Associate Director of Integrated Commissioning & Strategic Programme Lead

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.

Working collaboratively with senior leaders and system partners, the postholder leads the development of a robust, evidence\-based commissioning cycle. They champion integration, innovation, and coproduction, ensuring that service users, carers, and communities meaningfully shape commissioning intentions and service redesign. The role also provides expert oversight of market management, performance frameworks, and contractual arrangements to support sustainable and resilient provider markets based commissioning cycle. They champion integration, innovation, and co production, ensuring that service users, carers, and communities meaningfully shape commissioning intentions and service redesign. The role also provides expert oversight of market management, performance frameworks, and contractual arrangements to support sustainable and resilient provider markets.

As a key system leader, the Associate Director of Integrated Commissioning influences strategic direction and oversees major transformation programmes across local authorities, the NHS, voluntary and community sectors, and other partners. Leading multi disciplinary teams and substantial budgets, the postholder ensures compliance with statutory duties and national policy, while driving the development of seamless, equitable services that support people to live healthier, more independent lives.

The postholder will lead an allocated commissioning programme, assigned by the Director of Integrated Commissioning, with the expectation that portfolio areas may be amended over time in line with organisational priorities.

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

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