Strategic Commissioner - Home to School Transport

Cambridgeshire County Council; Huntingdonshire; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellbeing package

Additional annual leave (salary sacrif

Flexible bank holidays

Pension contributions

Professional development

Paid volunteering hours

Peer support groups

Employee recognition

Our Cambs Rewards discounts

Job summary

Cambridgeshire County Council is seeking a confident, strategic commissioner to shape home-to-school transport for children and young people. You will lead on SEND travel arrangements, drive service improvements and work with partners across health, schools and providers.

Reporting to the Head of Commissioning, you will oversee the full commissioning cycle, manage large budgets, influence market development and deliver savings while ensuring inclusion and safeguarding.

Qualifications

• Detailed understanding of SEND legislation and the SEND Code of Practice.
• Proven track record delivering change in commissioning, contracts, markets or service design.
• Experience leading cross‑organisational partnerships and complex stakeholder environments.
• Commercial and financial awareness including managing large budgets and delivering efficiencies.

Responsibilities

• Set a clear strategic vision and commissioning priorities for home-to-school transport, focusing on SEND travel arrangements.
• Oversee the full commissioning cycle: needs analysis, market shaping, procurement, contract negotiation and performance management.
• Collaborate with finance, operations contract management, quality improvement, brokerage and procurement to align delivery.
• Lead service transformation, test new delivery models, manage demand and deliver financial savings.
• Represent the council at senior forums, governance boards and with NHS partners; advise senior leaders on commissioning and system-wide issues.

Skills

SEND knowledge

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder management

Commercial & financial acumen

Change management

System thinking

Communication skills

Contract & procurement

Equality, diversity & inclusion

Job description

It is a unique opportunity to shape passenger transport services across the county, working strategically with the Children, Young People and Learning Service, schools, healthcare providers, transport operators and community partners. You will be expected to drive innovation, champion continuous improvement, develop high-performing teams and ensure the delivery of sustainable, customer-focused transport solutions that support some of our most vulnerable residents. If you are a collaborative leader with strong operational, financial and stakeholder management skills, and are motivated by the opportunity to create positive outcomes for people, we would love to hear from you., You will operate at a strategic and operational level, balancing long-term system leadership with day-to-day oversight of commissioning activity. This will include:

• Setting a clear strategic vision and commissioning priorities for the home to school transport for children and young people in the area, with a particular focus on ensuring travel assistance and support arrangements for children and young people with SEND are robust, effective and promote inclusion.
• Overseeing the full commissioning cycle, including needs analysis, service review, market shaping, procurement, contract negotiation, and performance management.
• Working closely with finance, operations contract management, quality improvement, brokerage, and procurement colleagues to ensure a joined-up approach to developing and implementing recommendations.
• Leading innovation and service transformation, testing new delivery models and commissioning approaches to improve outcomes, managing demand and delivering savings.
• Managing and influencing significant budgets, identifying, and delivering investment opportunities and financial savings.
• Representing the council at senior internal and external forums, internal governance board, committees and elected member engagement, NHS partners, providers, and regulators.
• Providing expert advice, briefing and challenge to senior leaders and members on commissioning, market, and system-wide issues in this area.

The role reports to the Head of Commissioning and operates with a high degree of autonomy within agreed governance frameworks overseen by an established Change Programme Group., 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 looking for a confident, collaborative, and strategic commissioner who is motivated by improving outcomes for residents and shaping sustainable systems.

• A detailed understanding of the wider SEND and home-to-school travel landscape with a proven track record of delivering change.
• Extensive knowledge of SEND legislation, the SEND Code of Practice and local authority statutory responsibilities.
• Strong experience of leading change in this area, with the ability to influence, inspire and lead others through complexity and change.
• A solid understanding of commissioning, contracts, markets, or service design, ideally within children's or adult social care services, health, or the wider public sector.
• Experience of working in partnership environments, building effective relationships across organisational, professional and sector boundaries.
• Commercial and financial awareness, including experience of managing or influencing large budgets, negotiating agreements, and delivering efficiencies.
• The ability to think system-wide, using data, insight, and evidence to make sound strategic decisions and manage risk.
• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to engage senior officers, elected members, providers, and external partners.
• A clear commitment to safeguarding, equality, diversity, and inclusion, and to delivering services that respond to the needs of diverse communities.

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.

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• 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