The Opportunity
Salary: NJC Grade 10 £39,862 to £42,839 per annum
Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract until March 2028
Working Pattern: 37 hours per week, full time
Location: Your current work base is Arun Civic Centre, Littlehampton. The use of Arun Civic Centre is currently initially expected to be in place for three years to April 2029. The substantive hub for your service is Worthing and therefore, there is the potential for services to relocate to Worthing in the future.
Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you therefore discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.
Do you have experience in brokerage and contract management?
Are you passionate about making a difference to children and young people?
You will be based in our Commissioning Team as a Senior Placement and Commissioning Officer, delivering a customer focused service. You will contribute to the Directorates objectives of securing best value through the effective commissioning and contract management of therapeutic and other services to support children in education. This is a new and unique and exciting opportunity to play a central role in shaping the delivery of the SEND reform programme in West Sussex.
As we deliver our ambitious SEND Reform and Transformation Programme, we are redesigning how support is provided to children, young people and families through our developing Experts at Hand model. This approach brings together expertise from across education, health and care to create a system that is proactive, preventative and rooted in strong relationships with children, young people and their families.
As part of a small commissioning team this role will also work across other areas, supporting with contract related activity (including provision of urgent and crisis support packages) and working with community and voluntary sector providers. We have a number of exciting projects, so you will have a varied and exciting workload.
Effective communication is key to developing good working relationships with providers, key stakeholders, and colleagues to provide specialist advice and information. You will use your analytical skills to interpret, manipulate and evidence varied and complex data information relating to services and suppliers, whilst having excellent communication skills to be able to negotiate effectively and have the confidence to challenge others.
Key Skills:
- Ability to present information clearly, and in ways that promote understanding. Including the ability to persuade and successfully convince others of the need to take a specific course of action.
- Good analytical skills to interpret complex tender/financial information, with the ability to organise, plan and meet set targets
- Good communication and negotiation skills to work with partners including the ability to negotiate solutions across wide areas of the business to achieve best outcomes and value for money.
- Solution focussed with the ability to analyse complex situations and provide forward thinking strategies and solutions that consider a variety of possible solutions and balance risks/resources and desired outcomes
- Ability to work flexibly as required across different areas within the Children’s Services Commissioning Team, embrace change and have the flexibility to respond to the needs of the service.
About Us
At West Sussex County Council, we are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We are committed to improving our services for the children and families in West Sussex that we support and care for.
Children, Young People & Learning are focused on delivering a significant shift to prevention of needing to bring children into care where it is safe not to. Closer working with partners, and a focused commissioning strategy will achieve better outcomes for our children and young people.
We don’t underestimate the work that still needs to be undertaken and the challenge ahead, we are confident in our approach and excited about the changes occurring. That’s why we need professionals, like you, who really want to be part of the positive change that is happening for children. Be part of an ambitious improvement plan and make a significant difference to children and families in West Sussex. There has never been a more rewarding time to join.
Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance, and are rewarded for the work they do.
Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:
For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further information
The reference number for this role is CAFHE06513.
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Charlotte Brackley (Team Manager) on [email protected] . For issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected].
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter.
In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) 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.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to three years referencing, and an occupational health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact [email protected] .
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
