Commissioning Support Officer

The starting salary for this role is £29,291 per annum for working 36 hours per week. This is a 12-month fixed term contract.

Children’s Services at Surrey County Council have recently undergone significant changes in order to meet the needs of children and families across the county. The newly created Children's Commissioning Service has been introduced to radically transform our approach to commissioning service provision and to ensure children and young people are at the heart of everything we do.

The Children's Commissioning Service is made up of three teams:

• Gateway to Resources - commissioning individual services for children and young people looked after by Surrey County Council and those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
• Early Years, Family Resilience and Health - strategic commissioning services for very young children and services to support families with Early Help requirements and Health provision
• SEND, Education and Corporate Parenting - strategic commissioning of services for children and young people in the care of Surrey County Council and those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

The service has a responsibility to deliver sufficient, good quality provision to meet the needs of Surrey residents against a­­n innovative outcome-based model, achieving excellence and value for money.

Examples of our work include:

• Using data to ascertain need and plan future services to ensure sufficient provision
• Market Engagement events with key providers across Surrey, ensuring provision is developed in the right place and at the right time to meet the needs of our residents
• Working in partnership with Health and Social Care to ensure commissioned services deliver opportunities for children to secure the best outcomes
• Supporting placement decision making panel coordination and administration duties
• Developing new innovative services such as the new school-aged Speech & Language Service
• Developing new and exciting post-16 support offers for young people
• Negotiating, monitoring and evaluating contractual arrangements that ensure value for money

We are looking for an ambitious, highly motivated, energetic person who is looking to learn and develop their commissioning knowledge, understanding and skills.

You will support the whole commissioning process, working alongside a team of Commissioners on a range of exciting projects (see examples listed above). Commissioning projects within the team take a variety of different forms so candidates must be comfortable working at pace, to strict deadlines, and using their own initiative to support the wider team to champion the change required to improve the outcomes for our children and young people.

To be shortlisted to interview for this position your application will clearly evidence:

• An interest in developing your commissioning and project management skills by assisting Commissioning Officers with complex commissioning projects
• Proficiency in Excel, with a keen interest in data input, dashboard monitoring and reporting to support project progress
• Ability to coordinate and carry out administrative functions for a placement decision making panel
• Strong analytical skills to support data interpretation
• An interest in SEND Education and understanding of related partnership working
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work as part of an extended team with both internal and external partners
• A passion for improving outcomes and services for children, young people and their families
• A keen understanding of value for money

At Surrey, our values and behaviours are just as important as our skills and abilities. They shape who we are as an organisation. Find out more about the values we follow.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 16/08/2022 with interviews to follow.

A Basic DBS ‘Disclosure and Barring Service’ check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) will be required for this role.

Contact Details

For an informal discussion please contact julia.laird@surreycc.gov.uk.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Benefits

From flexible working to job sharing (where possible) we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance. A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role. You will benefit from 26 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service, a generous local government salary related pension, as well as the option to join our car lease scheme. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit MyBenefits for Surrey County Council staff.

Our Commitment

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 under represented groups.