Children and Education

Dear Candidate,  

Thank you for your interest in joining Sandwell Council as one of our new Service Directors within the Children and Education Directorate.  

These are two significant leadership opportunities that sit at the heart of our ambition for children, young people and families. Whether your expertise lies in Education and Skills or Commissioning and Partnerships, you will join a dedicated leadership team committed to improving outcomes, reducing inequalities and ensuring every child in Sandwell has the opportunity to thrive.  

At Sandwell, we are proud of our communities and ambitious about our future. We are determined to provide outstanding services that make a genuine difference to children's lives, whilst building strong partnerships across schools, health, social care, the voluntary sector and our wider communities. These roles offer the opportunity to influence strategy, lead transformation and help shape services that have a lasting impact across the borough. 

The Service Director Education and Skills will provide strategic leadership across education, school improvement, early years, admissions, inclusion, post-16 learning, skills and employment. The successful candidate will play a critical role in raising standards, promoting aspiration and ensuring that children and young people have access to high-quality education and learning opportunities throughout their lives.  

The Service Director Commissioning and Partnerships will lead strategic commissioning, partnerships, performance, intelligence and governance across Children and Education Services. This role provides an exciting opportunity to shape preventative services, strengthen partnership working, champion the voice of children and families and ensure our services are informed by evidence, insight and a relentless focus on outcomes. 

As an organisation, we are on a significant journey of transformation and improvement. We are focused on delivering high-quality services, strengthening our partnerships and ensuring that everything we do is centred on improving the lives of our residents. 

This has recently been recognised on the national stage, as we were names 'Most Improved Council' at the prestigious Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards. The award recognised the significant organisational change and service improvements delivered across the authority in recent years. The achievement reflects tangible improvements across key services such as Children's Services that were judged as 'Good' by Ofsted through the Council's partnership with Sandwell Children's Trust. 

Thank you for considering a career with Sandwell Council. I look forward to learning more about the experience, skills and passion you could bring to our team.

Ready to apply or interested in finding out more?

Speak confidentially with our recruitment partner, Tile Hill, who will be happy to answer any questions that are not covered here.