Job Title: Strategic Commissioning Programme Manager

Salary: Dir 45% £60,480 - £66,318 pro rata

Hours: 3 days per week

Contract: Fixed Term for 6 months

Location: Merrion House, Leeds

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Commissioning and Governance Service, Children and Families Directorate, for a Strategic Commissioning Programme Manager (Dir 45%) for 3 days per week on a 6 month fixed term contract, with the potential for extension.

You’ll will be part of our Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ rated Children and Families service and employed by Leeds City Council where we have a culture of excellence and are continually striving to drive up standards.

Unlike a traditional commissioning role, this position sits within the Commissioning and Governance Service and focuses on transformational, practice-led commissioning. The role is centred on improving outcomes for children and young people, securing value for money, and delivering sustainable cost improvements through innovation, collaboration and responsive commissioning in a dynamic market environment.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council valuesand ambitions.

About you

You will bring to the role:

Excellent leadership qualities and experience
Experience in commissioning and/or project management and/or front line working with children and families with transferable skills.
Flexibility to lead on all aspects of commissioning, contract management and quality assurance across the Children and Families Directorate.
A passion for learning with the ability to challenge and drive change.
A restorative mind-set, focussed on improving outcomes for children and young people.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Children and Families Commissioning & Governance Service. This specific role sits within the central team of the White Rose Partnership. The partnership works in a consortium with 15 Local Authorities and Providers across the Yorkshire and Humber Region to commission high quality services which provide positive outcomes for children and young people through our 3 EMP’s:

Independent Fostering (IFA) 
Independent Children’s Homes and Independent Schools (Residential)  
Colleges for Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

The role is critical to the development of a regional collaborative approach to ensure that we meet the vision and 5 priorities of the Partnership:

Partnership - To work in partnership with Local Authorities, Partners, Providers and Children and Young People to commission the best possible services.
Sufficiency - To develop regional sufficiency to meet local need.
Cost - To improve value for money though regional frameworks, market shaping and regional working.
Quality - To improve quality assurance mechanisms and approaches across the region.
Innovation - To identify and encourage opportunities for innovation and to work with all partners to drive service improvement

Regardless of your previous experience all successful candidates will be required to undertake continuous professional development. You will gain or strengthen best practice knowledge of various aspects of children’s service delivery, technical commissioning skills including commercial acumen and value for money techniques. As a core service in Children and Families, you will be integral to decision taking.

This is a senior role within the Commissioning & Governance Service. We are keen to recruit the right person that has the ingredients to develop into an exceptional commissioner. There will be a full induction to develop the person who can demonstrate the right knowledge and aptitude.

Regardless of your previous experience the successful candidate will be required to undertake continuous professional development. You will gain or strengthen best practice knowledge of various aspects of children’s service delivery, technical commissioning skills including commercial acumen and value for money techniques. As a core service in Children and Families, you will be integral to decision taking.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

For an informal discussion regarding this post, please contact Michelle Smith or Felicity Nichols on WhiteRoseRegionalCommissioning@leeds.gov.uk

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose

Working on behalf of local authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region the post holder will lead a programme of joint commissioning of placements for children and young people and provide leadership and management to support the functions of the White Rose Partnership.

Responsibilities

The post holder will be employed by Leeds City Council, but they will function as the named partnership lead on behalf of the region in relation to joint commissioning of placements for children and young people and will work to the Regional Childrens Services Commissioning Board for this work.
Working in support of the Chair, the post holder will lead a team to provide operational management and support the ongoing development and capacity of the Regional Childrens Services Commissioning Board to provide oversight and governance to regional commissioning activity in accordance with the partnership agreement.
To chair and lead the functioning and ongoing development of the Regional Children’s Services Commissioning Operational Group and enable its sub-groups to effectively co-ordinate, and manage a programme of commissioning and procurement activity.
Manage a programme of regional commissioning activity including sufficiency planning, provider market management, procurement, contract management and quality assurances of regional placements. This includes in particular the management of existing White Rose Framework arrangements (SEND Learning, Fostering and Residential Placements)
Manage a programme of communications with regional local authority partners which ensures that partners are kept informed of key development and have sufficient opportunities to engage and influence regional decision making relating to regional commissioning activity.
Take a lead on developing key areas of work arising from the work of the Commissioning Board including but not limited to: developing our approach to regional sufficiency planning, market engagement and developing joint commissioning arrangements.
Positively and effectively lead, shape and influence the partnership to contribute in developing and achieving a clear vision for how regional partners will work together to respond to the needs of children, young people and families.
Using effective and well developed communication skills, the post holder will drive a culture of joint working to develop meaningful agreement and consensus with regional partners on how to jointly respond to sufficiency requirements for children and families through a programme of joint commissioning.
Provide supervision and line management to staff working in Children’s commissioning team. Working as part of the senior management team, support the leadership and management of the Children’s Commissioning and Governance team. Take on lead responsibilities for key areas of team development and support the team’s focus on continuous improvement.

General

Respond to opportunities to innovate and develop new areas of regional joint commissioning drawing on the strength of the regional partnership.
Deliver transformational service goals with broad perspectives and long term guidelines within a context of budget pressures and funding restrictions.
Manage political and governance processes and ensure the effective and timely communication of key messages.
Build strong and dynamic relationships and trust between partners, stakeholders, children and young people, communities, external agencies and managers across the directorate and city council – especially those who work with children and young people, and those who are particularly vulnerable & have the most complex needs.
Lead by example, fostering effective joint working and building multi-agency teams which deliver outcomes. Provide direction and support to immediate line reports creating an organisational climate of shared accountabilities, learning and continuous improvement.
Develop and sustain a culture that consistently meets the needs of, and engages with, children, families, communities, staff and the business needs of the partnership
Ensure that the partnership has the capability to consistency meet statutory obligations and that risks are managed effectively.
Be responsible for all aspects of people management for directly line managed staff including ensuring that appropriate HR processes such as appraisals, are embedded.
Be responsible for all resources allocated on behalf of the partnership ensuring that value for money underpins all aspects of commissioning and procurement.
Work in partnership with corporate colleagues in HR, Finance, Procurement, ICT, Legal, governance services, and communications to ensure effective support to the partnership.
Be responsible for all aspects of monitoring and reporting partnership risks, and progress against key partnership priorities to both internal and external partners.
To ensure that the needs of both individual local authorities and the partnership as a whole are reflected in the programme of work, and that clear planning a decision making pathways are well managed.
To establish and develop effective relationships with key partners in individual Local Authorities.

Qualifications Degree level or equivalent knowledge gained through experience in the relevant service area.

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Degree or equivalent qualification
Management diploma or equivalent
Membership of relevant professional bodies
Ability to build strong and dynamic relationships and partnerships which build trust and confidence with key individuals and partner agencies to deliver better outcomes.
Ability to proactively lead, develop and implement creative and innovative solutions to complex strategic commissioning and sufficiency challenges at a regional level.
Ability to employ a range of leadership styles which focus on achieving results in terms of outcomes for managers and customers.
Ability to present complex information in a clear & concise manner in a range of formats to drive performance in commissioned services and inform decision-making.
Ability to take responsibility for all financial resources within the service area ensuring value for money and working within financial regulations
Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence, negotiate and establish credibility for the service, enhance its reputation, and to form positive relationships.
Ability to engage confidently and appropriately with children, young people and families to support them to have a voice and influence over services.
Minimum of 3 years relevant sector experience at a senior management level within the public sector
Significant experience of managing programmes of commissioning, procurement and market engagement providers delivering services for vulnerable people.
Experience of working in an environment which supports services to children & young people
Experience of working in or closely with placements teams supporting children looked after and care leavers
Significant experience of leading programmes of service change, including service quality and driving up standards and performance, demonstrating the ability
Significant experience of forging and driving successful partnerships
Experience of having implemented strategies leading to successful business outcomes which reflect service needs, provide value for money, and maintain quality
Experience of leading and managing individuals and teams to deliver complex programmes of work and manage competing priorities to meet deadlines.
Significant knowledge about national and local issues relating to Children Looked After(CLA), care leavers from the context of commissioning and placements teams
Significant knowledge of legislation, regulations, policies, inspections, sufficiency and performance information applicable to commissioning and procurement of services for CLA.

Behavioural and other Characteristics required

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Be aware of and support difference ensuring equality for all, working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.