Director of Commissioning (Acute) - B9

Job description

Job responsibilities

ROLE PURPOSE / SUMMARY

The proposed Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) will be a new organisation formed through the consolidation of three ICB areas in response to the NHSs ambition to deliver a more streamlined, strategic and cost effective model of health commissioning. The ICB will oversee the commissioning of care for the approximately 2 million people who live in Essex. Operating within a reduced running cost envelope and aligned to the new requirements of ICBs in England, the proposed Essex ICB will focus on improving population health outcomes, health equity and smarter resource allocation.

The Director of Commissioning (Acute) holds corporate responsibility for the strategic and operational commissioning of all acute services across Essex. Working in partnership with the strategy, analytical commercial, financial and quality teams, the Director of Commissioning will be accountable for ensuring the commissioning and contract management of high quality, equitable and evidence based acute services for the population of Essex. This will include leading a team to oversee all elements of the commissioning cycle, ensuring that plans for acute commissioning align with national, region and local strategic ambitions and support the three shifts outlined in the Governments 10 Year Health Plan; treatment to prevention, hospital to community and analogue to digital. As a senior leader within the ICB they will provide visible, inclusive and values based leadership for staff and partners, ensuring effective delivery through collaboration with NHS providers, local authorities, primary care and the voluntary and community sector. They will be expected to work autonomously, reporting into the Executive of the ICB and the Board as required.

The Director of Commissioning (Acute) will be required to

• Act as system lead for acute commissioning, working with system wider partners as required
• Develop, lead and manage the acute commissioning teams, including day to day staff management, regular appraisals, staff development and performance management
• Ensure the ICB has a good understanding of local acute service needs, risks, inequalities and service gaps, supported by integrated data and intelligence
• Lead business planning for the acute commissioning teams, including prioritisation of projects, budgeting and resource management
• Be responsible for the acute budgets for Essex ICB, including budget setting and management
• Lead the development of the ICBs strategic delivery plans for acute commissioning (including planned and unplanned care), contributing to the annual planning cycle, the development of the ICBs strategy and population health improvement plan
• Work effectively with the Chief Medical Officer and OPIC to ensure effective commissioning of specialised services for the population of Essex
• Develop new care and service models that support the three shifts and enable delivering of high quality efficient care that draw on evidence based best practice, innovations and the national modern service frameworks
• Work in partnership with other ICB Directors of Commissioning to support the development of Neighbourhood Health Services and the implementation of models of care that facilitate prevention, personalisation and the left shift to care closer to home
• Ensure commissioning priorities and service delivery plans are co-produced with people with lived experience, carers and clinicians
• Lead delivery of contract and performance management of acute contracts for the ICB, working with teams across the ICB to hold providers to account for performance, quality, workforce and financial delivery through effective contract management
• Ensure that all decisions relating to acute commissioned services follow the ICBs agreed governance, including completing integrated impact assessments
• Use the ICBs agreed evaluation framework to evaluate the impact of commissioned activities, tracking impact and outcomes and taking decommissioning or disinvestment decisions as required
• Report on progress and impact to the ICBs senior leadership, Board and NHS England
• Support provider market management, including development of options to support more integrated commissioning and provider models

As the ICB transitions to become a leaner, more focused strategic commissioning organisation the post holder will be expected to support the Executive Director of Strategy and the CEO in delivering on the three fundamental shifts set out in the NHS 10-year plan:

From Treatment to Prevention: Embedding preventative, personalised and population based approaches to commissioning.

From Hospital to Community: Championing care model redesign that supports community and neighbourhood health.

From Analogue to Digital: Enabling clinically driven transformation through digital innovation, data analytics and evidence based improvement.

The post holder will be required to work autonomously and will ultimately be responsible for helping deliver the negotiation, agreement and delivery of ICB strategy. The post holder will be responsible for bringing partners together to agree multiple programmes of work and also for agreeing contribution of resources to these programmes.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(Please refer to attached Job description for full list of Key Duties and Responsibilities)

To deliver on the job description set out above, the job holder will be expected to deliver on the requirements set out below:

Policy and service development

Interpret, develop and implement relevant national and local NHS and health policy and / or service developments related to acute commissioning in Essex on behalf of the ICB

Translating high level policy commitments from NHS strategies, including the ICB strategy and the 10 Year Health Plan, into programmes that will deliver improved outcomes and sustainable services for the local population

Development and oversight of relevant ICB policies

Lead, influence and negotiate service development and changes, overcoming barriers to acceptance as required

Use research and innovation to inform service improvements or performance management

Strategy and analysis

Use of complex health data sets, including those relating to performance across activity, finance and quality to inform decision making

Analysis of large volumes of complex qualitative and quantitative data relating to acute services

Turning analysis into useful insights that can inform decision making

Providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive or contentious data, information and insights, including qualitative and quantitative data

Able to present highly complex, sensitive or contentious data through clear and simple written and verbal briefings to a range of audiences, including the public and senior managers

Use of Population Health Management methodologies, tools and systems to inform projects and programmes that will improve outcomes for patients and sustainability of health services

Use of local and national information resources and software to support analysis, strategy development and reporting relating to acute hospital services, including use of Model Hospital, Athena (ICB platform) and the Federated Data Platform as it develops

Planning and organisation

Develop project and / or programme plans to drive delivery of complex programmes relating to acute commissioning

Manage delivery against agreed project / programme plan, ensuring appropriate governance, risk management, escalations and reporting

Develop and oversee annual business plan for the acute commissioning teams

Active participation and engagement in relevant governance meetings within the ICB and across the system

Communications and Partnerships

Work collaboratively, modelling inclusive, respectful and compassionate leadership

Listen effectively to a broad range of perspectives, including staff, patients and the public, to inform decision making

Manage complex and contentious situations with stakeholders, including situations of proposed major change

Manage complex and potentially hostile or antagonistic relationships

Lead development of strong, trust-based relationships across the ICB, with NHS providers, local government, VCFSE partners and communities

Lead effective engagement with patients, the public and strategic stakeholders as required

Work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams to enable the collective ownership and delivery of complex programmes that are seeking to improve outcomes, reduce inequalities and deliver a sustainable health and care system

Sharing complex and challenging information which may relate to service performance or staffing

Manage conflict, find compromise and build consensus where needed to drive progress in delivery

Financial and resource management

Responsible for management of budget for acute commissioning, including budget setting and accountability for delivering against agreed budget

Team management and capability building

Develop and lead the acute commissioning team, including overseeing recruitment, onboarding, development and performance management of team members across the Planned Care and Unplanned Care teams (around 20 people)

Line management for the Associate Director of Planned Care and the Associate Director of Unplanned care

Oversee team delivery, including setting objectives, goals and standards for the team and ensuring the annual performance management process is completed

Support staff through ICB transition, including the development of teams to deliver on new ICB portfolios as agreed through transition

Support the effective transition of relevant functions to new portfolios within or beyond the ICB to support the new NHS operating model, in line with the requirements of the Model ICB Blueprint

Work collaboratively with system partners to facilitate transitional arrangements

Maintain a focus on quality, safety and affordability during transition

Use the ICBs Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system to effective manage direct report and wider team reporting

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

• Substantial experience of working at a senior level in a relevant healthcare environment (NHS or other) and across complex health and care systems with demonstrable impact.
• Experience of strategic leadership in relevant commissioning functions as outlined in the ICB model blueprint.
• Experience of leading and delivering complex and contentious change and transformation programmes at scale
• Knowledge of the health, care and local government landscape, including relevant legislation, policies and guidance and an understanding of the political dynamics of healthcare

Strategy and Analysis

Essential

• An excellent understanding of current health and social care national aims and policy, and other determinants that impact on healthcare provision
• Experience working at a strategic level, including evidence of use of analytical and problem solving skills to address complex problems, ability to recognise policy implications and how to manage potential competing priorities / interests in developing strategies
• Demonstrable experience in scoping and delivering effective evaluations of programmes and interventions, including understanding relevant data and evaluation tools and methods for formal and informal evaluations

Partnership and Communities

Essential

• Experience of working across organisational boundaries
• Experience in working on programmes that require cross organisational collaboration, and an understanding of the concept and aims of whole system working
• Excellent influencing and negotiation skills, experience in successfully managing conflict, finding compromise and building consensus.

People & Culture

Essential

• Experience in building and maintaining high functioning teams, including recognising and promoting talent, as well as appropriately dealing with under-performance, when necessary
• A proven track record of compassionate leadership and experience in promoting diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity
• A commitment to continuous improvement, organisation learning and achieving positive outcomes for all staff, patients, service users and carers working in line with the NHS People Promise

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to Masters level (relevant focus) or equivalent managerial experience
• Evidence of sustained commitment to continuing professional development

Governance and Assurance

Essential

• Previous experience of leading projects that require collective decision-making and how to negotiate success in those situations
• A strong understanding of the role and importance of effective corporate governance, balancing the need to seek relevant board and executive support for decisions with the ability to work autonomously to drive delivery of decisions

Personal Attributes and Values

Essential

• Personal commitment to the values of the NHS 10-year Plan, the NHS People Plan, the Nolan Principles, to championing equality, diversity and inclusion within the ICB and the wide health system
• Exceptional communication skills which engender community confidence, strong collaborations, and partnership
• Listens to and appreciates the complexity of a range of views, adopt effective questioning techniques and an ability to negotiate
• Able to adapt to different situations, influencing others effectively

Employer details

Employer name

NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board

Address

Seax House

Victoria Road South

Chelmsford

Essex

CM1 1QH

Employer's website

https://www.midandsouthessex.ics.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)