The Role

Do you see yourself making a difference for the children and young people of Wandsworth?

Do you have experience of holding service providers to high performance standards?

Do you want to work in a team that’s supportive, open-minded, inclusive and puts children first?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

We are looking for a passionate and motivated individual to join the Children’s Commissioning Team, who will assist us to deliver the Wandsworth Children’s Service’s vision of putting children and young people’s needs and personal aspirations at the heart of everything we do when monitoring, assessing and developing support services.

About the role

You will gain experience in both supporting and challenging services to be effective, continuously improve, achieve good outcomes and value for money for children and other stakeholders. You will be a key part of the team supporting the Commissioning Lead for Children and Families and, will focus on commissioning and contract monitoring related to children who are looked after, care leavers and family safeguarding.

Ideally you will have experience and knowledge of:

• Working in a children’s social care, commissioning, or project management environment (desirable, but not essential).
• Monitoring contracts, evaluating, and ensuring service providers achieve agreed key performance goals and objectives.
• Analysing and interpreting data to ensure services achieve expected outcomes.
• Assessing and identifying needs /gaps in services to help inform commissioning plans.
• Engaging service users, stakeholders and have a passion to improve and innovate services for vulnerable children, young people, and families.
• Working collaboratively within a team and building relationships with internal and external partners through a variety of communication channels.

As a Commissioning Officer, you will therefore help the Commissioning Team to achieve aspirations for children and young people by applying your skills and abilities. You will be organised, able to work flexibly and possess the ability to independently manage projects and support the children and families Lead Commissioner to oversee contracts and develop commissioning options.

How to apply?

To apply complete an application outlining how you meet the specific requirements of the role. Please refer to the attached full Job Description/Person Specification.

For an informal discussion contact Christine Esaete Aceger by email C.Aceger@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Closing Date: 11:59pm on Sunday 16^th May 2021
• Shortlisting Date: 17^th & 18^th May 2021
• Interview Date(s): Week commencing 24^th May 2021

Useful Information: The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible. Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils

Attached documents

•  Commissioning Officer - Job Profile