Director of Commissioning

Surrey County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.

We are looking for a candidate who can lead an integrated commissioning strategy for children’s, families’ and learning services in partnership with key agencies, and specifically the joint commissioning of council and NHS services, to improve outcomes of children, young people and their families in the most efficient and cost effective way possible. This role will involve working closely with the council’s Head of Strategic Commissioning to align practice in directorate service commissioning in support of delivery of an ambitious health and social care devolution agreement, integration of care and health services and the establishment of a commissioning hub for public services in Surrey.

The current Commissioning and Prevention division includes a range of commissioning functions.  These are split between three teams with responsibility for different aspects of the commissioning cycle.  In addition, operational teams hold some responsibility for contract management.  This is resulting in too many hand offs, some inconsistency in practice and a confusion in terms of accountability for outcomes delivered and value for money. The aim is (a) to streamline processes and (b) to organise commissioning teams more coherently around the needs of particular populations of children and young people with clear accountability for delivering specified outcomes within agreed budget envelopes.

The new division will include the newly created gateway to resources teams. These are being established to improve commissioning, allocation of resources, contract management and review of placements and additional packages of support. By locating these within the commissioning division there is an opportunity to ensure that placement brokerage both informs, and is informed by, strategic commissioning.

This role sits as one of five Director Roles in our Childrens Families and Learning directorate and reports directly into Dave Hill – Executive Director Childrens Families and Learning.

For an informal and confidential discussion about the role, please contact our advising consultants at GatenbySanderson: Rachel Salvia 07594 250062

A laptop and mobile will be supplied. You will benefit from 24 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 2 years’ service, a generous local government salary related pension. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit MyBenefits for Surrey County Council staff.