Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8RA

Salary: £35,451 - £39,165 per annum (pro-rata for part-time) (Pay award pending)

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 29th July 2026

Interview Date(s): 18th August 2026

Are you passionate about ensuring that children, young people and their families/carers receive high-quality support at the right time helping them to achieve their full potential?

Would you like to help make a difference to the lives of children and young people through effective commissioning?

Do you have a good understanding and experience of the Commissioning Cycle and commissioning practices, including procurement processes?

If so, this could be the ideal role for you.

About the Role

We are looking to recruit a full-time Commissioning Officer to join our ambitious and dedicated Commissioning Service.

While all Commissioning Officers work across a range of commissioning functions, this post will initially be based in our Quality Assurance team.

In this role, you will work closely with children's services providers to ensure that commissioned services are safe, effective and delivering positive outcomes for children and young people.

This will include;

• Undertaking quality assurance visits (sometimes nationwide). These could be planned or unannounced
• Assessing compliance against Ofsted regulatory standards in relation to children’s homes, Supported Accommodation and Independent Fostering Agencies and CQC regulatory standards for the delivery of Domiciliary Care
• Review records, care planning, risk assessments, policies, incident logs, complaints, staffing arrangements and outcomes for children
• Ensuring that the provider is delivering the support that has been commissioned
• Speaking directly with children and young people to understand their experiences and ensure that their voice is central to quality assurance activity
• Undertaking audits and review meetings
• Produce high-quality reports detailing findings, recommendations and required improvement actions

As part of a flexible commissioning service, there may be occasions when you are required to support other areas of the team in response to service demands and changing priorities

Other teams and functions within the service include;

Contract Monitoring and Review

• Leading contract monitoring meetings with providers.
• Ensuring commissioned services are delivered in line with contractual expectations.
• Supporting providers to improve service quality and deliver positive outcomes for children, young people and families.

Commissioning, Procurement and Governance

• Supporting commissioning activity across Children's Services.
• Leading routine commissioning exercises through all stages of the commissioning cycle.
• Contributing to procurement activity, market engagement and service development.
• Working closely with Corporate Procurement, Legal Services and commissioning colleagues to ensure compliance with governance requirements.

Brokerage and Negotiation

• Securing appropriate services and placements for children and young people through approved frameworks and processes.
• Negotiating costs with providers to achieve value for money while meeting assessed needs.

About You

To apply for this post, you must:

Please ensure that you cover all 7 points in your application and provide clear examples and evidence of how each point has been met

• NVQ4 or equivalent qualification or equivalent work experience in a relevant area
• Previous professional experience or familiarity with settings as named above and knowledge and understanding of working with and meeting the needs of children and young people (and their families/carers) with complex needs, including Children in Care, children and young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities and the ability to work with operational staff and providers and build relationships
• Have high levels of competency in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook in order to undertake detailed analysis/evaluation of data and preparation of written and financial reports and also the ability to prioritise, work to deadlines and deliver several written reports within agreed time frames.
• Proven ability to prioritise, work to deadlines and deliver a number of smaller projects simultaneously.
• Proven ability to develop credible and collaborative relationships with internal and external partners and across multi-disciplinary boundaries and stakeholders
• Proven ability to problem-solve and to constructively challenge existing customs and practices
• Understanding of commissioning practices and the commissioning cycle, with the ability to embed this into day-to-day practice.

A Full UK driving licence is required for this role

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Jayde Barker, Senior Commissioning Officer

Telephone: 0116 305 2845

Email: Jayde.Barker@leics.gov.uk

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone.

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us