Cornwall Council

Strategic Commissioning Lead - Children in Care and Care Leavers

Cornwall Council  •  Truro, GB (Hybrid)  •  2 hours ago
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Job Description

The Service & Team:
Lead strategic transformation across Cornwall’s most vital services.

Cornwall Council is nationally recognised for its innovative, integrated approach to commissioning — built on strong partnerships across health, education, and social care. We’re developing a professional commissioning discipline that blends best practice, robust evidence, and co-design with communities, creating an environment where commissioners can thrive and make a measurable difference.

As a Strategic Commissioning Lead, you’ll be accountable for the strategic commissioning of either a key area of need or a major service function — a significant subset of our life-course commissioning approach. You’ll define what good looks like, set the strategic direction, and lead delivery across the full commissioning cycle.

This is a delivery-focused leadership role, ideal for someone who thrives on complexity, collaboration, and long-term transformation. You’ll be part of a high-performing commissioning team, reporting to a Head of Commissioning and working alongside other Strategic Leads to shape the future of services in Cornwall for children and young people.

The Role:

You’ll be the strategic ambassador for your commissioning area — making a compelling case for change, drawing on national and international evidence, and leading large-scale transformation programmes that span service models, financial strategy, and stakeholder engagement.


In this role, you will:
• Lead the commissioning strategy for your area, aligned to Cornwall’s life-course approach.
• Define strategic outcomes and success measures, grounded in evidence and codesigned with communities.
• Oversee complex transformation programmes that may span several years.
• Shape and sustain the marketplace, building positive relationships with providers to ensure capacity and quality.
• Lead contract and supplier relationship management, ensuring compliance and proactive market sustainability.
• Drive improvements in outcomes, value, and performance across the full commissioning cycle.

This position will be subject to an enhanced criminal record disclosure check.
This is a public/customer-facing role, where the statutory English language requirement for public sector workers applies.

Working Pattern:

This is a full time, 37 hours per week position. Working patterns are flexible in this role, such as hybrid work arrangements (including time in the office), compressed hours, term-time only and other alternatives.


Please indicate your requested working pattern in your application.

What you’ll need to succeed:
We’re looking for someone who combines strategic insight with operational rigour. You’ll bring:
• Senior-level commissioning experience in local government or the wider public sector.
• A track record in transformation, market shaping, and delivering large-scale change. As well as financial rigor, best value and quality outcomes.
• The ability to influence across systems, backed by evidence-led thinking and a focus on what matters most.

Please read the role profile for the full details of this role attached below in this advert

What you’ll get in return:
This is a rare opportunity to lead strategic commissioning in a Council known for innovation, strong partnerships, and delivering real impact. You’ll join a team with the resources, support, and political commitment to deliver ambitious change.
Cornwall Council’s ambition is to be an employer of choice, a high performing Council and a learning organisation. We commit to providing a reward and benefits package to attract, motivate and reward our employees. We offer a range of flexible working options to our staff. This helps provide our employees with a greater work/life balance. Whilst still ensuring that service needs are met.

Our core employee rewards and benefits include:
  • a competitive salary.
  • a defined benefit pension scheme, based on your career average earnings. This includes the option for extra voluntary contributions
  • a generous annual leave entitlement with the potential to purchase additional leave.
  • a national award-winning employee health and wellbeing programme
  • Employee benefits scheme giving employees access to a wide range of discounts to local and national goods and services

Additional Information:
Cornwall Council is unable to offer visa sponsorship or transfer existing sponsorship for this role.
The full role profile is attached here
We recommend saving a copy of this to refer to if you are invited to an interview.
For more information or an informal chat about the role please contact Rosie Thomas-Easton at Rosie.Thomas-Easton@cornwall.gov.uk

Application Process
Please attach a supporting statement to your application, you can add your Education & Qualifications details manually using the application form timeline or you can upload your CV. Remember to demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points marked as ‘Application’ on the Role Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. Guidance on how to complete your application can be found here – The application process

Please note that applications cannot be edited after they have been submitted, please contact careers@cornwall.gov.uk if you have any queries or require assistance with your application.

Existing employees must apply using their Cornwall Council email address through the Opportunity Marketplace on Oracle.

Cornwall Council deliver services to more than half a million local people and over five million visitors a year. Working here - Cornwall Council

We are happy to talk about flexible working options such as part-time or compressed hours. More examples of our flexible working opportunities can be found here - flexible working options

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g., race, disability, sex, gender reassignment status, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

Cornwall Council

About Cornwall Council

A unique Council that has secured the UK's first devolution deal for a rural County! We deliver services to more than half a million local people and to over five million visitors a year.

*Cornwall - The Place: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/work-and-volunteer-for-us/cornwall-the-place/

With its beautiful beaches, stunning countryside and superb community spirit, Cornwall is a great place to live.

*Cornwall - Our Offer: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/work-and-volunteer-for-us/our-offer/

With a competitive employee reward package that attracts, retains and motivates our employees; open plan working environments in most offices, good business systems and a can do culture where talented people thrive, Cornwall Council is a great place to work.

*Cornwall - Our Job of the Week: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/joboftheweek

*Cornwall - What we do and how we work: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers/work-and-volunteer-for-us/what-we-do-and-how-we-work/

Services: Care for the elderly, children’s safeguarding, libraries, road maintenance, fire and rescue service, recycling, parks, street cleaning, countryside management, social housing, town planning, tourism support and trading standards.

We deliver these services through our employees who work directly for the Council and through our many other Council owned companies and organisations; CORMAC, Cornwall Housing, Tempus Leisure, Newquay Airport and Cornwall Development Company.

We also have close links with Cornwall’s health organisations, colleges and universities and work closely with the police, town and parish councils and the voluntary sector.

*Cornwall - Council and Democracy: http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/

We have 123 elected councillors and as Cornwall is such a large rural area, our councillors and the towns and parishes they represent are grouped into 19 community networks, which are the focus of our local community work.

Industry
Government & Public Safety
Company Size
1,001-5,000 employees
Headquarters
Truro, GB
Year Founded
Unknown
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