Commissioning Manager - Age Well

Job Description

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO8 £59,511 - £62,766

Contract Type: Full Time/Two year fixed-term contract.

Number of openings: One

Working hours per week: 36 hours

Application Deadline: 04/06/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): Week beginning 8th June.

Reference: 2144

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role:

The postholder will lead the strategic commissioning of services for adults with care and support needs and carers, primarily aged 65 and over, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective services aligned with agreed commissioning priorities, ensuring that adults with care needs in Waltham Forest live as independently and well as possible and have choice over the care they receive. The postholder will lead and manage a team of commissioning support staff including quality, contracts and supplier relationship staff.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

Generic Accountabilities



Lead projects, commissions or improvement programmes, and contribute to the delivery of larger programmes of work.

Practical, effective solutions are developed and delivered in accordance with legislative requirements and good practice guidelines and address any relevant environmental / conservation / technical / design issues.

Projects are delivered to agreed specification, timescales and budgets.

Identify and interpret issues, trends and problems, which may have a broad impact both within the Council, the care system and for partner organisations, resolving these as appropriate and escalating complex problems if necessary.

Activities are undertaken according relevant guidelines / regulations / procedures.

Customer / stakeholder viewsare available to inform recommendations.

Data and measurements areaccurately recorded.

Advise Directors, Members and others on issues relevant to the service area. Provide professional challenge and adviceto colleagues, managers and partner organisations.

Expert professional advice, interpretation, information, supportand challenge are provided to Waltham Forest and external parties on the full range of operational, legislative and strategic issues within the field of expertise.

Responses to major corporate or partner initiatives / complexstrategic or operational issues are managed effectively.

Major issuesare managed through to a satisfactory conclusion.

Feedback and complaints procedures are developed and managed. Complaints are effectively resolved.

Ensure the development and delivery of continuous improvements in all aspects of the service.

Improvements are developed and delivered effectively. Stakeholder requirements are met.

Prepare andpresent a fullrange of reports (both standard and non-standard) covering area of responsibility.

Reports are prepared, distributed / presented to the appropriatecommittee/ to therequired standards and timescales.

Evidence basedrecommendations are made.

Develop good working relationships and communicate effectivelywith internal / external organisations / partners and stakeholders. Represent specialist area internally and / or externally. Model, demonstrate and promote good practice relevant to the role.

Relevant work area reputation is maintained or enhanced.

Stakeholders are engagedwith activity relevant to them. Positive feedback is received from stakeholders.

Communications are clear,well planned and effective. Best practice is shared and promoted.

Support othersin their development.

Identify anychanges that mayimpact the service / profession.

Contribute to the development of others (e.g.through sharing knowledge and skills, acting as a coach or mentor, or providing feedback).

Act in accordance with all policies and procedures which apply to the job and understand the reasons for this.

All Council policies andprocedures are complied with.

JobSpecific Accountabilities:

End Results/Outcomes

Write and agree commissioning strategies/ policies for thedefined specialist area with the relevant internal and external stakeholders that meet the needs of residents and the Council

Commissioning strategies are produced with service users, carers, partners and are supported by accurate and comprehensive analysis of demand, national and local policy, market intelligence, opportunities best practice and innovation.

The implementation of commissioning strategies aligned to agreed integrated commissioning priorities

Commissioning frameworks and strategies are produced and continually kept up to date.

The Council meets statutory obligations in regardsto commissioning for the specified client groups(s).

Liaise with delivery partners/ providers/suppliers to develop and commission appropriate service delivery within area of responsibility.

Appropriate levelsof service / goods are delivered on time, to budget and standards agreed.

Positive outcomes are achieved for residents. Opportunities forpartnership working aremaximised.

Develop close working relationships with the relevant provider market(s), directing and developing the market towards

Regularly updated Market position statements

A local provider market that offer services that promote support and control for a rangeof vulnerable individuals who need social care services.

the achievement of Council goals.

Established a mechanism for engaging withusers/carers and collecting information relevant to commissioning.

Commissioning exercises are successful.

To lead on projects to commission or de-commission services for the defined client group(s), workingwith colleagues in the procurement and transformation services to develop new ways of improving outcomes and delivering value for money.

Commissioning, redesign and de-commissioning projects align with Council/ICB strategy.

Negative impacts on service users,carers, families and the Council/ICB are mitigated.

Projects / programmes have clear and assigned accountabilities and meetall targets, specification, governance, timescales and budgets.

Government agendarequirements are met.

Ensuring best value for money and outcomes areachieved for all activity delivered and that activity is delivered to agreed timescales.

Commissioned services deliverbest value for money and outcomes for residents and the council.

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

Substantial relevant experience of commissioning services, including strong understanding of the provider market, legislative framework, quality, and performance and compliance regimes

Excellent understanding of thecommissioning cycle and co production.

Relevant experience as a professional expertin a large complex organisation with expert knowledge in the specialist field.

Deep understanding of and experience in working with the defined client group(s), including the issues affecting service users, carersand families, legislative and policy drivers, good practice and innovation

Substantial relevant experience of programme/project management

Extensive knowledge of the serviceand partner / provider relationships and wider sector/ external influences.

Expert knowledge and understanding of the systems, policies, procedures, professional guidelines, legislation, best practice and emerging developments within the scope of the service area.

Experience in assessing theimpact of / requirements for change anddeveloping appropriate strategic responses.

Good ICT skillsincluding Microsoft applications and specialist systems. Excellent communication, interpersonal and influencing skills.

Authority and credibility to build relationships influence and engagesuccessfully with colleagues, partners, providers and stakeholder at all levels in complex or politically sensitive situations.

Experience of leading partnership working and representing the organisation externally

Excellent persuasion and negotiating skills, in orderto motivate peopleand partnerships and influence outcomes critical to the organisation.

Excellent research, analysis, interpretation and evaluation skills,demonstrating the abilityto identify and diagnose complex problems/issues / requirements and develop innovative strategic solutions

Strong working knowledge of commissioning, procurement and contracting processes, policies and legislation.

Indicative Qualifications



Educated to degree levelor equivalent standard.

Post graduate qualification.

Relevant professional qualification.

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;

Satisfactory declaration of interest;

This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;

Satisfactory DBS check;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

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.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Vincent Edwards, Interim Head of Commissioning and Market Quality – Live Well Vincent.Edwards@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

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