We’re looking for an experienced, dedicated and resilient Cluster Manager to join our Complex Learning Disabilities Services in Hertfordshire.
£46,350.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week. Benefits include 25 days Annual Leave, pension schemes, staff discounts, healthcare and career progression.
Want to feel like you’re making a difference? You’ll feel at home here.
Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures - we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.
The Cluster Manager will be responsible for the operations of a small group of specialist services, which support customers who are leaving restrictive environments to live in their own homes. The role will provide line management for Deputy Managers and support teams, ensuring that compliance with organisational, legal regulations and those of the local authority are adhered to and the quality of support is of the highest standard possible, ensuring excellent quality of life for customers and a good working environment for colleagues. The role will require the individual to be the CQC registered manager for services, making the person the accountable person with the Care Quality Commission, as well as with commissioners and key stakeholders.
The role will also require the individual to embed a Positive Behavioural Approach through coaching and leadership. Co-production and a person-centred approach are essential to this role.
All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.
What you’ll do:
Customer
- Ensure the customer is central in their support and a co-production model is promoted.
- Adopt active support to reinforce the PBS model through coaching and leadership, ensuring all staff are competent and confident.
- Work with teams to reduce incidents promoting quality of life and increasing community access.
- Work to the principles of STOMP.
- Ensure all services are effectively managed to deliver excellent support to all customers
- Support assessments of complex needs referrals
Quality, Safeguarding and Safety
- Be the CQC registered manager across services within the cluster
- Promote a person-centred culture and one of co-production
- Ensure that Services are striving for continuous improvement
- Lead on improvement action plans following quality audits and inspections and ensure improvement plans are prepared, monitored, complied with and improvements embedded
- Effective management of any safeguarding incidents and appropriate escalation of any emerging risks
- Work efficiently on HR issues and address in a prompt manner
- Work in partnership with all stakeholders, promoting a positive working relationship.
Financial and Performance
- Ensure improvements in services result in sustained financial and performance delivery
- Analyse and manage service budgets in a timely manner
- Support the filling of voids
Employees
- Be a role model to the team always ensuring a person-centred approach
- Motivate and inspire colleagues in striving for the best they can to ensure services for customers are the best they can be
- Coach employees and managers in having a person-centred approach
- Support people who report to the role in supervision and appraisal
- Lead on safeguarding, recruitment and contractual issues with the funding authority
- Manage employees and resources as and when required to implement change and ensure improvement is embedded
Stakeholder Management
- Lead on working with commissioners and any external partners to address any areas of concern or improvement
- Ensuring improvements and learnings are shared with the wider organisation
- Embedding improvements in cross cutting gaps in policy and procedure
Leadership
- Keep up to date on any regulatory, legal or best practice changes across the specialisms
- Ensure compliance with all relevant policies and procedures across area of responsibility
- Demonstrate the company values and establish a positive/coherent culture that aligns with the organisation's strategic objectives. Ensure that the communications flow up/down and across the organisation is effective and supports corporate messaging
- Commitment to on-going professional development.
- Participate in the on-call for the organisation
This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead
About you:
- Proven experience of managing more than one service across a geographical area.
- The ability to quickly identify key areas of improvement required and to be able to effectively plan and implement the changes required
- Previous experience of working with management contracts and agreements
- Previous experience of delivering regulatory compliance
- Excellent prioritisation and organisational skills
- Experience of conducting investigations for serious incidents
- Ability to coach and develop staff
- Excellent relationship building skills at all levels
- Experience of successfully developing teams across a wide geographical spread
- High levels of written and verbal communication
- Flexibility to move within any of our specialisms
- Ability to turn organisational vision into reality for front line employees
- Resilience and able to manage self and effective delivery
- Ability to cope with change in a fast paced and challenging environment
What you’ll bring:
- Have operational management experience in social care.
- Have supported people who require bespoke, specialist support.
- Hold a relevant RMA/NVQ Level 4 or other business/management qualification.
- Have relevant professional memberships and/or specialist qualifications. (Internal applicants not holding these qualifications will not be automatically disqualified but, dependent on assessment of performance in current role, potential, skills, knowledge, abilities & general competence, may be required to undertake to study for them
About us:
Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 120 services, providing support to around 6000 customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:
- We focus on Excellence and innovation.
- We are Caring and Compassionate.
- We are Inclusive and Trusted.
- We work in Partnership and are One-Team.
Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.
If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.
We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.
