Lead Commissioner
Salary: Grade 17 £66,378-£68,784
Permanent – 36 hours per week
Hybrid working

Job Purpose

The purpose of this role is to deliver a Lead Commissioner service within the Children, Families and Education department, with potential responsibility such as education, Children with Disabilities, Early Help, social care and SEND as required. To improve the strategic commissioning, procurement and contract management practice to deliver good service outcomes for children and young people and sustainable efficiencies. To identify and deliver robust and innovative commissioning plans for the category, understanding the wider strategic vision and plans for Croydon. To work alongside procurement colleagues and service teams (SEND, social care, education etc) to design and deliver innovative commissioning solutions. To provide strategic contract management support and ensure effective contract compliance for a given portfolio. Forward planning of all strategic (£100k+) commissioning and contracting with the relevant service teams.

About You

· Knowledge of policy and legislation relevant to Children’s services, including education, SEND, children’s social care
· Knowledge of the children’s services market and contracting models within the sector
· Knowledge of EU procurement regulations and best practice related to public procurement
· Key elements of the commissioning and procurement cycle
· Evidence of ability to build and manage effective and resilient relationships and partnerships inside and outside of the organisation
· Excellent negotiation skills with evidence of their effective use and application to achieve objectives
· Senior level experience of commissioning ideally within children’s services
· Experience of managing complex contracts to deliver service improvements and ensure value for money
· Experience of strategy development and service redesign through all stages of the project lifecycle (development of needs analysis, vision, business case, options development and implementation, performance monitoring)
· Experience of engaging with services to drive and manage change and deliver the strategic priorities of an organisation / partnership
· Experience of line management

To view the Lead Commissioner role profile, please click here.