SEND Commissioning and Placement Officer

About the role

You will contribute to the delivery of operational and strategic commissioning intentions identified as part of the SEND Commissioning Service. Operating at the officer post level, your role focuses on operational case management, supporting delivery of delegated commissioning activities, and assisting senior leads. Working closely with the SEND Commissioning Lead, you will handle delegated tasks relating to fee uplifts and negotiations, contract monitoring, provider relationship development, and policy/planning activities and quality assurance. 

Your core responsibilities will include supporting the decision making process at SEND and Post-16 panels, delivering on allocated individual SEND referrals across Pre-14 and Preparation for Adulthood (PfA), and conducting joint placement casework involving cost analysis, multi-agency negotiations, and joint meetings. You will support high-cost placement reviews, tribunal cases where applicable, EOTAS provision commissioning, QA projects, and phase transfer commissioning activities, as well as managing fee increase requests to relevant panels. Through effective contract monitoring and provider engagement, you will assist in delivering jointly commissioned services across education, health, and social care to ensure value for money and efficient use of resources. You will support the Commissioning Lead in developing and implementing action plans to deliver agreed strategies and key priorities. 

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Dominika Mroczek via email: dominika.mroczek@achievingforchildren.org.uk

About you

• Educated to a degree level or with substantial professional experience.
• Minimum Level 3 qualification with English and math to Level 2 (GCSE grades 9-4 or equivalent)
• Experience of building strong partnerships, maintaining relationships and co-producing solutions to challenges across a diverse set of stakeholders, including children, young people and their families. Advocating the voices of those we are working with.
• Experience in market shaping and management, fee negotiations, fee uplifts, SEND placement commissioning and relationship building with stakeholders.
• Proven ability to effectively use qualitative and quantitative data, intelligence and evidence to create meaningful insight and to inform own decision making.
• Significant experience of working with providers to promote cost-effective working relationships and maximize opportunities to enhance service provision, customer experience, and positive outcomes for service users and their families.
• Knowledge of statutory legislation (e.g. SEND Code of Practice, Children & Families Act 2014) and national policy drivers that affect children’s SEND services.
• Advanced knowledge of delivering commissioned services within budget, monitoring financial performance, identifying financial risks/pressures, and meeting identified savings targets.
• Experience in quality assurance, contract management, developing innovative contracting approaches, and reading and analyzing legal documents.
• Maintaining accurate records, producing clear reports and presentations for stakeholders in line with local policies.

About our benefits

We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:

• 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
• Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
• Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
• Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
• A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
• A range of staff benefits and discounts
• An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway

To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children click here. For our social work offer click here. For our Recruitment Journey, click here.

Important Information

Start dates: Achieving for Children have set start dates meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.

Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children 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 and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 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).

We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.