Elective Home Education and CME Manager

Overview

Are you passionate about ensuring every child has access to a suitable education and receives the support they need to thrive? Do you have the expertise and leadership skills to drive positive outcomes for children, families and education professionals?

We're looking for an experienced and motivated EHE and CME Manager to lead our Elective Home Education (EHE) and Children Missing Education (CME) service. In this influential role, you will provide strategic leadership, ensure statutory compliance, and work collaboratively with partners to safeguard and improve outcomes for children and young people across the county.

About us

Although we are a small team our aim is to ensure that every young person has the opportunity to achieve their full potential through their chosen educational pathway. We work closely with families, schools, and partner agencies to provide support, advice, and guidance, helping to overcome barriers and promote positive outcomes. By building strong relationships with our families and working together, we can ensure that children and young people remain at the centre of everything we do.

About the role

As the EHE and CME Manager, you will be responsible for leading and developing a specialist service that supports children educated at home and identifies, tracks and supports children who are missing education. Acting as the Council's subject matter expert, you will ensure that statutory duties are met, policies and procedures remain compliant and effective, and that children and young people receive appropriate educational provision and safeguarding support.

This is a highly rewarding role that combines strategic leadership with operational oversight. You'll work closely with families, schools, social care, health professionals and other key partners to navigate complex situations, influence positive outcomes and shape service improvements. You will also have the opportunity to represent the Council at regional and national forums, contributing to wider discussions and developments within the EHE and CME landscape.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the Elective Home Education (EHE) and Children Missing Education (CME) services and ensuring compliance with statutory requirements.
• Managing complex and sensitive cases, including those involving safeguarding concerns, medical needs and disputed educational provision.
• Developing and implementing policies, procedures and operational frameworks to support continuous service improvement.
• Leading multi-agency working with education, social care, SEND and health partners to achieve positive outcomes for children and families.
• Monitoring service performance, analysing data and identifying trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
• Managing and developing a team of staff, providing leadership, coaching and performance management.
• Representing the Council at regional and national forums and contributing to strategic planning and service development.
• Ensuring robust systems are in place to identify, track and support children who are missing education.

For a full list of responsibilities and duties, please refer to the Job Description.

Any-Desk:

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

We're looking for a confident and knowledgeable leader who is passionate about education, inclusion and safeguarding. You will be someone who can build strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, communicate effectively in sometimes challenging situations and make sound decisions in complex and sensitive circumstances. You will be equally comfortable operating strategically and managing day-to-day service delivery, with the ability to prioritise competing demands while maintaining high standards.

To be successful in this role, you will bring significant experience of working within education, inclusion or a related field, alongside a strong understanding of legislation, statutory guidance and best practice relating to Elective Home Education and Children Missing Education. You will have experience of policy development, partnership working and leading teams, as well as the credibility and influencing skills needed to work effectively with senior leaders, external agencies and families.

You will typically have:

• Extensive knowledge of EHE, CME and the Local Authority's statutory responsibilities.
• Strong understanding of relevant legislation, including education and safeguarding frameworks.
• Experience developing policies, procedures and service improvements.
• Proven experience leading and managing staff and driving performance.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience handling complex, sensitive and potentially contentious cases.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Experience working collaboratively across partner agencies and services.
• Degree-level education or equivalent experience.
• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
• A full driving licence.

If you're looking for an opportunity to make a meaningful difference to children's educational journeys while leading a vital service, we'd love to hear from you.

For full details of the essential criteria, please refer to the Job Description.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Other information

For more information about this role, please contact Clare Grosse at [email protected] for an informal discussion.

Closing date: 16th September 2026

Interview Date: tbc

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).