Programme Manager

Cambridge County Council; Alconbury; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellbeing package

Additional annual leave (4 weeks)

Flexible bank holidays

Pension AVCs

Development opportunities

Volunteer hours

IDEAL network and peer support

Employee recognition awards

Cambs Rewards discounts / Car Lease /

Job summary

Cambridge County Council is seeking an experienced Programme Manager to mobilise a new Homecare Framework. You will coordinate brokerage, social work, commissioning, providers and health partners to deliver a safe transition for vulnerable adults across multiple providers.

This is a high‑risk environment with a DBS required and a need to ensure continuity of care during change. Hybrid working arrangements are available and you will be supported by an experienced programme team.

Qualifications

• Significant programme management experience delivering operational change in adult social care or homecare.
• Proven track record delivering large-scale mobilisation/transitions at pace.
• Experience with quality/safeguarding standards in care provision.
• Ability to use data to manage demand, capacity, performance and risk.

Responsibilities

• Deliver the homecare framework go-live with safe, effective mobilisation.
• Develop and monitor project plans, coordination and delivery assurance to the SRO/Oversight Board.
• Plan phased care package transitions between providers, ensuring continuity of care.
• Lead internal project teams and coordinate with incoming/outgoing providers.
• Oversee daily mobilisation activity, manage risks and dependencies, respond to issues.
• Coordinate with brokerage/operational teams to align demand with capacity.
• Develop mobilisation, contingency, and escalation plans; report to senior stakeholders.
• Use data to monitor volumes, capacity and risk; support system-wide integration.

Skills

Programme management

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Data analytics

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Programme Manager to lead the mobilisation of a new Homecare Framework, including the safe transition of a high volume of care packages for vulnerable adults across multiple providers.

This is a critical role operating in a complex, high-risk environment, where decisions directly impact the continuity and safety of care. You will be responsible for ensuring that services are mobilised effectively, providers are ready to deliver, and people who use the service experience minimal disruption during transition.

You will work directly with brokerage, social work teams, commissioning colleagues, independent providers, and health partners to coordinate daily mobilisation activity, resolve live delivery issues, and ensure capacity meets demand across the system.

This is a unique opportunity to lead a critical programme that will directly impact the lives of residents across Cambridgeshire. You will play a key role in ensuring that vulnerable people continue to receive safe, high-quality care during a period of significant change.

You will be supported by an experienced programme team and work across a broad partnership, contributing to the long-term sustainability and improvement of homecare services.

Additional information

Hybrid working arrangements available

Please note a DBS is required for this role.

For further information, please contact [e-mail]

If you have experience delivering homecare or adult social care mobilisation at scale and are confident managing risk in complex care environments, we would love to hear from you.

Our benefits

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes

Take a look at our Employment Benefits Brochure attached to this advert to find out more.

What will you be doing?

• Ensure the delivery of the homecare framework, ensuring safe and effective service go-live
• Be responsible for project plan development, project coordination, monitoring and delivery assurance to SRO/Oversight Board
• Plan and deliver the phased transition of care packages between providers, maintaining continuity of care and clear accountability at all times
• Lead and co-ordinate an internal project team, liaising with incoming and outgoing providers and reporting to a Senior Responsible Officer (SRO)
• Oversee daily mobilisation activity, tracking progress, identifying and working with the Service to manage risks, and dependencies responding rapidly to emerging issues
• Work closely with brokerage and operational teams to align care demand with provider capacity across geographic areas
• Identify and work with the Service to manage, and mitigate risks relating to:
  1. Internal resource and processes
  2. provider capacity and coverage
  3. missed or delayed care
  4. safeguarding concerns
  5. provider failure or withdrawal
• Develop and implement robust mobilisation, contingency, and escalation plans
• Ensure effective governance, reporting, and escalation to senior stakeholders and programme boards
• Use data and insight to monitor care volumes, capacity, performance, and risk, driving timely decision-making
• Work collaboratively with system partners including NHS organisations to support integrated delivery

About you

Essential experience and knowledge

• Significant programme management experience delivering operational change within adult social care, homecare, or closely related health services
• Proven track record of delivering service mobilisation, transformation, or large-scale transitions at pace
• Knowledge of working with CQC-regulated providers, with a clear understanding of quality standards and safeguarding requirements
• Demonstrable understanding of risk quality and safeguarding implications in live in care environments, particularly during service transition or change.
• Experience coordinating across commissioning, operational teams (e.g. brokerage/social work), and providers
• Strong analytical capability, with experience using data to manage demand, capacity, performance, and risk
• Effective resource management and issue resolution across teams, with the confidence and influencing skills to address underperformance and delivery challenges without direct line management authority.

Desirable experience and knowledge

• Understanding of homecare (domiciliary care) delivery, including provider operations, capacity constraints, and risks to continuity of care.
• Experience delivering homecare framework commissioning or recommissioning
• Understanding of local authority brokerage processes and care package allocation
• Knowledge of provider market challenges, including capacity gaps and geographic coverage issues
• Experience of workforce and provider transition considerations (e.g. TUPE)
• Experience working within a local authority setting

Key skills and approach

• Confidence operating in a high-pressure, high-risk environment, working with the Service and SRO to make sound decisions at pace
• Ability to balance strategic oversight with hands-on operational delivery
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across organisational boundaries
• Ability to plan and deliver complex, interdependent activity with high attention to detail
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach, with the ability to identify and resolve issues in real time
• Commitment to ensuring safe, high-quality care for vulnerable residents

What success looks like

• Effective planning, coordination and delivery assurance
• Safe and timely transition of care packages with minimal disruption to service users
• High levels of provider readiness, engagement, and performance
• Risks actively managed, with no significant failures in continuity of care
• A fully mobilised homecare framework delivered to agreed timelines and quality standards

About us

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don't meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don't be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers