Commissioning Lead

As a Commissioning Lead, you will be part of a team that focusses on ensuring that social care solutions are available across the county for residents of West Sussex focused on sustainable market development. You will take the lead on commissioning activity focused on our life-long and working age mental health work streams. This will include assessing complex data and information, problem solving and developing innovative approaches to helping manage increasing demand. The role will focus on enabling the Council to implement its strategic intentions and meeting current need and future demand, and ensuring West Sussex has a care market providing a range of high-quality services and solutions for the residents of West Sussex. The key responsibility of this role will be to lead on key commissioned services primarily focused on care and support, advocacy and direct payments with the aim of improving quality and outcomes for individuals, achieving value for money and ensuring the best use of resources. You will build positive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and partners to ensure we have the right information and knowledge to support development of services. You will lead on the identification of needs and gaps in local provision, identify options for, and support the implementation of solutions, and review outcomes and performance. The role will involve communication and presenting to a range of people and organisations and producing reports and information to managers to support decision making. It will also involve long periods of mental demands, a focus on projects and programmes with a long timeframe and a requirement to deliver to time and budget., For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Lucie Venables (Head of Commissioning Lifelong & Mental Health services) at . For issues or queries regarding your application please contact . To apply, upload your CV and complete the application explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again. For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our page. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to a DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check. West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged. For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran's Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our page. Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you! Available documents

Key Skills:

• Ability to anticipate problems and resolve complex issues independently, planning solutions and making sound pragmatic decisions which will have a direct impact on the business / service, and meet deadlines and objectives.
• Ability to forward plan over the long term, making effective judgements in order to continuously develop and review the effectiveness of services and solutions.
• Developed communication and interpersonal skills in order to work within a relationship-based approach with independent providers, Adult Services teams, external partners and key stakeholders. Including the ability to influence, advise, and explain technical procurement, contract, commissioning and financial information to guide managers to make sound decisions which have a significant impact.
• Ability to apply a range of commissioning and procurement techniques to plan and deliver a range of commissioning programmes across different services
• Advanced literary and analytical skills in order to undertake research and analysis and interpret very varied and complex information and to develop practical, effective solutions from the information. Strong numeracy and IT skills in order to interpret, report and advise on complex commissioning, contract and financial information and an understanding of finance and legal issues.
• Effective people management skills including the ability to provide direction and support individuals and teams including those working across different disciplines or locations., Degree or equivalent qualification or experience in commissioning / procurement / contract management and demonstrating that level of applied knowledge.
• Relevant advanced theoretical or organisational knowledge of systems, procedures and policies associated with operating in a demanding procurement, commissioning and contract management service.
• Experience working in contract management, commissioning, or procurement within the adult social care sector, with knowledge of appropriate legislation including the Health and Care Act 2022.
• Experience of leading a range of projects and programmes to meet strategic objectives.
• Experience of applying project management techniques to deliver programmes on time and within budget.
You will need to be able to travel independently across the county to meet with providers and partners as required. What you'll need to succeed What you'll need to succeed
• Be able to deliver effectively across each stage of the commissioning cycle, including creating and implementing a range of commissioning techniques to successfully achieve objectives.
• Excel at working collaboratively, building effective relationships with a range of stakeholders to deliver ambitious outcomes for West Sussex customers.
• Demonstrate effective communication skills, including the ability to challenge and have difficult conversations.
• Have a strong sense of initiative, with the ability to multi-task and prioritise your work and that of your team.
• Be able to motivate and inspire others to deliver effective, high-quality services that offer value for money to the Council, and work strategically with colleagues across other parts of the commissioning team and wider Council colleagues to develop outcome-based contract performance measures to evidence delivery, performance and outcomes.
• Have a good understanding of the adult social care market, including associated legislation (such as the Care Act 2014 and the Health and Care Act 2022).
  
  If you are thinking why join West Sussex, we are happy to confirm there is a supportive culture that is second to none. Employees are genuinely valued, respected and there is an emphasis on work life balance. Hybrid working helps us deliver a great service and our employees enjoy the flexibility this gives to fit around their home lives. For this role, hybrid working currently means the team work flexibly in offices across the county as required, and work from home for the rest of the week.
This role sits within the Long-life Services and Mental Health Commissioning Team, part of West Sussex County Council's Adults Social Care Directorate however the role will also work across all customer groups for some projects. The post will work with a range of resident representatives, service providers, partners, and internal teams including children's social care to commission services that support people with care needs to live the lives they want to lead. The co-produced Adult Social Care Strategy 'A Life You Want to Lead' refreshed in 2026 focuses on delivering a person-centred and strengths-based approach to empower people to lead a fulfilling and active life. This role is pivotal in ensuring that the 'Life you Want to Lead' strategy and intentions is based on a broad and deep understanding of current and future needs and demand, is aligned with council priorities and is built around the agenda for close partnership working, particularly with the NHS, the community and the voluntary sector. Commissioning of high quality and sustainable services is a strategic priority for adult social care, and you will be an important part of this key activity. You will support the senior commissioning team to drive a culture change within the sector. This is to ensure that the right services and solutions are available to people across the county to meet the care and support needs of our residents. Within the role, you will build positive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and partners, working to improve quality and outcomes for individuals, achieve value for money and ensure the best use of resources. This is an exciting opportunity for the right individual to be part of a system change and shape the future. But don't just take our word for it here's what one of our newest staff members says about working in the team: "WSCC LLS Commissioning Team has made me feel very welcome. There is a wealth of experience, a culture of learning and a general feeling of collaboration among this group of people. People's ideas are valued and there are ample opportunities to get involved in different strands of work. I feel excited about our workplan for the coming year which includes focus on co-production with customers, expanding our providers market and being creative and strength based"