Commissioning and Procurement Officer

Newcastle City Council; Newcastle upon Tyne; Remote; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Newcastle City Council seeks a Commissioning and Procurement Officer for an 18-month fixed term to drive change in services for Babies, Children, Young People and families across Newcastle. The role requires expertise in commissioning, procurement, and performance monitoring within childrens services.

You will work across children’s social care, including residential and supported accommodation services, building strong partnerships and delivering outcomes-based commissioning to maximise value

Qualifications

• Experience in commissioning, quality and performance assessment in children's care.
• Experience in residential and supported accommodation services.
• Ability to establish and maintain relationships with internal and external partners to maximise contract value.

Responsibilities

• Lead innovative commissioning and robust procurement.
• Work across children's social care, including residential and supported accommodation services.
• Apply outcomes-based commissioning to improve outcomes for babies, children and young people.
• Build and maintain relationships with partners to ensure value for money in contracts.

Skills

Communication

Negotiation

Influencing

Organisation

Deadline management

Team player

Job description

Commissioning and Procurement Officer. This is an 18-month fixed term opportunity

About Us

Newcastle is a great City, with a proud history. We never stand still. Our Children and families reflect the changing face of our communities, our vibrance and diversity. We know that the last few years has been tough for many and that significant challenges remain. However, we are ambitious - an ambition recognised by Ofsted who judged us to be 'Good' in 2025. As a city we are committed to making positive change with our Babies, Children, Young People and families doing things bigger and better than we ever have. To deliver these ambitions we need the best people on board.

About The Role

As a Commissioning and Procurement Officer within the Design, Commissioning and Procurement Team you'll play a vital role in helping us deliver change across the agenda for Babies, Children, Young People and families.

The temporary position will be required to work across children's social care, and this means you'll have experience or knowledge in this area, particularly, residential and supported accommodation services.

We're looking for someone to join our team who understands the local systems and how the services we commission respond to local need.

You'll have a demonstrable knowledge and understanding of commissioning, quality and performance assessment principles (including the role of monitoring and outcomes-based commissioning) across children's care. You'll also have excellent communication and negotiation skills and be able to establish and maintain relationships with key internal and external partners to ensure the value of our contracts are maximised to improve outcomes for our Babies, Children and Young People.

If you are committed to working in a system that supports positive outcomes for Babies, Children and Young People and ensuring value for money for public sector spend this is an exciting time to join us.

About You

We are looking for the very best people to lead innovative commissioning and robust procurement. Getting it right means making a meaningful difference to the lives of Babies, Children and Young People in Newcastle. You will be an excellent communicator with strong influencing and negotiating skills; with a keen interest in understanding how things work and a drive to make things better. You will be highly organised and self-motivated, with the ability to prioritise workload effectively. You will enjoy being part of a wider team and also comfortable taking ownership of tasks. You will have recent experience of working to deadlines effectively. On a personal level, you'll work with honesty and integrity and be committed to ensuring that Babies, Children, Young People and families have the strengths, assets and services that they need to thrive.

If you have any questions about the role, or for an informal chat, please contact Becky Polito - Programme Lead Children's Commissioning and Procurement (Social Care, Sourcing and Payments) [e-mail]