Commissioning

“Explore new ideas and set the direction for key services”

SCC-201021-143-web

Commissioning at the council

Somerset County Council is a commissioning-led organisation. As a council, we’re increasingly focusing on early intervention rather than treating the outcome. We’re working hard to help people before they even need help – whether it’s financial, infrastructure, highways or schools. We’re a progressive authority. We’re taking a forward-thinking approach to commissioning, and we’ve learned a lot in a short space of time. We give our commissioners the freedom to experiment and grow. Because doing things differently, thinking creatively and innovatively, can deliver incredible results and save money.

While the approach to commissioning is broadly the same across all of the council’s service areas, it does become nuanced and personalised – to best reflect a service area’s specific needs and wants. One size never fits all, and that’s part of the challenge, and the reward, of working in commissioning.

Would you make a great commissioner?

Make a difference to your community. Enjoy the freedom to explore new ideas and ways of working. Set the direction for key services. Make big strategic decisions. Decisions that will affect tens of thousands of people in Somerset. It’s all part and parcel of working as a commissioner.

But don’t worry, you don’t have to be an expert in a particular service area. We look for people who can take in new information (and lots of it) and quickly get to the heart of the matter. People who are inquisitive, curious and want to dig deeper. Our commissioners come from many different work backgrounds. Some have worked in project management, for example, or in clinical commissioning.

helloquence-5fNmWej4tAA-unsplash

Developing your career As a commissioner

If you take professional and personal pride in delivering services that work for people, if you love receiving positive feedback from members of the public, then you’re perfectly suited to a career in commissioning. And it’s not just the big, large-scale projects that are rewarding to work on. Seeing smaller, on-the-ground projects make a real difference to communities – nothing beats that.

If you want a job where you’re encouraged to innovative and think differently, then you should explore commissioning further. We want you to trial things. To deliver pilot schemes. To see if it works better – for us as a commissioning function and for the people of Somerset.

If you want a challenging, ever-evolving career, then just look at how we’re developing our people. We’ve established internal mini-academies. We’ve put them on bespoke, individual training courses. We’ve encouraged them to take up professional training from respected industry bodies. We’ll enable you to specialise in the area that you’re most interested in. Then again, maybe you want to move around to gain more experience and broaden your knowledge. It’s your career, your career path. We’ll help you take it in the direction that works for you.

Get in touch

We're always pleased to hear from talented people. So if you've got any questions about the opportunities that we have available in Commissioning, or if there's anything else you'd like to know before you apply (or even during the application process), please get in touch with us.

Email the team

Latest jobs

Sorry. There are no jobs available in Commissioning at the moment. Why not search all of our jobs, or sign up for our job alerts?

Job alerts See all jobs

Inside the council

14 April, 2022

Charley Clark

This month we caught up with Charley Clark, an Approved Mental Health…

21 February, 2022

Amanda Rae: my career journey in adult social care

We caught up with Amanda Rae, a Locality Lead based in the…

3 February, 2022

National apprenticeship week

At Somerset County Council we are thrilled to be able to support…

View all

"The council is full of supportive colleagues who encourage you to try your best. I really enjoyed building close working relationships with colleagues across the council. They’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, and every colleague's skillset and background is valued."

"The council offer flexible working and really trust their colleagues to work from home. Management is supportive and avoids resorting to without micro-managing. There are opportunities to develop with managers keen to support your career progression."

"Supportive and inclusive employer. Working here is immensely rewarding, knowing you have helped so many people. The way SCC has dealt with the challenges presented by Covid, and the support it has given the community, makes me feel proud to be part of the organisation"

"Salaries aren't as high as private sector, but the great benefits package does make up for that. The council offer flexible working and lots of opportunity to build a long-term career in an ever changing government organisation. If you like the challenge of continuous change, this could be the place for you."

"If feel that my work for the council is hugely valuable. That I am supporting some incredibly important services. The organisation is forward-thinking in terms of ways of working, offering good technology and working-from-home benefits, all underpinned by an understanding management culture."

"The council is a good place to work if you want to work part time. You have access to ongoing learning. Management on the whole is good. Everyone works very hard, focused on doing something worthwhile and helping professionals, and keen to demonstrate that they are offering good value for money."

"Working for the council is challenging and stimulating. Social Care is difficult but rewarding when the quality of the service can be maintained. There is a genuine culture of reward for hard work. Social Care is a changing and evolving service, and the council has a dynamic reputation."

"Supportive work environment and colleagues. Over the last 12 years I have worked with a variety of brilliant teams, each time developing new skills and gaining experience. SCC has adapted well to remote working during the pandemic with staff wellbeing at the top of the agenda."