Integrated Commissioning Manager

For an informal conversation about this role please contact Rachel Roberts to arrange a suitable date and time to discuss on rachel.roberts2@hullcc.gov.uk. Interviews are to be held on Friday 2nd October 2026 at Fenchurch Family Hub.

Are you a strategic thinker with a passion for improving lives through effective commissioning? Do you thrive on partnership working, influencing change and delivering high-quality services that make a genuine difference to the lives of children and young people? We are looking for an exceptional Integrated Commissioning Manager to join our ambitious and forward-thinking team in Children’s Services. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in designing, commissioning and transforming services that improve outcomes for children, young people and families across our area.

Hull is a city on the rise: ambitious, affordable and proud of its strong sense of community. Situated on the banks of the Humber with easy access to stunning coastline and countryside, Hull offers an excellent quality of life, affordable housing, outstanding cultural and leisure opportunities, and a commitment to making a real difference for children and families. This is an exciting time to join Hull Children's Services, which has recently achieved its strongest ever Ofsted outcome through the ILACS framework, being rated Good overall with Outstanding features. Inspectors recognised sustained improvement, strong leadership, effective partnership working and exceptional support for care leavers, highlighting services that are helping children and families to thrive.

Joining Hull means becoming part of a high-performing, values-driven organisation that is ambitious for its workforce and determined to deliver the very best outcomes for children and young people. Working at the heart of the service, you will bring together organisations, stakeholders and communities to ensure services are responsive, effective and deliver real value. If you are motivated by making a lasting impact and have the skills to turn strategy into action, we would love to hear from you.

About the Role

As Integrated Commissioning Manager, you will lead the development and delivery of commissioning strategies, programmes and projects across a range of service areas. You will work collaboratively with partners across other key directorates in the council and health, education, voluntary and community sectors to ensure services are evidence-based, outcome-focused and meet the needs of local people.

You will:

• Lead strategic commissioning activity from needs assessment through to service design, procurement, implementation and review.
• Develop strong partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to influence and drive service improvement.
• Use data, intelligence and insight to identify needs, evaluate impact and inform decision-making.
• Manage a range of diverse projects and programmes that deliver measurable outcomes.
• Ensure commissioned services achieve quality, value for money and continuous improvement.
• Support the development of innovative approaches that improve outcomes and maximise resources.
• Provide expert advice and leadership on commissioning, contract management and service development.

About You

We are seeking a motivated and experienced commissioning professional who can demonstrate:

Essential Experience

• Significant experience of commissioning, service development or transformation within public sector, health, social care or related services.
• Experience of working across organisational boundaries and developing effective partnerships.
• Strong project and programme management skills.
• Experience of analysing data and translating insights into service improvements.
• Knowledge of procurement, contract management and performance frameworks.
• Experience of managing competing priorities in a complex and changing environment.

Essential Skills

• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to translate vision into delivery.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Effective stakeholder engagement and relationship management.
• Leadership skills that inspire collaboration and innovation.
• Ability to manage change and drive continuous improvement.

We Would Particularly Welcome Applications From People Who Have:

• Experience of children's services, safeguarding, early help, prevention, education, housing, public health or health commissioning.
• A track record of leading successful commissioning programmes.
• Experience of integrated working across local authority, NHS and voluntary sector partners.
• Knowledge of outcomes-based commissioning and co-production approaches.

Why Join Us?

This is more than a commissioning role. It is an opportunity to influence how services are designed and delivered, helping to create better futures for children, young people and families.

We offer:

• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements, with min 3 days per week office based.
• A supportive and collaborative working environment.
• Opportunities for professional development and progression.
• The chance to work alongside committed partners who are passionate about improving outcomes.
• A role where your ideas, expertise and leadership can make a real difference.

Ready to Make an Impact?

If you have the vision, experience and drive to lead integrated commissioning that delivers meaningful change, we would love to hear from you. Apply today and help us shape services that improve lives and deliver better outcomes for Hull’s children and young people.

ROLE AND PURPOSE

To lead the Children, Young People and Families Commissioning Team and be responsible for: Children Young People and Families service (CYPFS) vision is to make Hull an inspiring City – safe and healthy to learn, play, work and live in. We want all children, young people and their families to make healthy lifestyle choices, be safe from harm and have the confidence to be ambitious and to achieve their aspirations.

Oversight of end-to-end strategic delivery of the commissioning cycle through, analysing, planning, specifying, procuring, brokering and ongoing review and contract compliance. Ensuring contracts are effectively awarded, monitored and reviewed, and provide input concerning future funding/provision decisions. Develop and manage a thriving provider market ensuring quality, safety and cost effectiveness. Takes an active leadership role, providing innovation and flexibility across joint commissioning activity with partners. Taking an active lead on the more complex and politically sensitive commissioning and service improvement activity programmes/projects across Children Young People and Families Service. Takes a lead role in the wider leadership team and supports the successful delivery of key initiatives, partnership and new ways of working e.g. integrated commissioning, solution focused conversations, agreeing goals, early help and prevention. Promotes and establishes partnerships with internal and external agencies, stakeholders and partners that are coordinated, integrated and trusted by people who use services. Works with co-production principles to secure people’s participation and engagement in planning activities associated with achieving solutions/goals. Providing senior programme leadership across a portfolio of commissioning and transformation projects and lead cross-functional projects to ensure the delivery of improved service outcomes, value for money and financial savings. Ensuring that commissioning and transformation activity reflects the Council’s statutory obligations defined nationally as well as providing solutions which meet the needs of children, young people and families in Hull.

If the postholder requires a Standard or Enhanced DBS disclosure the candidate is required to declare full details of everything on their criminal record unless the conviction/s and/or caution/s are considered “protected” in line with filtering rules for DBS checks.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

1. Strategy - Positively and effectively lead, shape and influence the service to contribute to attaining the vision and goals of Children, Young People and Family Services and the associated Integrated Commissioning Strategy, in particular the ambition to keep children and young people safe and engaged in learning. Brings together colleagues from within and beyond the Council, through pro-active liaison with key partners, to drive the development and delivery of integrated strategic commissioning plans which improve outcomes for children, young people and families. Ensures commissioning supports the re-design and shaping of services; lead the development of new initiatives promotes working in partnership with health partners in the delivery of integrated services and service models. Leads and coordinates with colleagues the commissioning arrangements in relation to children, young people and family service, and others as per the contract register. Develop the role of the service to facilitate the Directorates multi-agency approach centred around the needs of children and young people throughout the city, especially those who are most vulnerable. To ensure that provision is commissioned which reflects service needs. Work collaboratively with corporate colleagues in Corporate Procurement, Human Resources, Legal and Finance to thoroughly test and consider the workforce, legal and budgetary implications of commissioning activities and strategies.
2. Customer Focus - Develops and sustain strong working relationships with colleagues across the Local Authority, CCG (or equivalent), safeguarding, early help, locality teams and education services etc. to ensure services are meeting excellent quality and performance standards. Uphold a culture that consistently meets the needs of children, young people and their families, communities, the organisation and partners. Work collaboratively through co-production with children, young people and families in ensuring their input into the design, development and delivery of services that will ensure services are needs led and delivered in a timely way. Use co-production approaches as a cornerstone to commissioning activity. Actively listens and acts on customer feedback through the safeguarding and children's services complaints and compliments to ensure the service area is constantly striving for improvement. Drives the production of high quality specifications to maximise their best value potential and ensures compliance with Contract Procedure Rules (CPR's) and EU/UK legislation.
3. Performance Management - Promotes continuous customer and value focus and improvement across the children, young people and families service, exemplifying an effective performance improvement framework for staff in order to deliver all projects to a high standard and on time. Demonstrates high engagement of staff and effectively manages the available resources, to ensure delivery of successful projects. Monitors and evaluates performance of staff and external providers. Manages and monitors the allocation of budget and ensures resources are effectively planned, managed and controlled according to the needs of the service. Achieve financial savings through procurement activities in line with required corporate targets and carries out regular benchmarking exercises on relevant contracts to ensure that value (including social value) is in line with local, regional and national levels. Actively manages performance through developing and monitoring specific key performance indicators and management information. Ensures the automated provision of periodic reports on key performance targets, supplier performance through supporting the implementation of wider performance framework in the directorate. Actively contributes towards compilation, delivery and analysis of performance information across the directorate. To take the lead in drafting, preparing and reviewing as necessary, complex specifications for clients relevant to the development of strategy or major projects. Ensures that services are appropriately prioritised, planned, delivered, monitored and evaluated in accordance with the requirements set by the range of inspection bodies e.g. Ofsted, CQC, particularly in relation to the requirements of the SEND & ILACS Inspection Frameworks. Has active oversight of the market and is able to identify where market failure might be an issue and respond appropriately to ensure stabilisation of the market.
4. Leadership - Deputises for/represents the Strategic Lead for Improvement, Performance and Quality and Corporate Director as required. Supports the promotion of work for Children, Young People and Families in the city in the following context: i) with elected members ii) within the overall Council and across the partnership iii) regionally and nationally. Lead by example, fostering effective joint working across the partnership bringing together colleagues from within and beyond the Council, through pro-active liaison with key partners via forums to drive development of new initiatives and approaches that promote integrated commissioning to deliver better outcomes. Works with CCG (or equivalent), Public Health, Adult Social Care, Housing colleagues and other partners such as the OPCC to further develop and implement the CYPF Integrated Commissioning Strategy, identifying key priorities, development of new and revised service models and ensuring exit strategies are in place for decommissioning/change management where appropriate. Provide leadership, direction, supervision and coaching to immediate line reports creating an organisational climate of shared accountabilities, learning and continuous improvement. Manage and drive the delivery of the CYPFS commissioning team, providing key support on legislation, leading project development and providing a framework to deliver complex commissioning activity within the One Hull Commissioning model. Including approaches to work alongside Public Health, Adult Social Care, Housing and the Humber Coast & Vale Integrated Care System. Provides strategic context to commissioning activity and communicates the operational value and impact of commissioning activity. Feeds information into project boards, produces formal reports to update on commissioning activity to the senior leadership team. The role will include representing the CYPFS commissioning function on behalf of the directorate at key multi-agency integrated commissioning forums/boards and wider meetings. Including but not limited to Integrated Commissioning Officers Board, Joint Commissioning Forum, Corporate Commissioning Steering Group and standing member of CYPFS Senior Leadership team.
5. Statutory Obligations - To ensure all procurement activity undertaken by the Authority is compliant with relevant UK legislation such as the Children's Act 1989, ILACS Framework, SEND Framework, Housing Legislation etc. Ensure that service based statutory obligations are consistently met.
6. Professional/technical expertise - Maintain high levels of expertise in area, ensuring that services delivered are consistent with best practice, national and local guidance and follow agreed policy and practice. Assess and report risks, identify benefits for change and resource implications offer advice and guidance to staff. Access JSNA, technical performance information and regional health and social care efficiency and cost benchmarking tools that influence commissioning. Knowledge and application of contracting and procurement arrangements including suspension of services and de-commissioning procedures. Make judgements about alerting/suspending services that better protect customers and which enable providers to effectively resolve the issues.

Compensation Grades: GRADES 12.

Pay Ranges: £55,058.00 - £59,021.00

Job Classifications: 3- Not Politically Restricted - Designated As Not Politically Sensitive (Politically Restricted Posts), 5- Enhanced (Child Workforce) - (Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)), Casual - (Travel Allowance Policy), No - (Childcare Disqualification Requirement), No - (Statutory Post)

Benefits of Working of Hull City Council:

• A competitive salary
• An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Initially 23 days annual leave depending on length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period
• Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods
• Supportive and forward-thinking culture
• Great career development opportunities

Please ensure that you complete and submit your application by midnight prior to the closing date. Please ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria against the person specification as listed in the job description. We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply. We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage. We reserve the right to amend the dates associated with this advert, which may include closing the advert early where required. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment. Online searches, including social media, may be carried out as part of the recruitment process.