Somerset Council
Co-Production Lead (Adult Social Care and Housing Commissioning Service)
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Closing date: 2 September 2026
Transform lives, champion rights & support adults to achieve their full potential.
Location: Taunton base with Hybrid working
Salary: £55,101
Contract: 2 years Fixed Term Contract (FTC)
Potential opportunity for the role to become permanent, subject to ongoing funding and organisational approval.
Full time, 37 hours per week
33 days annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays
Role Purpose
Are you passionate about making sure people’s voices genuinely shape the services they use?
We are looking for a Co-Production Lead to provide county-wide strategic leadership for the development, implementation and continuous improvement of co-production across Adult Social Care and Housing. This is an exciting opportunity to help ensure the voices of people with lived experience, unpaid carers and seldom heard communities are meaningfully embedded in service design, delivery, commissioning and improvement activity across Somerset.
Working across the Directorate and with system partners, you will lead and influence the development of effective co-production approaches, manage strategic co-production boards and partnerships, and provide expert advice, support and constructive challenge to help strengthen inclusive practice and improve outcomes for Somerset residents.
Key Responsibilities
As Co-Production Lead, you will lead and coordinate co-production activity across Adult Social Care and Housing, ensuring there is strong oversight of practice, impact and outcomes. A key part of the role will be making sure co-production is inclusive and accessible, with a particular focus on people from seldom heard groups and those who experience multiple exclusions.
- Lead the development, coordination and continuous improvement of strategic boards, partnerships, co-production networks, forums, self-advocacy arrangements and wider engagement activity.
- Help build and maintain a strong co-production infrastructure, strengthening existing arrangements and developing new opportunities for people with lived experience, unpaid carers and under-represented communities to influence decision-making, service design, commissioning and service improvement.
- Lead on the creation, implementation and delivery of a co-production strategy informed by good practice and high-performing councils.
- Work with performance and assurance colleagues to help develop and embed a co-production assurance framework, including standards, expectations and ways of monitoring quality, consistency, equality and impact.
- Build strong relationships with people with lived experience, carers, Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations, commissioned providers and wider system partners.
- Use feedback and lived experience insight to inform operational practice, commissioning activity and service improvement, ensuring co-production makes a demonstrable difference to decision-making and outcomes for residents.
- Produce and present high-quality reports and assurance summaries for committees, senior leaders, boards and partnerships, evidencing impact and learning.
- Champion a culture that values co-production, self-advocacy, equality, diversity and inclusion, challenging practice where needed and promoting best practice across the system.
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What We’re Looking For – Essential Skills/Experience
We are looking for someone who understands co-production principles and approaches, and who can bring people together to influence meaningful change. You will need experience of developing, leading and supporting strategic boards, partnerships, networks or forums, as well as experience of developing strategic approaches, strategies or improvement programmes that have delivered measurable service or organisational change.
- Strong communication, influencing and facilitation skills, with the ability to engage and build trust with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Experience of working with VCFSE organisations, community networks and people with lived experience.
- Ability to manage budgets, grants or funding arrangements effectively to deliver agreed outcomes.
- Confident in evaluating existing arrangements, identifying gaps and opportunities, and developing service improvements based on evidence and stakeholder feedback.
- Ability to collaborate, influence and drive cultural, practice and service improvement across complex systems, partnerships and stakeholder groups.
About The Team/Service
This is a key role within Adult Social Care and Housing, supporting co-production to become embedded across the Directorate and wider system. You will be working within a dynamic and supportive local authority environment, with the opportunity to work both independently and as part of a team.
The role works across Adult Social Care and Housing, influencing multiple teams and strategic partnerships, including the wider Council, NHS, community and VCFSE sector. It also contributes to and influences commissioning decisions and service improvement activity informed by co-production insight.
The primary work location is County Hall, with opportunities for remote working within the needs of the role, including in-person attendance at local co-production meetings. Travel within the local area may be required, and there may be occasional evening or weekend work to meet project deadlines or attend community events. Somerset Council’s dynamic working strategy will be applied to this position.
Additional Information
- Unfortunately, we are unable to offer sponsorship for this role. We are only able to proceed with candidates who already have the right to work in the UK without the need for Visa sponsorship.
- Due to the nature of the role and the geographical area of the service across Somerset, which is a largely rural county, with limitations around public transport, the ability to travel to any location is essential. Therefore, applicants must have full access to a vehicle that can be used for work purposes.
- We recognise and welcome applications from disabled individuals who may require reasonable adjustments to meet this requirement, and we’re happy to discuss this from the first point of contact with the recruitment team.
For an informal chat about the role, you can contact: Helen Readdy – Recruitment and Engagement Officer, Adults – helen.readdy@somerset.gov.uk
Please note we reserve the right to close this advert early if we have received a sufficient number of applications, so don’t delay, apply today!
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A full job description can be found here: Co-Production Lead (Adult Social Care and Housing Commissioning Service) - Job Description - RP235
Person Specification
Criteria
Essential
- Knowledge of co-production principles and approaches.
- Knowledge of equality, diversity and inclusion and barriers to participation, including those from seldom heard groups or who experience multiple exclusions.
- Knowledge of commissioning, quality assurance and performance frameworks.
- Awareness of national policy and best practice in co-production.
- Understanding of Adult Social Care legislation, for example the Care Act, and strengths-based practice.
- Experience of developing, leading and supporting strategic boards, partnerships, networks or forums to influence decision-making and service improvement.
- Experience of developing and implementing strategic approaches, strategies or improvement programmes that have delivered measurable service or organisational change.
- Effective communication, influencing and facilitation skills, with the ability to engage and build trust with diverse stakeholders and lead co-production activity.
- Experience of working with VCFSE organisations, community networks and people with lived experience.
- Experience of managing budgets, grants or funding arrangements and ensuring resources are used effectively to deliver agreed outcomes.
- Experience of designing and implementing strategic frameworks, standards or assurance processes.
- Experience of working within local government commissioning or quality assurance functions.
- Experience of working across multi-agency partnerships and complex systems to influence strategic priorities and service improvement.
- Degree level qualification or equivalent experience.
- Evidence of continuous professional development.
- Relevant professional or training qualification.
- Ability to evaluate existing arrangements, identify gaps and opportunities, and develop service improvements based on evidence and stakeholder feedback.
- Ability to collaborate, influence and drive cultural, practice and service improvement across complex systems, partnerships and stakeholder groups.
- Ability to provide constructive challenge and influence senior stakeholders to drive improvement, including reporting within governance or assurance frameworks, for example boards and committees.
- Ability to design and lead co-production activity across organisations and communities.
- Analytical skills to interpret feedback and translate insight into improvement actions.
- Ability to facilitate groups, networks and co-production activity.
- Strong analytical and research skills, with the ability to map existing provision, identify gaps and opportunities and translate insight into service improvement.
- Developing and delivering training or guidance to build organisational capability.
- Digital engagement and use of online participation tools.
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