Commissioning & Project Officer (Adult Community)

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

As part of the newly formed Commissioning, Insights & Delivery Division, the Strategic Commissioning Service is committed to using the commissioning cycle to make evidence-based decisions about the services we provide and how we deliver them. Our ambitious plans for Sutton’s residents require us to think differently about the way we work and the ways in which we finance and commission our services and make best use of all available assets. We are a dynamic service seeking to build on the reputation we have developed for successful delivery of collaborative and innovative initiatives. Our work strives to ensure vulnerable residents are safe and can thrive by understanding their needs and making best use of resources with our partners to ensure optimum impact from delivery and funding.

Within the Strategic Commissioning Service, the Adult Social Care Community Commissioning team supports providers to deliver services that enable Adults to live well independently and safely at home and in the community.

For more information about the role and/or an informal conversation please contact, the StrategicCommissioning Lead - Fran Massiah at fran.massiah@sutton.gov.uk

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

We have an exciting opportunity to join us as a Commissioning and Project Officer in the Adults Community. Reporting to the Commissioning Lead. The remit includes contract management and ensuring that providers deliver high quality services for Sutton residents including home care, tech enabled care, community equipment, day services and housing support services. The Commissioning and Project Officer is responsible for supporting the delivery and management of commissioned services through strategic planning, procurement, and performance monitoring to ensure high-quality outcomes and financial efficiency for the team, particularly Home Care and any new and emerging related projects. Your responsibilities will include:

Contract Performance & Financial Oversight

• Conduct robust monitoring, collection, and analysis of contract performance data.
• Perform financial auditing of providers to identify overpayments and present formal findings.
• Support and manage the implementation of technical tools, such as the Provider Payment Portal and KPI dashboards.

Strategic Planning & Development

• Review key strategic areas (e.g., home care) to contribute to the development of new service strategies.
• Support the implementation of long-term strategic plans, identifying market gaps and priorities for development.

Project Management

• Lead and manage individual projects or systems using formal project management principles to ensure objectives meet statutory requirements and agreed standards.

Stakeholder Engagement & Co-production

• Lead community engagement and co-production initiatives, specifically for the Homecare Commissioning Strategy.
• Analyze stakeholder concerns related to service delivery to inform project work.
• Coordinate and manage provider forums to maintain communication with service partners.

Candidates will need;

• Ability to use project management principles to manage individual projects or systems, ensuring objectives are delivered on time and in line with deadlines.
• Excellent and proven project management skills including the ability to successfully manage several tasks and multiple priorities to a successful outcome in an environment requiring tight deadlines.
• Experience of working with project teams (including partnerships and joint working) to achieve strategic goals and service improvements with evidence of success in achieving targets and managing performance
• Excellent communication, negotiating and influencing skills (including excellent presentation and report writing skills)
• Strong knowledge of procurement (including legal and policy context)
• Strong, proven ability to interpret data and use financial analysis skills to deliver efficiencies whether via procurement or contract management.
• A high level of IT literacy, specifically in spreadsheet development and analysis.
• An understanding of relevant policy and market landscapes.
• Skills in managing small tenders and procurements, as well as negotiating cost and performance with service providers and partners to secure best value.
• Ability to contribute to the development of long-term strategic plans and identify priorities for market development, such as addressing service gaps.
• Ability to build and maintain positive, constructive two-way dialogues with partners, service providers, and operational managers.
• A focus on involving residents, service users, and carers in service design and performance management.
• An understanding of relevant policy landscapes and market developments at national, regional, and local levels.
• Knowledge of performance monitoring and data quality mechanisms to audit service delivery
• Experience and willingness to work with teams, partnerships, or joint working groups to achieve strategic goals and service improvements.
• Capacity to deal with complex problems within the boundaries of professional knowledge and make recommendations for procedural improvements.

The team works closely with partners to develop joint commissioning priorities and strategies. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to make a real difference to the way we deliver Adult Social Care CHANGE commissioning.

This role is a great opportunity for:

• Experienced Commissioning Officers, Policy Officers, or Procurement Officers, looking to step-up into a new role with added responsibility and autonomy within a Local Authority
• An established Commissioning Manager that’s looking to gain experience within a different sector or service area.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

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, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a 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. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.