Senior Commissioning Officer – Lifelong Learning & Inclusion in Walsall

Walsall Council is looking for two experienced commissioning professionals to design and improve services for children and young people, working across the Council and with partners to deliver high-quality, inclusive services that improve outcomes for children and young people and their families.

The Roles

• Senior Commissioning Officer - Lifelong Learning and Inclusion: This role leads commissioning activity across education-related provision and inclusive pathways, including:
• Alternative Provision (AP).
• Independent day and residential school placements.
• Transitions and Preparing for Adulthood.
• Sufficiency, market development and cost control across education and learning provision.
• Senior Commissioning Officer - Early Intervention and Communities: This role focuses on commissioning across prevention and community-based pathways, including:
• Family Hubs and early intervention systems.
• Holiday Activities and Food (HAF), including Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) inclusion and discretionary access.
• Development of Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) provision.
• Wider prevention, youth, early years and parenting support.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead service reviews and commissioning activity across the commissioning cycle, ensuring services are outcome-focused, and deliver value for money.
• Shape and develop provider markets to improve quality and local sufficiency.
• Co-create joint commissioning strategies with education, health and social care partners.
• Champion co-production so lived experience informs service design.
• Use data and insight to inform decision-making.
• Monitor provider performance, quality and risk across our commissioned services.
• Prepare reports, business cases and recommendations for senior leaders and elected Members.
• Represent the Council at local, regional and national forums.
• Deputise for Commissioning Managers where required.

About You

You are a confident system leader with experience of commissioning in complex environments, shaping markets, working across organisational boundaries, and turning strategy into delivery. You are comfortable influencing senior stakeholders, using data to inform and drive decisions, and confident holding providers to account while building strong relationships. Most importantly, if you are motivated by improving outcomes for children, young people and families, then this is the role for you.

Why Work for Walsall?

Join a supportive and ambitious team with a clear focus on improving outcomes for children and young people. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to influence system-wide change, lead high-profile programmes of work, and further develop your career within a forward-thinking local authority.

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment.

Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

For this role, the successful candidates must undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check.

Important note: When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification.

Walsall Council’s Children’s Services are the only Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ local authority in the Black Country.