Universal Commissioning Manager

Overview

As Universal Commissioning Manager, you will provide strategic leadership for education provisioning across Gloucestershire. You’ll oversee school place planning, admissions coordination, transport and free school meals entitlement, and education capital investment, ensuring value for money and responsive services. You’ll shape policy and delivery to meet changing demand, housing growth, and SEND needs, while driving capital projects and infrastructure planning with partners. This role is central to securing fair access to education and delivering the council’s priorities for children and young people in a complex political environment.

Pay / Benefits

• Hybrid working opportunities
• Flexible and agile working
• Career development and qualification opportunities
• LGPS pension
• EAP (counselling and advice)
• Cycle to Work scheme

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across school place planning and sufficiency, coordinated admissions, home-to-school transport and meals entitlement, and education capital investment
• Oversee the council’s statutory admissions functions ensuring fair access and efficient processing of applications
• Shape policy and delivery of transport, meals entitlement, and sufficiency provision to be responsive, sustainable and cost-effective
• Lead plans responding to demand changes, housing growth and SEND needs, including statutory approvals for sufficiency changes
• Coordinate a major programme of education capital investment ensuring value for money and alignment with strategic priorities
• Contribute education input to planning processes, negotiating with developers and planning authorities to secure infrastructure and contributions (Section 106, CIL)
• Collaborate with schools, academy trusts, dioceses, government departments and partners to develop innovative, cost-effective solutions to education challenges
• Lead and develop high-performing teams, manage significant budgets, and advise senior officers and elected members

Key requirements

• Breadth of leadership experience in complex statutory and customer-facing services
• Strategic insight and strong financial/commercial awareness
• Ability to operate in a political and partnership environment with stakeholder influence
• Influential communicator and skilled negotiator with senior stakeholders, developers and planning authorities
• Resilience, creativity and leadership to deliver in a changing environment
• Knowledge of SEND reforms and education planning considerations

• Leadership
• Strategic thinking
• Negotiation
• Knowledge of planning processes and Section 106/CIL mechanisms
• Experience with education capital investment programmes
• Budget management and financial planning

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