Jobs

Tribunal Support Specialist

Fixed Term, Full Time

£25,959 to £27,613 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Closing Date: 28th April 2026

This position has been classed as an anywhere worker role but has an expectation that the successful candidate will attend the office, in Chelmsford 2-3 days per month, with the remaining time for visiting sites and remote working if desired, in line with the organisation's needs.

The Opportunity

The Tribunal Support Specialist provides vital administration and support to the SEND Tribunal Team, playing a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth operation of our tribunal services.

You can expect to collaborate with our dedicated Tribunal Officers and the wider SEND Teams, assisting them in handling SEND Tribunal appeals.

Your organisational skills and attention to detail will be invaluable in meeting tight deadlines. We are looking for someone who is highly organised and possesses excellent IT and problem-solving skills. You will be confident in dealing with professionals and members of the public on the telephone. You will be required to deal with highly sensitive and confidential information.

Accountabilities

• First point of contact for schools, stakeholders and members of the public contacting the Tribunal Team. Assessing and prioritising a range of queries by telephone and email in a courteous, prompt and efficient manner, responding directly or referring them to the appropriate person or team. Track and monitor the Tribunal Team inbox.
• Use skills to provide a comprehensive support service to the Tribunal Team, allocating work to other support staff where appropriate, reviewing all correspondence and tracking replies within the appropriate timescales.
• Collate, prepare, print and send the legal bundles by email or post for the Tribunal Team ensuring that all Tribunal Service deadlines are adhered to.
• Provide day to day administrative functions, using ECC office systems, maintain, monitor, and ensure records are accurate and current. This includes, but is not limited to, coordinating the team calendar ensuring court deadlines are accurate and updated. Planning and organise meetings on behalf of Tribunal Officers. Provide information for Subject Access Requests and Freedom of Information requests.
• Register new appeals on the database and set up all associated folders in readiness for allocation of appeals to officers. Close appeals and archive folders.

• Ensure that business systems are kept up to date and that all key information about an appeal is recorded at the time of notification. Update, modify and retrieve data on both manual and computerised systems, assist in preparing standard and non-standard reports, cross-checking data held on different systems to ensure accuracy.
• Be responsible for personal continued learning and development to maintain a commensurate level of understanding of ECC policies and maintaining the necessary skills to use new systems and software when introduced.

The Experience You Will Bring

• GCSE level (Grades A-C including English) or equivalent NVQ 3.
• Proven IT skills including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Evidence in use of databases, spreadsheets (preferably Excel) and word processing (preferably MS word) to support data analysis and reporting requirements within given timescales.
• Evidence in using case management systems.
• Experience of working on own initiative and organising workload to achieve deadlines within an administration environment.
• Experience of partnership working and dealing with the public.
• Experience of working within an administrative environment.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to take a proactive approach to problem solving, act calmly under pressure and respect confidentiality.
• Excellent IT skills and ability to provide reports and analyse accurate data.
• Ability to organise and prioritise workload to achieve deadlines.

Company: Essex County Council

Salary: £25959.00 - £27613.00 per annum

Location: Chelmsford, Essex

Sector: Education

Job Role: Officer