Head of Service: External Programmes and Commissioning

Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership; Stafford; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Staffordshire County Council is seeking a strategic Head of Service for External Programmes and Commissioning to lead the design, delivery and improvement of commissioned services for children, young people and families. You will drive partnerships, governance and value-for-money delivery while ensuring statutory responsibilities are met.

The role requires senior experience in government-funded programmes, extensive knowledge of children's services and capability to lead complex change in a

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading government-funded programmes and commissioning child-focused services within a multi-agency environment.
• Strong professional knowledge of children's services design and commissioning, with experience delivering innovative and efficient services.
• Experience leading service development, organisational change, contract redesign and transformation programmes.
• In-depth understanding of relevant legislation, statutory frameworks and best practice across children's services, including social care, education, youth services and SEND.
• Experience developing and monitoring performance frameworks, quality assurance arrangements and market management approaches.
• Experience producing high-quality impact reports and presenting outcomes to a broad range of stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic development, commissioning and delivery of programmes and services that support children, young people and families across Staffordshire.
• Oversee service design, procurement, commissioning and contract management activity, ensuring services remain effective, sustainable and responsive to need.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with internal teams, providers, community organisations and multi-agency partners to improve outcomes for families.
• Lead performance, quality assurance and outcomes monitoring, using evidence and feedback to drive continuous improvement and demonstrate impact.
• Manage significant budgets, funding streams and resources, ensuring value for money, effective governance and successful delivery of change programmes.
• Champion co-production and ensure the voices of children, young people, parents and carers shape service design, delivery and evaluation.

Job description

The following content displays a map of the jobs location - Staffordshire Place

Head of Service: External Programmes and Commissioning

Job Reference staffscc/TP/78/4799

Number of Positions:

1

Contract Type:

Permanent Full time

Working Hours:

37

Location:

Closing Date:

21/10/2026

Job Category:

Children's Services

Directorate:

Children and Families

Business Unit:

Children's Services

Job Introduction

Our Children and Families services and our vision here in Staffordshire is rooted in four core principles that underpin everything we do:

• Families first – network and community always
• Right help, right time – proportionate, timely and co-produced with children and families
• Whole-system responsibility for supporting children and families to be happy, healthy and safe
• Permanence as belonging from day one

To achieve our ambition, we have taken a bold decision to transform our service structure and we’re looking for talented, values-driven leaders who can champion these principles, inspire others and help shape the future of Children and Families services in Staffordshire.

We want to create a more resilient, child-centred and future-focused system that enables children, young people and families to receive the right help at the right time.

Through this redesign, we are strengthening leadership, increasing capacity and creating clearer lines of accountability across our services. These changes will support high-quality practice, stronger partnerships and better outcomes for children and families, while ensuring we are well positioned to respond to national reforms and future challenges.

Main Responsibilities

As Head of Service - External Programmes and Commissioning, you will provide strategic leadership across commissioned services and externally funded programmes that support children, young people and families. You will drive innovation, partnership working and service transformation, ensuring high-quality, evidence-based services deliver positive outcomes while achieving best value and meeting statutory responsibilities.

You will:

• Lead the strategic development, commissioning and delivery of programmes and services that support children, young people and families across Staffordshire.
• Oversee service design, procurement, commissioning and contract management activity, ensuring services remain effective, sustainable and responsive to need.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with internal teams, providers, community organisations and multi-agency partners to improve outcomes for families.
• Lead performance, quality assurance and outcomes monitoring, using evidence and feedback to drive continuous improvement and demonstrate impact.
• Manage significant budgets, funding streams and resources, ensuring value for money, effective governance and successful delivery of change programmes.
• Champion co-production and ensure the voices of children, young people, parents and carers shape service design, delivery and evaluation.

The Ideal Candidate

You will have:

• Significant experience leading government-funded programmes and commissioning child-focused services within a multi-agency environment.
• Strong professional knowledge of children's services design and commissioning, with experience of delivering innovative and efficient services.
• Experience leading service development, organisational change, contract redesign and transformation programmes.
• In-depth understanding of relevant legislation, statutory frameworks and best practice across children's services, including social care, education, youth services and SEND.
• Experience developing and monitoring performance frameworks, quality assurance arrangements and market management approaches.
• Experience producing high-quality impact reports and presenting outcomes to a broad range of stakeholders.

Need more information? If you’re unsure whether your skills and experience meet the needs for the role, please get in touch with us, we’d love to chat to you! You can reach Alison Stathers-Tracey, Assistant Director Early Intervention and Prevention - [e-mail]

Interviews are expected to take place Wednesday 11 November 2026.

“We’re happy to talk flexible working”

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role. Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes detailed below.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as yourapplication meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.