Commissioning Officer

Leicestershire County Council; Glenfield; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in Glenfield is seeking a dedicated professional to join their team in improving the support for children and young people. The successful candidate will handle commissioning, quality assurance, and contract monitoring, all aimed at ensuring high-quality services. Ideal applicants should possess excellent relationship-building and problem-solving skills, as well as familiarity with working in child services.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Commitment to equality and diversity

Qualifications

• Experience working with children and young people with complex needs.
• Competency in data analysis and financial report preparation.
• Ability to work collaboratively across diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Conduct quality assurance meetings with service providers.
• Complete annual contract management meetings with providers.
• Broker services for young people using existing frameworks.
• Support commissioning services while adhering to procurement laws.

Skills

Relationship building

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook

Problem-solving

Time management

Job description

Are you passionate about ensuring that children/young people and their families/carers receive high-quality support when needed and achieve their full potential? Would you like to help make a difference to the lives of children and young people through commissioning – including procurement, brokerage of services, quality assurance and monitoring of contractual arrangements? Do you have an awareness of the Commissioning Cycle and commissioning practices? If so, then this is potentially the role for you.

About the Role

Functions may include:

• Quality Assurance – Undertake quality assurance meetings and visits with providers of services for Independent Fostering Agencies, Independent Specialist Schools, Children's Residential Homes, Supported Accommodation Settings for Children aged 16+, Short Break and Domiciliary Care Providers along with any other providers we commission for our young people.
• Contract Monitoring and Review – Completing annual contract management meetings with providers to ensure that the services they are delivering are in line with the terms of the contract and are delivering positive outcomes for children and young people and their families/carers and completing evidence-based reviews on live packages of care and support and challenge providers where appropriate of providers working directly with children, review of existing packages of car
• Brokerage and Negotiation – Brokering of services for young people using an existing framework. These services include Children's Residential Homes, Independent Fostering Agencies, Children's Supported Accommodation, Independent Specialist School Placements and Short Break and Domiciliary Care Packages. This means that you will be expected to undertake all tasks in relation to the brokerage of commissioned services for children and young people.
• Governance and Procurement – Supporting the commissioning of services across the Children and Family Service whilst being compliant with the Procurement Act 2023 and local Contract Procedure Rules and the offering of internal commissioning services to the department and coordinate commissioning requests focussed on outcomes and value for money.

Due to where the vacancy currently sits, the successful candidate is likely to start in the team that focusses on Governance and Procurement but over time could be working across all elements of the service. We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.

Key Qualifications and Skills

• Previous professional experience or familiarity with settings as named above and knowledge and understanding of working with and meeting the needs of children and young people (and their families/carers) with complex needs, including Children in Care, children and young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities and the ability to work with operational staff and providers and build relationships.
• High levels of competency in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook in order to undertake detailed analysis/evaluation of data and preparation of written and financial reports and also the ability to prioritise, work to deadlines and deliver several written reports within agreed time frames.
• Proven ability to prioritise, work to deadlines and deliver a number of smaller projects simultaneously.
• Proven ability to develop credible and collaborative relationships with internal and external partners and across multi-disciplinary boundaries and stakeholders.
• Proven ability to problem-solve and to constructively challenge existing customs and practices.
• Understanding of commissioning practices and the commissioning cycle, with the ability to embed this into day-to-day practice.
• A full understanding of desired outcomes to ensure meaningful activities for Young People and respite for families/carers, care packages and educational placements.

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion. In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to .