Brokerage Officer

An exciting opportunity has arisen within our Commercial Team for a Brokerage Officer to join us! Our team is responsible for sourcing care packages and placements for vulnerable adults and children. As a Brokerage Officer, you will source best value and customer-centred services by running tenders, liaising with providers and considering options and resources creatively. You will collaborate closely with colleagues to ensure that commercial activity meets their needs and corporate requirements.

We are looking for a candidate who thrives in a high-pressure environment and has the ability to prioritise and co-ordinate workloads. Proven use of IT, such as Microsoft Office, is essential.

Specific duties and responsibilities include:

• Undertake sourcing for goods and/or services, running RFQs, using dynamic purchasing systems and existing frameworks, in accordance with Council, national and EU procurement requirements with limited support or guidance.
• Draw on knowledge and/or experience to consider options and resources creatively in order to ensure best value and customer-centred packages of care are successfully sourced.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with commissioners and social care operational teams to ensure that brokerage activity meets their needs and corporate requirements.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with service providers and care managers to ensure the service procurement is as swift and seamless as possible, providing information required and aiming to resolve any delays.
• Understand the local market and have a good knowledge of services commissioned under contracts and framework agreements.
• Undertake discussions with providers around negotiations with service providers utilising relevant tools and data in order to raise effective challenges.
• Using knowledge of relevant policies, processes and legislation, interpret requests from other professionals (via email, telephone and face-to-face contacts), undertake required research and provide outcome-focused responses.
• Be responsible for effective use of Liquid Logic and other systems to ensure that service package data is accurately recorded in accordance with agreed processes and ensure that all confidential data is stored securely in line with agreed processes.
• Issue and update paperwork/contracts/systems in an accurate and timely way, using relevant applications (e.g. Excel, Liquid Logic etc.).
• Ensure full awareness of the provider alert list to ensure providers are only contacted as appropriate.
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of services available within local communities including provider agencies and universal services and contribute to updating and maintaining a knowledge database for the wider service.
• Prioritise and manage own workload while managing a busy and varied workload from providers, colleagues and other professionals.
• Have a clear understanding of departmental priorities and work as part of the wider team to deliver on Key Performance Indicators to ensure good performance and high-quality service.
• Using systems, data, analysis and local knowledge, predict areas of likely shortfalls in service capacity or resources and support brokerage and commissioning colleagues in developing and delivering plans to meet this shortfall.

Person Specification

Specific qualifications, knowledge, and skills required for this role:

• Educated to NVQ level 4 in a relevant profession or equivalent experience of working in a relevant field (e.g., brokerage, procurement, buying, social care provision, customer-focused environment).
• Experience of working within a high-pressure environment with a requirement to prioritise and co-ordinate workloads, and work on own initiative.
• Experience of working in an environment with a requirement to apply policies and processes to decision making and maintain data in line with requirements.
• ITQ 2 or equivalent ICT skills and abilities including use of Microsoft applications and specialist systems to record and analyse data.
• Ability to learn, understand and apply new approaches and techniques and deal with conflicting priorities.
• Excellent team-working skills with proven ability of working effectively in teams and developing partnerships.
• Ability to understand key data and information to use to inform negotiations and commercial awareness to understand the impact of negotiations.
• Ability to challenge constructively and in a collaborative and respectful way to ensure successful outcomes.
• Proven communication skills and ability to build effective relationships with colleagues, partners and/or providers, tailoring the information to the audience.
• Ability to manage challenging interactions calmly and collaboratively.
• Evidence of strong numeracy skills, with the ability to collate data, undertake analysis, identify issues, provide insights, and offer potential solutions.
• Ability to absorb and understand large volumes of information, distil this information and present clear challenge and advice to colleagues.
• A good understanding of the principles of data quality, data protection and information sharing and how to apply them.
• Understanding of the role brokerage plays in the wider commissioning strategy and how their role fits in.
• Ability to identify opportunities within own area of work to develop the service.
• A can-do attitude to work, with a continuous improvement attitude and a desire to improve public services.

Your contributions in this role will help shape a brighter future for our community, apply today.