The Associate Director of Integrated Commissioning provides strategic leadership across health, social care, and wider public services to design, develop, and deliver high-quality, person-centred commissioning arrangements. The role drives a unified, outcome focused approach to planning and purchasing services, ensuring commissioning activity aligns with population needs, supports prevention, and delivers value for money quality, person centred commissioning arrangements. The role drives a unified, outcome centred commissioning arrangements. The role drives a unified, outcome-focused approach to planning and purchasing focused approach to planning and purchasing services, ensuring commissioning activity aligns with population needs, supports prevention, and delivers value for money.
Key Duties & Responsibilities:
Portfolio responsibilities may vary and adapt over time to respond to the needs and strategic priorities of the ICB/ICS. However, the postholder is expected to fulfil the following key functions:
Strategic Leadership & System Integration
Commissioning Cycle & Service Redesign
Market Shaping & Provider Development
Procurement & Commercial
Population Health, Inequalities & Prevention
Co-production & Engagement-Production & Engagement
Partnership & System Working
Data, Analytics & Insights
Digital, Technology & Innovation
Leadership of Commissioning Function
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside serves a population of over 2.7 million people across nine localities, working with 16 NHS provider organisations, 51 Primary Care Networks, local authorities and voluntary sector partners.
We are proud of Cheshire and Merseyside's record of collaborative working and there are countless examples of brilliant care, but there are also examples of variation in service which only serve to exacerbate health inequalities.
Our vision is for everyone in Cheshire and Merseyside to have a great start in life and get the support they need to stay healthy and live longer.
We will do this by working together, as equal partners, to support seamless, person-centred care and tackle health inequalities by improving the lives of the poorest fastest.
Our values are rooted in the NHS Constitution, and we strive to create a compassionate, collaborative and innovative culture where staff can thrive and make a real difference to local communities.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & System Integration
Shape and lead integrated commissioning strategies across health, social care and public health.
Drive whole system transformation programmes focused on prevention, inequalities, and improved outcomes.
Align commissioning intentions with JSNA, population health insights and system priorities.
Develop shared outcome frameworks with system partners.
Champion integrated pathways across primary care, community, acute, mental health and social care.
Lead strategic options appraisals and commissioning roadmaps.
Commissioning Cycle & Service Redesign
Lead the full commissioning cycle: needs analysis, service design, procurement, contracting and evaluation.
Drive service redesign to improve quality, flow, outcomes, and productivity.
Embed evidence-based practice, best practice and lived experience insight into commissioning based practice, best practice and lived experience insight into commissioning.
Commission integrated pathways across prevention, community support, complex needs and specialist services.
Lead pilots and scale up successful innovations.
Ensure impact assessments inform commissioning decisions.
Market Shaping & Provider Development
Shape a sustainable provider market across NHS, local authority, independent and VCSE sectors.
Publish and update market position statements and provider engagement strategies.
Develop outcome-based commissioning models and alliances where appropriate based commissioning models and alliances where appropriate.
Lead complex contract negotiations and provider engagement on improvement and innovation.
Oversee provider capability building in quality, digital and workforce development.
Manage provider risk, market fragility and contingency planning.
Procurement & Commercial
Lead strategic commissioning procurements aligned to service redesign goals.
Develop commercial strategies including outcome-based specifications and payment models based specifications and payment models.
Engage the market in pre-procurement dialogue and systemwide commercial opportunities procurement dialogue and system wide commercial opportunities.
Lead evaluation processes and ensure high-quality specifications reflect user needs quality specifications reflect user needs.
Population Health, Inequalities & Prevention
Use PHM tools and segmentation to inform commissioning priorities.
Commission targeted interventions addressing inequalities and access barriers.
Embed prevention, early help and strengths-based models within commissioned pathways based models within commissioned pathways.
Ensure services are culturally competent and inclusive.
Co-production & Engagement Production & Engagement
Lead co production with people with lived experience to shape commissioning intentions.
Establish and maintain panels, forums and networks that inform service design.
Work closely with VCSE partners to embed community insight and co delivery models.
Provide visible leadership in public engagement on service change.
Partnership & System Working
Build strong system partnerships across local authorities, ICB, providers and VCSE.
Represent commissioning at system boards, programme groups and partnership forums.
Support joint commissioning approaches and shared investment models.
Resolve cross organisational commissioning challenges and unblock system barriers organisational commissioning challenges and unblock system barriers.
Data, Analytics & Insights
Use data, evidence and PHM analytics to shape commissioning priorities and service specifications.
Use demand modelling, forecasting and outcome metrics to inform commissioning decisions.
Apply evaluation methodologies to assess service impact and inform improvement.
Digital, Technology & Innovation
Promote the role of digital tools, assisted technology and data enabled care models within commissioned services enabled care models within commissioned services.
Evaluate new technologies and innovations for system wide adoption.
Ensure digital inclusion is embedded within commissioning frameworks.
Leadership of Commissioning Function
Provide professional leadership for the commissioning discipline.
Build capability within commissioning teams, ensuring modern commissioning practice.
Champion collaborative, inclusive, system focused working cultures across commissioning focused working cultures across commissioning
Operational Responsibility
Responsible for strategic and operational management for a major area of activity, for example, an operational or geographical division or specialist management unit
Responsible for compiling business plan, developing strategy for area of activity, ensuring implementation and that performance targets, strategic objectives are met; contributes to corporate policies and strategy.
Responsible for staff and budgetary management.
Financial and Physical Resources Responsibility
Budget holder; budget setting for several services
Holds budgets for a major area of activity, monitors budgets, responsible for overall budget setting for major area of activity
Human Resources Responsibility
Line manager for single function, department / several departments
Information Management Responsibility
Regularly use software to develop reports; responsible for 1 or more information systems
Updates information system/ uses software to develop performance management reports, responsible for performance management or similar systems
Planning and Organisation Responsibility
Formulate long term strategic plans, involving uncertainly, impact on organisation
Develops business plan, strategy for area of activity, makes major contribution to corporate policies and strategy
Policy and Service Development Responsibility
Responsible for policy implementation and development for a directorate or equivalent
Leads the development of policies and procedures for a major area of activity, ensures compliance with the corporate policies
Research and Development Responsibility
Occasionally/ regularly undertake R & D
Undertakes surveys as necessary to own work
Freedom to Act
Works within general policies, need to establish interpretation/required to interpret overall health service policy and strategy
Lead manager for a major area of activity
Analytical and Judgemental Responsibility
Highly complex facts or situations requiring analysis, interpretation, comparison of a range of options.
Analyses performance of area of activity in relation to performance targets, strategic objectives; develop strategies, business plans, advice in areas where expert opinion differs
Communication Responsibility
Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information; barriers to understanding; present complex, sensitive or contentious information to large groups/ communicate in hostile, antagonistic atmosphere
Communicates with internal staff and external agencies to ensure compliance with performance targets, strategic objectives. Involves negotiation and diplomacy; undertakes presentations to staff groups and the public/ conveys highly contentious information in atmosphere of proposed major chang
This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties, which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with their manager. This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements, and any such changes will be discussed with the post holder.
This job description is intended as an outline indicator of general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation. It will be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder on an annual basis.
