partners and other partners to address health inequalities and wider determinants of health in South Yorkshire.

South Yorkshire ICB is a Disability Confident Employer

Details

  • Date posted: 20 October 2026
  • Pay scheme: Agenda for change
  • Band: Band 8a
  • Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year
  • Contract: Permanent
  • Working pattern: Full-time
  • Reference number: D9133-2001
  • Job locations: Eyre Street, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 3FG, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

For further information with regard to this vacancy, please see the attached Job Description and Personal Specification.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

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Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Designated Health Officer - SEND with NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board in Sheffield, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Officer (discipline unspecified) role. The advertised salary is £57528.00 to £64750.00. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 27 Oct 2026.

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