Commissioning Officer - Education

What will you be doing?

You will be working alongside education and commissioning colleagues to understand current providers, and commissioning models. You will be expected to engage and build trusted relationships with providers, children, young people and their families and other stakeholders such as health and social care colleagues to review current education services and contracts and support the development of the market to meet current and future need. With the support of the Commissioning Manager, you will be asked to lead projects requiring you to build relationships with schools, and other education settings to ensure delivery of the actions and outcomes required. You will liaise both internally and externally to continually review and further develop provider services. A significant part of your role will be developing the alternative provision model alongside education colleagues. You will also be expected to develop relationships and work with independent SEND school settings to support the EHC team in the placement and monitoring of children with education health and care plans.  Part of your role will also require you to develop team processes and protocols to ensure the team continues to run smoothly.

About you

You will be educated to degree level or be able to demonstrate experience of working at that level in education or commissioning. Ideally you will be familiar with special educational needs and disability processes or alternative provision models. There is a need to have strong communication skills enabling you to engage with people who access support services as well as interacting across all partner organisations. You will be able to demonstrate the ability to lead projects and have delivered successful outcomes. Being able to organise and prioritise your own workload and meet deadlines within a pressured environment is essential. Most importantly you will have a passion for monitoring and delivering high quality education services for West Northamptonshire children to reach their potential.    

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU  

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.