Senior Commissioning Officer (Children’s)

About the role

The post holder will support a children’s commissioning portfolio that covers a range of statutory services, contracts and projects supporting children, young people and families in Cambridgeshire. The types of services this postholder will be involved with include contract managing young people’s mental health service, procuring Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) services and recommissioning Youth Offending services.

These services are jointly commissioned and coproduced with young people, families, operational colleagues, external partners, and voluntary and community organisations. All the services in the portfolio are at different stages in the commissioning cycle. It is essential that the postholder can support and lead on commissioning, procurement and contract management activities.

This work contributes to and aligns with Cambridgeshire’s strategic vision of creating a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire.

The postholder will be part of Cambridgeshire’s Children’s Commissiong team. We work collaboratively, in thinking environments where ideas are encouraged, diversity welcomed, and appreciation expressed. This is a hybrid working role, working from an Alconbury office base and from home.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

For more information or to chat about this opportunity please contact Helen.andrews@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Interviews are scheduled to take place on 9th April 2024

What will you be doing?

The work of the Senior Commissioning Officer will be both challenging and rewarding.

You will be supporting the Commissioning Manger to manage a large portfolio of children’s services, refresh strategies, update the team’s workplan, respond to audits and prepare for inspections, lead on projects and commissioning activities, and respond to issues and mitigate risks. You will deputise for the Commissioning Manager ensuring continuity and integrity. The role involves analysing data to inform decisions, shape and improve services.

You will be working closely with procurement colleagues on tenders, while also engaging with providers, service uses and operational officers.

About you

The right candidates will have:

A track record of involvement in supporting significant commissioning projects, particularly within the context of children’s services.

Well-developed analytical skills able to collate, analyse, and is able to interpret quantitative and qualitative data and apply findings. Is also competent in managing service budgets and financial processes.

Strong verbal and concise writing abilities. Can tailor communications to different audiences, e.g. organise and contribute to Provider Engagement Forums, produce options appraisals and present reports/papers to decision makers.

Strong self-management skills i.e. is highly organised, able to prioritise and allocate time efficiently while at the safe time be flexible in responding to changing circumstances.

Imagination, and think of themselves as a mix between a magician, a treasure hunter and a storyteller.

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 Employer. 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. Some examples of adjustments 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

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits:

• Flexible working
• Flexible Bank Holidays
• A comprehensive wellbeing package
• Our Cambs Rewards employee discounts
• A comprehensive pension scheme
• IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network.
• Camweb our staff intranet helping to keep you informed
• An employee recognition scheme