Commissioning Officer

About the role

We have exciting opportunities for two Commissioning Officers to play a leading role within North Northamptonshire’s Public Health Commissioning Team. We have two roles: one permanent and the other a two-year fixed-term role, with potential to extend.

This role will be central to shaping the future Public Health services, ensuring services are joined-up, accessible, and responsive to the needs of the people of North Northamptonshire. You will support the commissioning of high-quality, evidence-based, and cost-effective services across Public Health, including:

• Substance Use

• Sexual Health

• Healthy Lifestyles and Health Improvement

• Children’s Services

You will bring knowledge of commissioning, co-production, and monitoring and evaluation, alongside skills in community engagement, partnership working, and stakeholder management. Working collaboratively with providers, colleagues, and partners, you will oversee provider performance, manage tenders and grants, and ensure services deliver real impact for local communities.

This is a hybrid role, with a base at Sheerness House in Kettering. The successful applicant will need to travel across North Northamptonshire, as and when required.

Interviews are currently expected to be held on Tuesday 9th December.

What will you be doing?

Principal responsibilities

1. Under the guidance of the Commissioning Manager complete project activities and build relationships with other partners/organisations to support the development and delivery of the actions within adopted Commissioning strategies to ensure the best possible outcomes for vulnerable groups within available resources, compliant with legislation and in line with national and local strategic direction.
2. To collate and analyse information on contract performance, management and costs. Produce reports to enable the monitoring of performance against individual contracts and key performance indicators.
3. To provide high quality coordination of and support to routine commissioning business processes, including performance and quality monitoring, and liaising with council colleagues on financial, legal and procurement tasks.
4. To develop and implement engagement structures and activities to harness the views of service users, families and carers, local communities, service providers and other key stakeholders to ensure the Council support the identification of service gaps and unmet needs to inform the decommissioning, redesign and commissioning of services to meet the health and wellbeing needs of the population.
5. To complete the writing of specifications and tender documentation and help to evaluate tender documentation and issue new contracts alongside the Commissioning Manager to procure new and revised public health services.
6. To review intelligence and engage with local communities and providers to understand the needs within the marketplace to align the market in delivering good quality, cost effective services that meet the identified needs of service users and carers.
7. To provide advice and guidance about commissioned services to operational staff, senior managers and elected members, including the writing of analytical reports and presentation of data as required.
8. To undertake market and supplier research, review legislation and policy guidance to identify opportunities for improved value for the council and identify process efficiencies and/or cashable savings.
9. To research and review legislation, policy guidance, new initiatives and best practice that improves health and well-being to ensure the Commissioning Manager, the Council and local providers are kept informed of commissioning policy and initiatives.

About you

Education, Qualifications and Training

• Degree or equivalent, preferably in policy, research or health related areas.

Experience and Knowledge

Essential Criteria

• Experience of processes for the commissioning, contracting & monitoring of public services of similar business processes.
• Experience of working in social research and/or consultation.
• Experience of project management & business management, including coordination, planning, information collation, analysing data to produce reports, strategies and briefing papers.
• Good level of knowledge of Public Health, health and health improvement.
• Understanding of the importance of consultation and engagement and what are the most effective ways to consult with people so they are involved in the decision making process.
• Good level of knowledge of Social and Health care systems in England and Wales.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience in Public Health, health and health improvement.

Ability and Skills

• Computer literacy to intermediate level in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Equal Opportunities

• Ability to demonstrate awareness/understanding of equal opportunities and other people’s behaviour, physical, social and welfare needs.

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)