Job summary
- Main area
- Commissioning
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Secondment: 12 months (maternity cover)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 095-8305185-TS
- Employer
- NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Gail House
- Town
- Maidstone
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 pro rata, per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 07/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Commissioning Manager
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Job overview
Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed by the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Southeast Integrated Care Boards; and current at-risk employees within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts.
Are you passionate about shaping high-quality services that make a real difference to people's lives? Join our dynamic MHLDA Commissioning Team and play a pivotal role in improving outcomes for adults across Kent and Medway.
As a senior commissioning leader, you will drive strategic planning, service transformation, and performance management across a diverse portfolio of Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism services. Working closely with system partners, local authorities, providers, and key stakeholders, you will translate national policy into impactful commissioning plans that improve access, quality, and patient outcomes.
You'll lead service redesign, manage complex budgets and contracts, use data and insight to tackle health inequalities, and ensure services deliver value while meeting statutory and ICB priorities.
This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, collaborative leader who thrives on innovation, partnership working, and delivering meaningful change across health and care systems. If you're ready to influence the future of mental health services and make a lasting impact, we'd love to hear from you.
Main duties of the job
•Delivery of the ICB's commissioning intentions for Children and Young People's Mental Health.
•Development of the Young Adults Programme and transition pathways.
•Supporting service transformation and improvement programmes.
•Contract and performance management of commissioned services.
•Partnership working across the wider Kent and Medway system.
•Development of commissioning strategies, business cases and governance papers.
•Using data, intelligence and insight to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
Please note: Interviews will be held face to face in Ashford.
Working for our organisation
We are committed to a culture that supports all staff at NHS Kent and Medway to be the best version of themselves.
Our ability to improve outcomes for our population depends on how effectively clinical, operational, financial and strategic professionals work together to make informed commissioning decisions. That’s why our workforce works a minimum of two days-a-week on-site, with the expectation that all one-to-ones are held face-to-face and that colleagues will regularly visit the services we are commissioning to understand more about them.
We believe regular on-site working supports stronger collaboration, faster problem-solving, peer learning, visible leadership and the integration of colleagues into our organisation. We also know that culture is built through shared experiences and day-to-day interactions.
We are a flexible working friendly organisation; we aim to support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit you and us.
We work with staff to agree objectives through regular supervision, annual appraisal and access to training opportunities.
We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity. In order to reflect the diversity of our population, we positively encourage applications from all areas of the community regardless of gender, race, faith, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this.
Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.
We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.
If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know so they can help you with this.
All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant experience in commissioning, performance management or strategic leadership within MHLDA or related services.
- Experience managing budgets, contracts and provider performance for a defined portfolio of services.
- Experience developing commissioning strategies, policies, service specifications and pathway redesign.
- Experience working with local government, education, NHS providers and system partners.
- Experience interpreting national policy, legislation and NHS guidance to shape local commissioning approaches
Desirable criteria
- Degree level qualification or equivalent experience.
- Experience working within an Integrated Care System or multi agency governance environment
Competencies
Essential criteria
- Portfolio Management: Ability to lead a defined commissioning portfolio, ensuring performance, quality and value for money.
- Commissioning Expertise: Understanding of commissioning cycles, contract management, PSR compliance and performance frameworks
- Financial Acumen: Ability to interpret financial information, manage budgets and ensure value for money.
- Programme & Project Management: Skilled in coordinating complex workstreams, managing risks and delivering outcomes.
- Policy Interpretation: Ability to interpret national policy and legislation, develop local commissioning policies and ensure compliance.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Skilled in engaging clinicians, executives, local government and education partners
- Governance & Assurance: Understanding of governance frameworks, risk management and assurance processes.
- Service Improvement: Ability to redesign pathways using evidence, best practice and co production
- Digital & Analytical Capability: Confident using dashboards, intelligence tools and digital platforms
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Suzanne Mullin
- Job title
- Associate Director MHLDA
- Email address
- [email protected]
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