Senior Commissioning Officer

Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location:  County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8RA

Salary: £43,860 - £47,829 per annum (pro rata for part-time) (Pay award pending)

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 17th August 2026

Interview Date(s):  2nd September  2026

We are seeking an experienced and ambitious Senior Commissioning Officer to lead our Brokerage and Negotiation Team at a time of significant challenge and opportunity within Children's Services.

This role sits at the heart of our commissioning function and plays a critical part in delivering some of Leicestershire's key strategic priorities, including reducing placement costs through effective negotiation, supporting step-down opportunities, reducing the use of unregistered placements, improving sufficiency, and ensuring children and young people receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place. 

About the Role

You will lead a team responsible for securing placements and services, negotiating with providers, challenging costs, analysing market trends and ensuring referrals are of the highest quality to maximise opportunities for successful matching.

You will provide leadership and direction to a busy Brokerage and Negotiation Team, ensuring:

• High-quality brokerage activity that delivers the best possible outcomes for children and young people.
• Robust negotiation of placement and service costs 
• Effective use of care cost tools to support evidence-based commissioning decisions and cost avoidance.
• Strong business processes that provide assurance and support the wider commissioning cycle.
• Timely and effective placement and service searches.
• High-quality referrals that accurately articulate children's needs and maximise placement opportunities.
• Meaningful management information that supports strategic decision-making.

You will also play a key role in supporting the service's wider commissioning objectives, ensuring brokerage activity contributes to market development, sufficiency planning and financial sustainability.

About You

To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• Degree in relevant subject Or Demonstrable experience identified below.
• Experience of commissioning, contracting or providing social care services to children and young people in a statutory, private or voluntary organisation. and working in a senior position and managing/coaching staff.
• Experience of developing positive relationships and managing conflict.
• Experience of using monitoring and evaluation to inform planning, including data systems to track performance.
• Experience of business process design, process testing, and the documentation of work instructions.
• Knowledge of relevant national legislation and regulation requirements including safeguarding policies, housing law and procedures and contract procedure rules.
• Ability to analyse information and write clear well-presented reports with recommendations and support the drafting of service specifications or system development.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents.  You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. 

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Kim Sherriff, Commissioning Manager, 

Phone: [phone removed] 

Email: [email removed] 

How to Apply

At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally.

If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. 

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning [phone removed] (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support. 

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About us

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. 

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits