Job responsibilities

The post holder will lead the West Midlands primary care commissioning and shared services function to ensure that work streams and programmes are planned and carried out effectively on behalf of all West Midlands ICBs and to support the ICBs in delivering their delegated primary care commissioning responsibilities from NHSE. The function includes: secondary care dental commissioning, GP estates, GMAST, pharmacy including Pharmacy Services Regulations Committee, optometry, clinical advisors, and centralised PMO support across the West Midlands.

The shared services function is hosted by the Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull ICB cluster on behalf of all West Midlands ICBs. As such, the postholder will be required to support and contribute to broader primary care transformation; meet regularly with each ICB cluster to agree and review plans and priorities; and provide assurance and reporting through ICB specific and collective governance routes as agreed. The postholder will be expected to be a part of each clusters formal governance arrangements attending appropriate commissioning committees at all three clusters and adhere to each clusters working measures, as above. In addition they will be expected to report to a joint governance group which will cover all three clusters across the West Midlands region and account for the delivery of all hosted services.

The post holder will lead the provision of an efficient, effective, and high quality, professional and well co-ordinated procurement and contract management service capable of meeting all statutory, regulatory and NHS requirements for primary care ensuring alignment with the activity of the organisation. This role will need to contribute to the strategic commissioning agenda across the Chief Strategy Officers directorate and will need to work across all four sub functions.

The post holder will deputise for the Deputy Chir Officer Primary Care and Associate Director of Primary Care as required and also report directly to each clusters Primary Care Directors on a regular basis.

The post holder will support the Directors of Primary Care in each ICB cluster in discharging delegated responsibilities for general medical, community pharmacy, optometry and dental services.

In carrying out your role, at least one of the agreed strategic anchors should be at the core of everything you do:

• Commissioning for Value and Outcomes
• Accelerating Neighbourhood Health at Pace
• Making the Best Use of Digital Solutions in our Pathways
• Financial Discipline / 2% Productivity
• Advancing Health Equity
• Integrated Partnership

The post holder will be accountable for:

• Senior leadership and oversight for the provision of an efficient, effective, high quality, professional and well-coordinated contract management, commissioning and performance function for primary care, that meets all statutory and regulatory requirements and ensures that national priorities are delivered, and corporate objectives of all West Midlands ICBs met.
• Senior leadership and line/operational management support for the Primary Care Commissioning POD/GMAST Team, in line with organisational policies and procedures and ensuring that work programmes are planned and carried out effectively for all functions, providing resilience where necessary.
• Work closely with colleagues to ensure a whole system approach to effective surveillance of POD delivery, including identifying concerns with performance and quality of patient services, identifying improvement opportunities, providing support as required in conjunction with ICB colleagues and overseeing and managing where there are concerns with the performance and quality of services delivered.
• Subject matter expertise in POD commissioning and contracting, including on emerging contract vehicles and requirements, acting as a point of contact expert for providers, colleagues, patients and other stakeholders.
• Responsible for supporting the ICBs in their delivery of commissioning and contracting functions for primary care, interfacing with colleagues and governance arrangements in all ICB clusters.

A copy of the full job description is attached

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands
• Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options
• Takes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number of courses of action
• Strategic thinking ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight and often changing deadlines
• Skills for direct line management and job management
• Skills for delivering results through managing through others and using a range of levers in the absence of direct line management responsibility
• Skills for managing relationships with a range of different stakeholders
• Ability to work on own initiative and organise workload, allocating work as necessary
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
• Ensures staff for whom the post holder has line management responsibility
• An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change

Mobility

Essential

• Ability to travel across sites as required

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups
• Persuade board and senior managers of the respective merits of different options, innovation and new market opportunities
• Negotiate on difficult and very complex and detailed issues

Autonomy

Essential

• Able to use initiative to decide relevant actions and make recommendations, with the aim of improving deliverables
• Ability to make decisions autonomously when required, working to tight and often changing timescales

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Essential

• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of equality of opportunity and diversity taking into account and being aware of how individual actions contribute to and make a difference to the equality agenda
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of equality opportunity and diversity
• Understanding of Confidentiality and Data Protection Act

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to Masters level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in relevant specialist area
• Extensive knowledge of specialist areas, acquired through post graduate diploma or equivalent experience or training plus further specialist knowledge or
• experience to masters level equivalent
• Evidence of post qualifying and continuing professional development
• Commitment to continuing professional development

Desirable

• Educated to Masters level in a relevant discipline, or equivalent level of knowledge and experience gained through substantial senior leadership roles within primary care commissioning and contracting.
• Extensive specialist knowledge of primary care/POD and Secondary Care Dental commissioning, contracting and performance management, acquired through postgraduate study and/or significant senior-level professional experience.
• Evidence of sustained post-qualifying professional development relevant to senior leadership, commissioning, contracting, governance and system working.
• Commitment to maintaining professional credibility and keeping abreast of national policy, legislative and system changes

Experience

Essential

• Plans and organises a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances
• Inputs to strategic plans across NHS and within the specific team
• Works with Stakeholders to develop performance improvement plans and to develop plans for innovation and opening up the market
• Good use of available information sources to enable efficient and effective planning
• Manages team within the constraints of NHS strategic plan
• Previously responsible for a budget, involve in budget setting and working knowledge of financial processes
• Used to working in a busy environment
• Must have an understanding of the background to and aims of current national and local healthcare policy and appreciate the implications of this on engagement
• Should have an appreciation of the relationship between the DHSC, NHSE and individual provider and the commissioning organisations
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills