SEN Tribunals Officer

Salary

£34,434 - £39,152

Contractual hours

Basis

Flexi Hours

Package

We are pleased to offer a wide range of benefits to support you and your wellbeing. You can read about them on our Why work for us pages.

Job category/type

Administration

Date posted

27/04/2026

Job reference

REQ0000830

Do you have experience working within SEND or a legal framework?

Are you confident managing complex casework and meeting statutory deadlines?

Can you analyse information and present clear, evidence-based arguments?

Do you want to play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND?

We are the SEN Statutory Service at Brighton & Hove City Council. We work to ensure children and young people with special educational needs receive the support they are entitled to. This role sits at the centre of our Tribunal work, managing appeals and representing the Local Authority at SEND Tribunal hearings.

This is a key role focused on ensuring decisions are lawful, evidence-based and lead to the right outcomes for children and families.

About the role

You will manage a caseload of SEND Tribunal appeals from start to finish, ensuring all statutory processes and deadlines are met. You will prepare clear, high-quality written evidence, coordinate input from professionals across education, health and care, and represent the Local Authority at hearings.

You will work closely with caseworkers, managers, legal representatives and partners to ensure cases are well-evidenced and focused on securing appropriate provision for children and young people.

In this role, you will:

• manage SEND Tribunal appeals from start to finish
• prepare clear and legally robust written evidence and responses
• coordinate multi-agency input and professional reports
• manage and update the Working Document throughout the appeal process
• represent the Local Authority at Tribunal hearings
• provide advice and guidance on Tribunal processes and legal duties
• support service improvement by sharing learning from Tribunal outcomes

This is a fast-paced role where you will need to manage competing priorities and work to tight deadlines.

About you

You will have experience working within a SEND, legal or statutory framework and be confident managing complex information and casework.

You will:

• understand SEND legislation and how it applies in practice
• be able to manage deadlines and prioritise effectively
• communicate clearly, both in writing and verbally
• analyse information and present evidence-based arguments
• work collaboratively with a wide range of professionals and families
• be confident in influencing, negotiating and challenging where needed

You will be committed to inclusive practice and improving outcomes for children and young people from all backgrounds.

There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact James Hanks, SEN Operations Manager ( ***email_hidden*** ).

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Why work for us?

As a council, we want to:

• be connected
• be confident
• be innovative and creative
• be diverse and inclusive
• be healthy and psychologically safe

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

How to apply

Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

AI advice for candidates

We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.

We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.

All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.