AD of Integrated Commissioning & Strategic Programme Lead

Go back NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board

The closing date is 15 July 2026

The Associate Director of Integrated Commissioning provides strategic leadership across health, social care, and wider public services to design, develop, and deliver high-quality, person-centred commissioning arrangements. The role drives a unified, outcome focused approach to planning and purchasing services, ensuring commissioning activity aligns with population needs, supports prevention, and delivers value for money.

Key

Duties & Responsibilities:

Portfolio responsibilities may vary and adapt over time to respond to the needs and strategic priorities of the ICB/ICS. However, the postholder is expected to fulfil the following key functions:

• Strategic Leadership & System Integration
• Market Shaping & Provider Development
• Procurement & Commercial
• Population Health, Inequalities & Prevention
• Partnership & System Working
• Data, Analytics & Insights
• Digital, Technology & Innovation
• Leadership of Commissioning Function

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside serves a population of over 2.7 million people across nine localities, working with 16 NHS provider organisations, 51 Primary Care Networks, local authorities and voluntary sector partners.

We are proud of Cheshire and Merseyside's record of collaborative working and there are countless examples of brilliant care, but there are also examples of variation in service which only serve to exacerbate health inequalities.

Our vision is for everyone in Cheshire and Merseyside to have a great start in life and get the support they need to stay healthy and live longer.

We will do this by working together, as equal partners, to support seamless, person-centred care and tackle health inequalities by improving the lives of the poorest fastest.

Our values are rooted in the NHS Constitution, and we strive to create a compassionate, collaborative and innovative culture where staff can thrive and make a real difference to local communities.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Shape and lead integrated commissioning strategies across health, social care and public health.
• Drive whole system transformation programmes focused on prevention, inequalities, and improved outcomes.
• Align commissioning intentions with JSNA, population health insights and system priorities.
• Develop shared outcome frameworks with system partners.
• Champion integrated pathways across primary care, community, acute, mental health and social care.
• Lead strategic options appraisals and commissioning roadmaps.
• Lead the full commissioning cycle: needs analysis, service design, procurement, contracting and evaluation.
• Drive service redesign to improve quality, flow, outcomes, and productivity.
• Embed evidence-based practice, best practice and lived experience insight into commissioning based practice.
• Commission integrated pathways across prevention, community support, complex needs and specialist services.
• Lead pilots and scale up successful innovations.
• Ensure impact assessments inform commissioning decisions.

• Shape a sustainable provider market across NHS, local authority, independent and VCSE sectors.
• Publish and update market position statements and provider engagement strategies.
• Develop outcome-based commissioning models and alliances where appropriate.
• Lead complex contract negotiations and provider engagement on improvement and innovation.
• Oversee provider capability building in quality, digital and workforce development.
• Manage provider risk, market fragility and contingency planning.

• Lead strategic commissioning procurements aligned to service redesign goals.
• Develop commercial strategies including outcome-based specifications and payment models.
• Engage the market in pre-procurement dialogue and systemwide commercial opportunities.
• Lead evaluation processes and ensure high-quality specifications reflect user needs.

• Use PHM tools and segmentation to inform commissioning priorities.
• Commission targeted interventions addressing inequalities and access barriers.
• Embed prevention, early help and strengths-based models within commissioned pathways.
• Ensure services are culturally competent and inclusive.
• Lead co-production with people with lived experience to shape commissioning intentions.
• Establish and maintain panels, forums and networks that inform service design.
• Work closely with VCSE partners to embed community insight and co-delivery models.
• Provide visible leadership in public engagement on service change.

• Build strong system partnerships across local authorities, ICB, providers and VCSE.
• Represent commissioning at system boards, programme groups and partnership forums.
• Support joint commissioning approaches and shared investment models.
• Resolve cross-organisational commissioning challenges and…