Assistant Director Commissioning

About Us

At West Sussex we want every adult to have the opportunity to live a good life in the place they call home, with the people around them that they choose.

The Adults Commissioning Service is a key part of the Adults Services Directorate in West Sussex County Council. It helps to ensure that people can access appropriate and good quality services which enables them to live their lives as independently as possible. Our service is split into three areas:

• Older People Services


• Lifelong and Working Age Mental Health Services


• Enablement and Independence Services

We want to develop efficient and effective services to meet peoples’ social care needs, as well deliver preventative services, that provide early intervention to stop needs escalating and help people recover. Our Council Plan and Adults Strategy sets out our ambitions and the key areas of development.

West Sussex values and nurtures talent, and we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential. We can 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 experienced leadership team.

We offer flexible working for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure allowing collaborative and streamlined working. Hybrid working and flexible working provides staff with the opportunity to work from a variety of locations. This helps achieve a healthy work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

Abbie Johnson, Commissioning & Contracts Service Manager 

“I am proud that Adult Commissioning has a supportive and inclusive culture which is focused on supporting staff, I personally I have been given an opportunity to learn and develop my skills as a commissioner working in the Older People’s Commissioning Team. There is a real focus and emphasis on working together and with partners and customers to develop and commission services that meet people’s needs now and in the future”.

Chris Jones, Commissioning Service Manager "A very tangible benefit I have experienced since working in the service is the focus on continuing professional development and the sharing of knowledge/best practice across the service".

The Opportunity

Salary: £115,000 per annum

Working Pattern: Full time, part of Directors out of hours rota

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: County Hall, Chichester (Hybrid working available)

Closing Date: 19th May 2024

Initial Technical interviews to be held via an MS Teams video call on an agreed date.  If successful at this stage, you will be invited to the full interview process in person on Monday 3rd June 2024. 

The Commissioning Adult Services department is experiencing a period of development and opportunity, and the Assistant Director role has become available due to retirement. We are looking for someone to become part of an ambitious, dynamic leadership team, you will play a crucial role in strategising and implementing plans to enhance our services and improve the outcomes for people we support. 

Reporting directly to the Director for Adults and Health, the role of Assistant Director is, as part of a departmental leadership team, both strategic and operational. You will form part of the senior leadership team, setting the strategic direction for the whole directorate, creating the right culture and environment for the workforce to flourish and ensuring departmental plans are delivered.

We are looking for someone with a proven track record in delivering and leading the commissioning of complex adult services with excellent strategic management skills and a strong background in adult social care leadership, performance management and partnership working.

This role is a pivotal part of the Adults Social Care Management team and you will work with many stakeholders and partnerships, developing and maintaining a lot of outward facing relationships. As such it is imperative to have strong networking. leadership and relationship management skills.

Hear Alan Sinclair, Director of Adults and Health talk about the role in more detail here: https://youtu.be/f_ARVh0JICE

You can also listen to Alan Sinclair, Director of Adults and Health, talk to Carrie Anderson, Market Development Lead Commissioner, about Carrie's experience of working at WSCC, flexible working and her passion - Extra Care here: https://youtu.be/HRrHeUdNFjg

Experience & Skills

The ideal candidate will have strong commissioning experience and collaborative skills to effectively lead and promote an improvement driven culture in order to achieve high-quality results. Demonstrable success in leading teams to improve services and deliver sustainable positive outcomes for adults. Additionally, you will have extensive experience operating within a senior leadership team, guiding and influencing the development of innovative and top-tier services within high-performing teams.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description.

The reference number for this role is CAFHE05104.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Alan Sinclair (Director of Adults & Health) on 03302 222675 or email Alan.Sinclair@westsussex.gov.uk. For issues or queries regarding your application please contact hrrecruitment@westsussex.gov.uk.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

Note for Recruitment Agencies:  We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!