Senior Placement and Contract Commissioning Officer

West Sussex County Council; Littlehampton; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Rewards and Benefits

Job summary

West Sussex County Council seeks a Senior Placement and Contract Commissioning Officer to join the Young People's Commissioning Team. This role blends operational oversight with strategic commissioning to secure safe, suitable accommodation and high-quality support for looked-after children and care leavers.

You will lead on quality assurance across commissioned services, undertake provider visits, analyse data and market intelligence, and present findings to support effective decision making.

Qualifications

• Excellent literacy and numeracy skills to understand referrals, contracts and to check statistical financial information.
• Ability to present information clearly, and in ways that promote understanding.
• Good analytical skills to interpret complex tender/financial information and to plan to targets.
• Good communication and negotiation skills to work with partners and achieve best outcomes.
• Solution focused with the ability to analyse complex situations and propose forward-thinking strategies.
• Degree or equivalent qualification in brokerage / contract management demonstrating applied knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day oversight of the home finding function and support placement stability.
• Prioritise transition planning and collaborate with partners to improve safety and outcomes for young people.
• Lead on quality assurance across commissioned services, conduct provider visits and report findings.
• Present data, quality assurance findings and market intelligence to support effective decision making and service development.

Skills

Excellent literacy and numeracy skills

Ability to present information clearly

Good analytical skills

Good communication and negotiation

Solution focussed

Degree or equivalent qualification in

Experience in brokerage / procurement

Experience mentoring / coaching

Education

Degree or equivalent qualification in brokerage / contract management

Job description

Senior Placement and Contract Commissioning Officer

The Young People's Commissioning Team works to ensure children we care for and care leavers have access to safe, suitable, and high-quality accommodation and support. Our team's key focus is to ensure young people have access to high-quality support in the right home, at the right time, for the right length of time.

Through strong partnerships, quality assurance, and strategic commissioning, we help create the best possible outcomes for young people across West Sussex.

About the Role

Working Pattern: Full Time (37 hours)

Location: Office base Littlehampton with countywide and some outside county travel along with hybrid working

Interview Date: 10th and 11th December 2026

We are seeking experienced and motivated Senior Placement and Commissioning Officers to join our Young People's Commissioning Team. This is a varied and rewarding role that combines operational oversight with strategic commissioning responsibilities.

You will provide day to day oversight of the home finding function, support placement stability and prioritise transition planning, and work alongside partners to improve safety and maximise outcomes for young people.

As a senior member of the team, you will lead on quality assurance across commissioned services, undertaking provider visits, evaluating service quality and producing reports that drive improvement. You will be confident using and presenting data, quality assurance findings and market intelligence to support effective decision making and shape strategic service development.

Strong IT and data collation skills, report writing and the ability to present complex information/data in a clear and meaningful way are essential.

You’ll work closely with providers and partners to improve service quality, share learning and promote best practice. You’ll also plan and host engagement events, support responses to safeguarding concerns and crisis situations, and help drive continuous improvement across commissioned services.

We're looking for confident, highly motivated individuals who can balance competing priorities, make sound decisions, and work confidently and autonomously, while building effective relationships. You will be equally comfortable working strategically to shape future service delivery and operationally to respond to emerging issues and ensure high quality outcomes for children and young people.

Experience and Skills

Some of the key skills and experiences required are:

• Excellent literacy and numeracy skills to understand the referral process, complex tender documents, contracts and to check statistical financial information and other documents.
• Ability to present information clearly, and in ways that promote understanding. Including the ability to persuade and successfully convince others of the need to take a specific course of action.
• Good analytical skills to interpret complex tender/financial information, with the ability to organise, plan and meet set targets.
• Good communication and negotiation skills to work with partners including the ability to negotiate solutions across wide areas of the business to achieve best outcomes and value for money.
• Solution focussed with the ability to analyse complex situations and provide forward thinking strategies and solutions that consider a variety of possible solutions and balance risks/resources and desired outcomes
• Degree or equivalent qualification or significant experience in brokerage / contract management, demonstrating that level of applied knowledge in researching, analysing, and evaluating information.
• Significant experience in brokerage / procurement or contract management demonstrated by monitoring and /or managing complex contracts effectively to ensure business need.
• Experience of providing mentoring / coaching / on the job training to colleagues to maximise their specific capabilities and to meet objectives.

For the full list of key skills, experiences and qualifications please review our job description and refer to these in your application form.

Reward and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our

Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information

The reference number for this role is 317.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 5 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability, Veteran's or Care Leaver's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our