Principal Lead Commissioning - Health, Education, and SEND

Lead one of the most significant Health, Education and SEND transformation portfolios in local government

This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of services for children and young people across Dorset Council. We are seeking an exceptional strategic leader to join our newly established All-Age Commissioning Service and drive our ambitious vision for a more integrated, inclusive and sustainable system across education, health and care.

As Principal Lead Commissioning - Health, Education and SEND, you will lead a high-profile portfolio at the heart of Dorset's transformation agenda. You will have the opportunity to influence policy, shape markets, deliver system-wide reform and improve outcomes for children and young people, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). This is a role for a leader who thrives in complexity, can build strong partnerships across organisational boundaries and is passionate about delivering meaningful change.

About The Role

Sitting within Dorset's new All-Age Commissioning Service, you will provide strategic leadership across a broad and influential portfolio that brings together:

• Health and SEND commissioning
• Education commissioning and strategic planning
• SEND sufficiency and market development
• Alternative Provision commissioning
• Traded services
• Family Information Service and Local Offer
• Outdoor Education provision
• Strategic oversight of Local Authority Trading Company arrangements (LATCo)

Working within a matrix leadership model, you will collaborate with senior leaders across education, children's services, health, customer services, Assets and Property, commissioning, procurement and commercial functions to help shape a single integrated commissioning system that delivers improved outcomes and long-term sustainability.

A pivotal leadership role

Role

The successful candidate will play a central role in delivering Dorset's SEND Reform Plan and High Needs Programme, helping create a system that promotes:

• Inclusion and early intervention
• Locality-based support
• Co-production with children, young people and families
• Better outcomes for children and young people
• Greater financial sustainability
• Reduced reliance on expensive out-of-area placements

You will provide visible leadership across the partnership landscape, working with schools, academies, colleges, providers, voluntary organisations and NHS Dorset to develop innovative solutions that meet growing demand and improve experiences for families.

What You'll Lead

SEND Reform and System Transformation

You will lead Dorset's commissioning response to national SEND and Alternative Provision reforms, supporting delivery of:

• Education, Health and Care Plan demand
• Specialist provision development
• Inclusion and early intervention priorities
• Alternative Provision reform
• Neurodiversity pathways
• Preparation for adulthood
• Graduated support models
• Integrated commissioning across health, education and care

Market Shaping and Sufficiency

Education

You will drive Dorset's SEND Market Development and Sufficiency Strategy, ensuring the right provision exists in the right place at the right time. This includes increasing local capacity, supporting inclusive mainstream provision and using intelligence and forecasting to shape future investment decisions. Integrated Health, Education and Care Commissioning Working closely with health and system partners, you will help develop:

• Joint commissioning arrangements
• Shared outcomes frameworks
• Integrated service specifications
• Collaborative investment approaches
• Joint governance arrangements

with a particular focus on SEND pathways, therapies, emotional wellbeing and preparation for adulthood.

Education Planning and Strategic Sufficiency

You will hold strategic responsibility for mainstream and specialist education sufficiency, including place planning, demand forecasting, capital investment priorities and development of future provision models.

Regional Leadership and Influence

You will represent Dorset within regional commissioning networks, sharing best practice, influencing wider system development and identifying opportunities for collaboration and joint commissioning across health, education and care partners.

About You

We're looking for an accomplished leader with the credibility, resilience and strategic capability to operate across complex systems and drive transformational change.

You Will Bring

• Significant expertise in children's services commissioning and/or SEND and education commissioning
• A strong track record of delivering large-scale transformation and service improvement
• Experience of leading across complex partnerships and influencing senior stakeholders
• Strong commissioning, market development and sufficiency planning expertise
• Commercial and financial acumen, including management of substantial budgets
• Experience of translating national policy into tangible local improvement
• A strong commitment to inclusion, co-production and improving outcomes for children and young people
• Advanced professional knowledge, ideally supported by postgraduate study, professional qualifications or equivalent experience

Most importantly, you will be an inspiring systems leader who can bring people together around a shared vision and deliver lasting change.

Why Dorset?

This is more than a commissioning role.

It is an opportunity to lead one of the most ambitious SEND reform and sufficiency programmes in the country, shaping services that make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and families.

You will join an ambitious organisation committed to innovation, partnership working and continuous improvement, with the opportunity to influence strategy across health, education and social care while helping build a sustainable future for Dorset's children and young people.

Join us and help create an inclusive, sustainable and ambitious future for children and young people across Dorset.

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