Commissioning Officer

Salary
PO2 £39,862 \- £42,839

Contractual hours
37

Basis
Full Time

Job category/type
Leeds City Council

Date posted
07/07/2026

Job reference
REQ008230

Job title: Commissioning Officer Salary: PO2 £39,862 \- £42,839 Hours: 37 hours Contract: Temporary (March 2028\) Location: Merrion House, Leeds The Commissioning and Market Management Service in the Children and Families Directorate is seeking applications for the post of Commissioning Officer (PO2\).You’ll will be part of our Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ rated Children and Families service and employed by Leeds City Council where we have a culture of excellence and are continually striving to drive up standards.

It’s not a traditional transactional commissioning role, it is a practice based, child focused, transformational commissioning role that delivers outstanding outcomes for children, cost improvement and value for money using innovative approaches and agile responses in a challenging external market.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions. About you

As a Commissioning Officer, you will bring to the role:

• Experience in commissioning and/or project management and/or front line working with children and families with transferable skills.


• Flexibility to contribute to all aspects of commissioning, contract management and quality assurance across the Children and Families Directorate.


• A passion for learning with the ability to challenge and drive change.


• A restorative mind\-set, focussed on improving outcomes for children and young people.


• The ability to use own initiative and take ownership of work programme.

About the roleThis is an exciting opportunity to join the Children and Families Commissioning \& Market Management Service. The service has a critical role as a core function in the directorate and with its partners to deliver priorities in the Children and Young People’s Plan and obtain the best possible outcomes for children and families.

The service covers a wide range of different commissioning areas including family support, early help, placements, SEND, regional and national adoption, youth services, learning inclusion and regional commissioning. The team is responsible for commissioning 100\+ different contracts worth approximately £20 million per year in addition to over £50 million spend on placements and SEND learning.

We ensure the voice of children and families is at the heart of what we do. We work with partners and young people to help design our services. We engage with internal services and providers to ensure there is a strong market able to deliver our services. We use a range of monitoring and contract management methods to measure performance and outcomes and drive continuous improvement. We work with partners such as the NHS to achieve the best outcomes and make the most effective use of resources, including joint commissioning. We embed safeguarding, equality and quality assurance across our commissioning activity and service delivery. We commission services based on evidence and value for money. We have a bespoke brokerage team.We are keen to recruit the right people that have the ingredients to develop into exceptional commissioners. There will be a full induction to develop people who can demonstrate the right knowledge and aptitude.

Regardless of your previous experience all successful candidates will be required to undertake continuous professional development. You will gain or strengthen best practice knowledge of various aspects of children’s service delivery, technical commissioning skills including commercial acumen and value for money techniques. As a core service in Children and Families, you will be integral to decision taking. What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays


• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions


• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements


• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities


• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

For an informal discussion regarding these posts, please contact Charlotte Davy at Charlotte.Davy@leeds.gov.uk

Apply for this job online. A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check against the Children’s or Adults’ barred list as applicable will be carried out on preferred candidates. Read our recruitment of ex\-offenders policy. We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT\+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people. This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa. If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying. Job Description Job Purpose:

Working as part of the Commissioning Service you will assist in effective delivery of commissioning and contract management outcomes, modelling values and behaviours to help us to achieve our ambition to become the best city council in the country, and our partnership aspiration to be a Child Friendly City.

Through commissioning and contract management processes you will support colleagues to deliver our collective responsibility to keep all children safe. Using the principles of project management you will undertake aspects of the commissioning programme including:

• Contributing to the Strategic Review of services


• Managing a portfolio of contracts and support colleagues in the management of complex services.


• Co\-ordinating projects within the Commissioning Manager’s portfolio


• Contributing to the procurement of services


• Using appropriate tools and practice to identify and quantify need.


• Undertaking data analysis of service performance and completion of reports which can influence decision making


• Managing relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient service delivery


• Designing and developing services to improve children’s outcomes and meet need whilst ensuring efficiency and effectiveness.


• Designing and implementing suitable mechanisms to measure impact and co\-ordinate the evaluation of contracts and the practical application of lessons learned


• Supporting the active involvement of children and young people and families in how Children and Families services are commissioned and delivered and how they contribute to the ambitions of the Council as set out in the City Plan for Leeds, ensuring that children and young people have a voice and their views are heard


• Developing and maintaining knowledge of key work programmes and service area priorities


• Developing and maintaining systems and processes such as Safeguarding, Quality Assurance, Information Governance, Performance and Risk Assessments across the team.

Special Conditions this post is subject to a higher level check with the Disclosure \& Barring Service. Please note that a criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining employment; this will depend on the circumstances and background to any offence. Responsibilities:

• Use of project management techniques to support the strategic review of services, commissioning of new services and the re\-commissioning/decommissioning of existing services as required


• To co\-ordinate joint working within the directorate, across the council and with external partners as appropriate


• To be responsible for the contract management of a portfolio of services including effective relationship management with partners, value for money and achievement of quality standards and efficiencies where required.


• To contribute to and oversee the development of processes and practices that will deliver and support key developments in the commissioning function.


• To develop a working knowledge and understanding of contracted services to inform commissioning


• Lead regular monitoring meetings associated with the portfolio of contracts and ensure that delivery is achieving expected targets and outcomes.


• To develop and manage project meetings to include key stakeholders in any commissioning outcome


• To actively facilitate children and young people’s voice in all aspects of commissioning and to contribute to the sustaining of a culture that consistently meets the needs of, and listens to, children, families and stakeholders.


• To adopt a restorative approach in your interactions with colleagues, providers, service users and stakeholders and to provide high support and high challenge to providers as part of driving continuous improvement


• To contribute to the preparation and presentation of complex information in a variety of formats to a range of audiences including preparation of reports and briefings to support effective decision making at a strategic and political level within the Council.


• To undertake effective evaluation of projects and contracts including data collection; collation and scrutiny of performance manage

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