Commissioning Manager- Children's Social Care

Commissioning Manager – Care Placements

Nationwide – with travel to our homes, offices and schools.
Salary: £45,000 - £50,000 + performance related bonus.
Hours: Full Time – 37

We are the highest Ofsted-rated provider in the country for specialist education and care. Our teams are fulfilled by the idea of making even the smallest positive changes in our young people, so we celebrate the little things. We are looking for someone who can passionately represent Witherslack Group’s visions, aims and objectives and can build strong, long-lasting relationships with internal and external stakeholders throughout our sector leading children’s homes.

The Commissioning Manager must have significant operational and/or commissioning experience within 52-week care placements and will hold direct responsibility for achieving optimum occupancy throughout our homes.

We are looking for someone who can nurture and develop close links with all of the key personnel within local authority social care, placements and commissioning teams, in addition to all of the wider group of professionals. You will be supported by administrative and technical teams within our commercial/partnerships team and across the wider organisation.

The role will involve supporting the development and delivery of our strategic approach to 52-week care placements, including responsibility for occupancy throughout our children’s homes. This includes contributing to the planning and coordination of placement activity and ensuring placement outcomes are shared with placing authorities. The Commissioning Manager will also monitor placement performance, outcomes, and key indicators, ensuring a high-quality experience for commissioning partners, while maintaining strong relationships with local authorities and other stakeholders across the sector.

With previous experience in a similar field, you will use your skills to actively seek out development opportunities to gain a deep understanding of local authority needs and the local market. This role requires close partnership working across the homes, schools and local authority by support, liaison and negotiation so experience of relationship management is a must.

For your hard work and commitment, we reward you with the best salary and benefits package in the care sector. With us, you’ll get to make a genuine difference to the lives of our young people – plus you’ll get:
Salary : Based on experience, plus performance related bonus
Training: Ongoing professional development.
Holiday : You’ll work hard at WG, so you’ll be rewarded with 7 weeks’ holiday
Flexible benefits package : meaning you can increase/decrease your holiday allowance, pension and life insurance – check out our benefits  here
Wellbeing: a host of wellbeing tools and advice including employee assistance
Medical cover so you can claim back the cost of things like an opticians or dentist appointment and a host of high-street discounts
Beautiful working environments with the very best facilities
A recommend a friend scheme that offers a £1,000 bonus every time

Our young people come from all walks of life, diverse backgrounds and with different needs – and our workforce reflects that diversity, so that our teams can engage, encourage and inspire our young people to be themselves. Significant operational and/or commissioning experience within 52-week care placements
A passion for the care and education of children and young people with SEND and complex needs
An understanding of local authority care commissioning
Insightful and detail orientated approach – monitoring industry trends and market developments to feed into partnerships activity
Knowledge of the local authority environment and how to navigate it to achieve objectives
Excellent relationship-building and networking skills
Join the UK’s best special education and care provider

Our young people deserve the best possible future and we feel the same about our teams. The Witherslack Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its young people. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check (we will cover the cost). We are an equal opportunities employer welcoming applications from all sections of the community.