Interim Head of Commissioning (Children & Families)NHS

Job summary

Salary: £71,513 - £80,593

Grade: SM2

Contract: Fixed Term 18mths

Hours: 37 per week

Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire

Lead transformational commissioning that changes childrens lives

Are you an experienced commissioning leader who thrives on driving strategic change, influencing system-wide improvement, and delivering better outcomes for children, young people and families? North Yorkshire Council is seeking an exceptional Interim Head of Commissioning to lead the commissioning strategy for Children's Services during an exciting period of transformation and development.

About the service

Providing strategic leadership for commissioning across Children and Young Peoples Services, leading transformation and delivering high-quality, value for money services through partnership working, this is a rare opportunity to shape services across one of England's largest local authority areas, ensuring children and families receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

As a key member of the Children's Partnership and Sufficiency Leadership Team, you will play a pivotal role in developing sustainable, high-quality services while building strong partnerships across health, education, social care, the voluntary sector, and wider stakeholders.

Main duties of the job

• Lead commissioning strategy and transformation programmes across Children's and Young People's Services.
• Shape and develop a sustainable provider market that delivers high-quality, value-for-money services.
• Drive innovation through needs analysis, market intelligence, evidence-based decision making, and service redesign.
• Oversee commissioning, procurement, contract management, mobilisation, and evaluation activity.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with partners across the public, private and voluntary sectors
• Support the delivery of statutory sufficiency duties and safeguarding responsibilities
• Lead and inspire commissioning teams, creating a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and collaboration
• Work closely with senior leaders and elected members to influence strategic direction and deliver lasting impact
• Extensive senior leadership experience in children's services commissioning
• Experience managing substantial budgets, contracts, provider relationships, and resources
• Strong knowledge of children's services legislation, safeguarding, and statutory responsibilities
• A proven ability to develop and implement commissioning strategies based on evidence, data, and market insight
• Excellent partnership-building, influencing, and stakeholder management skills
• Commercial awareness and the ability to balance quality outcomes with financial sustainability
• The confidence to operate in a complex political environment and work effectively with senior leaders and elected members

Job description

Job context

North Yorkshire Council is committed to delivering high-quality services in collaboration with partners to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. At the heart of this ambition is the ability to transform and commission services across the system that make a measurable difference.

The Head of Commissioning is a key member of the Childrens Partnership and Sufficiency Leadership Team, leading commissioning and contract activity and ensuring a sustainable provider market that meets statutory duties including sufficiency.

This role will lead all commissioning activity and contract designs for Childrens Services ensuring that coproduction is at the heart of each stage of the commissioning cycle and that services are commissioned to meet peoples needs at the right time, at the right place and in a way that supports good outcomes for people.

Work in conjunction with the Assistant Director for Childrens Sufficiency and Partnerships

with other Directorates, elected members and other senior colleagues across the Council as required.

The role has responsibility to ensure there is a consistent and coherent approach taken to commissioning and contracting for services across CYPS.

To provide strategic leadership for the commissioning of children's services, ensuring services are effective, evidence-based, financially sustainable and improve outcomes.

Job Purpose

Provide strategic leadership for commissioning across CYPS, leading transformation and delivering high-quality, value for money services through partnership working.

Operational Management:

Deputise for Assistant Director where required.

Lead commissioning delivery to meet need and outcomes ensuring an integrated overview of commissioning plans, contractual issues and quality outcomes, driving continuous improvement.

Oversee commissioning lifecycle

To ensure compliance with all statutory guidance and national policy

Drive improvement and innovation, commissioning county wide needs assessments and market audits to inform the commissioning requirements across CYPS.

Ensure commissioning activity supports the Councils statutory and legal obligations including safeguarding.

To oversee the implementation of decommissioning and mobilisation of new commissioned services across CYPS

To ensure sustainable and diverse markets are supported across the county

The post holder will ensure all portfolio areas have an appropriate governance framework, and will monitor performance levels.

Lead full commissioning cycle including needs assessment, market analysis, service design, procurement, contract management and evaluation.

Establish robust performance frameworks, monitor outcomes, and lead continuous improvement.

Foster innovation, accountability and inclusion within commissioning teams.

Resource management:

Manage budgets effectively, including revenue and capital budget, ensuring that services are financially stable and within budget when commissioning and where possible achieving significant income and efficiencies for the Local Authority.

Lead development of fee frameworks and support negotiation of contractual terms, including leading contract meetings

Lead, manage and supervise commissioning and contract managers, embedding best value and utilisation.

Develop mechanisms to support provider sustainability and minimise provider failure.

Identify and implement changes in practice that lead to service efficiency and integrated working.

Provide leadership, motivation and regular supervision, appraisal and development to those staff for whom they are responsible, ensuring the effective performance of all members of their team.

The post holder will ensure their behaviours and those of their managers comply with the expectations of the Managers Pocket book and that their managers and staff all comply with the Councils Behaviour and Skills Framework

Deliver value for money and efficiencies while maintaining statutory compliance.

Partnerships:

Lead strategic partnerships, working collaboratively various internal and external partners and stakeholders.

Represent the Directorate at relevant policy, organisational, co-ordination and consultation forums with external agencies, other Council Directorates within the Service Area or wider Directorate as required

Develop and maintain relationships with key regional and national organisations

Build partnerships across health, education, social care, police and voluntary sector.

Strategic management

Lead commissioning strategy for CYPS

Define models of care, stimulate the provider market, and ensure commissioning decisions are evidence-based and cost-effective.

Provide oversight of the market, including risk escalation, reporting, and mitigation strategies

To work unsupervised and take responsibility for own workload, dealing with complex issues, delegating work, as appropriate.

Improve and modernise business processes.

Develop policies, guidance and procedures to ensure consistent working practices, ensure clarity of function and explore opportunity to joint working arrangements with other directorates.

Evaluate transformation which has taken place to ensure lessons are learnt and used to improve further transformation.

Translate national policy and legislation into local commissioning and improvement approaches.

Communications:

Produce reports for senior leaders, communicating risks, trends and impacts clearly as required.

Build strong stakeholder relationships and foster collaboration across organisations.

Strengthen relationships with teams and partners to support innovation and joint working

Ability to provide information, written and oral, in an extensive range of formats to an extensive range of audiences whilst being sensitive to the nature of the transformation and the audience, ensuring the end goal is achieved effectively.

Negotiate with partners (internal and external) individually and collectively to achieve the Directorates and commissioning partners aims and objectives.

Lead engagement and consultation processes to achieve the introduction of new initiatives and change in their locality

Represent the Directorate at appropriate inter and intra agency meetings, promoting, liaising, consulting and engaging with managers, staff, people who use our services and their carers and other stakeholders in challenging situations

Systems and information:

Use evidence, analysis, resource mapping, and service reviews to inform commissioning decisions.

Develop and maintain systems for strong market intelligence based on data, evidence and lived experience

Lead the use of complex data and information to inform transformational decision making is a key aspect to this role.

Provide an overview of relevant and complex information to assist senior and strategic managers and officers in their understanding of commissioning issues within CYPS

Ensure performance monitoring systems are in place to demonstrate appropriate governance for integrated care and support arrangements.

Ensure compliance with procurement law, safeguarding, equalities and information governance

Safeguarding:

Ensure services meet statutory requirements and that all professionals safeguard and promote the wellbeing of children.

Be committed to safeguarding and promote the welfare of children, young people and adults, raising concerns as appropriate.

About us

In return, you'll have the opportunity to:

• Make a genuine difference to children, young people and families across North Yorkshire.
• Lead high-profile strategic programmes with significant organisational impact.
• Work with talented, committed colleagues and partners across the region.
• Influence service design and transformation at a senior level.
• Further develop your leadership career within one of the UK's largest local authorities.

At North Yorkshire Council, we are ambitious about improving outcomes for children and families. We believe great commissioning has the power to transform lives, strengthen communities, and create sustainable services for the future.

If you're an experienced commissioning leader with the vision, commercial acumen, and passion to drive meaningful change for children and families, we'd love to hear from you.

For further information about the role please contact Jo Heaney at [email protected]

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