Head of service jobs

Are you an experienced leader with a passion for delivering high-quality advice and driving meaningful change? Join Shelter Scotland as our Head of Services and be a part of the Community & Services Management Team, playing a key role in shaping and delivering our Strategic Plan.

About the role

This post is responsible for the management and development of the Housing Law Service, the Telephone & Online Advice Services and the Central Support team within Community & Services. Collaboration and joined up working are vital to effectively support the delivery of the Shelter Scotland Strategic Plan.

Role specifics

As Head of Services, you’ll share responsibility for leading Shelter Scotland’s Community & Services department, helping to develop and deliver our annual operational plan in line with our Strategic Plan. You’ll work across teams to deliver key projects and programmes, ensure strong governance, quality and compliance, and use evidence and insight from our services to drive improvement and influence change. You’ll jointly lead high-quality advice services, take shared responsibility for safeguarding, manage budgets effectively and support income generation by building strong internal relationships and contributing to compelling cases for support.

Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society. 

Benefits 

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme. 

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About the team 

Shelter Scotland is a one of six Directorates of Shelter. Led by the Director of Shelter Scotland, the Directorate comprises two departments: Community & Services and Communications & Advocacy. Both departments are led by an Assistant Director. 

About Shelter Scotland 

Shelter Scotland is Scotland’s national housing and homelessness charity. Our vision is of a home for everyone in Scotland. For over 50 years, the way we drive change has remained the same. We advise and support people in housing need today and use the insight we gain to inform our campaigns to change tomorrow. We also raise professional standards for those working in Scotland’s housing and homelessness sector by offering a broad range of training courses. 

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday thousands of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter Scotland. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

Safeguarding statement 

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter Scotland is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies. 

Shelter Scotland does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them. 

Stewardship serves Christian donors, workers, charities and churches in the UK and beyond called to faithfully steward their personal, professional or ministry resources for God's glory. We are now recruiting for the Head of Accounts Examination Services. This is an opportunity to lead a growing team, working to support churches and Christian charities through finance and play a significant part in driving forward our mission.

Our aim is to improve governance in the Church and Christian charity sector. You will have the opportunity to shape and develop an already highly regarded and growing service.  You will lead a dedicated team to deliver high-quality accounting and examination services, ensuring our ministry partners receive mission-aligned professional support.

This role offers an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic and strategic leader who is motivated by serving the organisation’s Christian mission and committed to delivering excellence. As Head of Accounts Examination Services, you will provide both operational and strategic leadership to a committed team, ensuring the effective delivery of high-quality accounting and examination services.

Occupational Requirement (OR)

As a result of our Christian ethos, this post is covered by an Occupational Requirement (OR) under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010. The successful applicant will be expected to be a practising Christian and to clearly demonstrate a personal commitment to the mission, principles, values and practices contained in our Ethos Statement, by:

· Active membership of local church congregation.

An understanding of the faith aspects of the work of Christian charities, including the preparedness to pray with colleagues, where appropriate.

Sands is looking to recruit an outstanding and people-focused candidate to lead our Bereavement Support Services Team. This is a high-profile role which is responsible for ensuring that all those approaching Sands for support receive an excellent service that meets their individual needs, that the quality of support provided remains consistently high and all team members are appropriately managed and supported. The role provides an opportunity to make real change by driving the organisational and team strategies to make the support that Sands provides accessible to bereaved families from all backgrounds within the community, as well as groups at higher risk of experiencing stillbirth and neonatal death.

With demonstrable experience of delivering and managing trauma informed bereavement support services and counselling at a strategic level, you will possess an excellent understanding of grief theory and bereavement support and be qualified accordingly. Additionally, you will have experience of working with and providing services for diverse communities and have a good understanding of their specific needs.

As this role will require you to lead a highly motivated and diverse team who are all home-based, you will have excellent people management skills and be able to support your team accordingly. You will have outstanding verbal and written communication skills and be able to develop high quality services which remain responsive to the changing needs of external stakeholders. With excellent relationship building skills, you will demonstrate a high level of empathy in all aspects of your work.

A high level of project leadership skills is essential, as is the ability to produce complex statistical reports and analyse data and trends. A thorough understanding of safeguarding in the context of baby loss and a commitment to ensuring excellent practice is also required.

This is a key role at Sands heading up the UK’s leading bereavement support services team for baby loss. It is an opportunity to make real change by driving the organisational and team strategies to reach more people and higher risk groups, through traditional and digital/innovative channels. Leading a dedicated team of around 16 staff you can shape the future of service delivery, and ensure Sands provides support whenever and wherever people need us.

You will work with colleagues and teams across the organisation to ensure best practice is embedded at all key touch points and play a role ensuring that significant events and moments in the year are providing the right support, information and activities.

You will work with the team, Director and CEO to help drive change and best practice in the sector through thought leadership and implementation of best practice.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced data & analytics professional to join the Performance team in London.

Are you ready to make a different in a values-driven organisation?

Can you transform varied data into meaningful insights & communicate effectively with diverse audiences to enhance organisational performance?

Do you excel at applying critical thinking to evaluate service delivery models and drive systemic change to improve outcomes?

If you are passionate about using data to tackle complex problems, improve systems and shape strategic decisions, we want to hear from you…

What we offer

At Victim Support, we are committed to attracting and retaining the best talent. Our competitive rewards and benefits package includes:

• Flexible Working Options: Including hybrid working.
• Generous Annual Leave: 28 days plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 33 days plus Bank Holidays, with options to buy or sell annual leave.
• Birthday Leave: An extra day off for your birthday.
• Pension Plan: 5% employer contribution.
• Enhanced Allowances: Enhanced sick pay, maternity, and paternity payments.
• Exclusive Discounts: High Street, retail, holiday, gym, entertainment, and leisure discounts.
• Financial Wellbeing: Access to our financial wellbeing hub and salary-deducted finance.
• Wellbeing Support: Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support.
• Inclusive Networks: Access to EDI networks and colleague cafes.
• Sustainable Travel: Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loans.
• Career Development: Ongoing training and support with opportunities for career progression.

About the Role:

As a Deputy Head of Service for Performance & Quality you will:

• Proactively analyse data from diverse sources, transforming it into powerful & useful insights for our service
• Produce management information, impact analysis, service modelling & customer-focused performance tools
• Monitor service performance & identify risks to support & enable data-driven decision-making & continuous improvement
• Be a key member of a multi-disciplinary network of experts within Victim Support's London Management Team
• Work in partnership with key stakeholders across London's criminal justice system such as the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), London's Police forces & the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)

Key Responsibilities:

• Producing monthly & quarterly reports for funders to evidence KPIs; identify trends, risks & service improvements
• Developing & iterating analytical pipelines to deliver high quality insight on service performance
• Meeting with front-line teams to explore service delivery & performance data
• Delivering insights & actions to stakeholders regarding service effectiveness
• Identifying areas of the service where data science & emerging technologies can be applied to improve efficiency, such as AI
• Collaborating with data professionals across Victim Support's national data function and within MOPAC's Data & Insight function

You will need:

• Experience using either Python or R to bring data together from diverse sources and prepare for analysis using cleaning and preparation techniques
• Extensive practical experience of using innovative platforms for data visualization including R Shiny, Power BI and/or Tableau
• A degree or equivalent professional experience in subjects such as Statistics, Data/ Computer Science, Economics, Public Policy, or the Sciences would be desirable

Please see attached Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

About Us:

Victim Support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting people affected by crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales. We put them at the heart of our organisation and our support and campaigns are informed and shaped by them and their experiences.

Victim Support are committed to recruiting with care and to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Background checks and Disclosed Barring Service checks may be required.

At Victim Support, we're proud to celebrate diversity and create a workplace where everyone feels they belong. We're committed to being an antiracist organisation, and we actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those from Black and Asian and other minoritised communities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we will offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet all essential criteria for a job where it is practicable to do so. We are also happy to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment and selection process.

How to apply:

To apply for this role please follow the link below to the Jobs page on our website and complete the application form demonstrating how you meet the essential shortlisting criteria.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, if we receive enough suitable applications to take forward to interview prior to the published closing date. If you have already registered & started an application, then we will contact you to advise of the amended closing date wherever possible.

Working closely with your co‑head, you will provide shared leadership to a dynamic social justice team, supporting excellent casework, nurturing staff development, and building strong, values‑led partnerships. Your remit will include strengthening and growing our legal aid services, securing sustainable funding to support community‑focused work, and influencing policy and practice to improve access to legal aid for the communities we serve.

Please Note: We do not expect the appointee to generate legal aid income at a multiple of their salary (although we do want to build this area of income initially to at least £25,000 to £30,000 per annum across the team). The role is focused on developing legal aid practice and income across the team, as part of a mixed-income organisational model.

As Joint Head of Legal Services, you will:
•Support Strategic Development: Contribute to developing the direction and priorities of Release’s legal services, including expanding legal aid work and strengthening access to justice.
•Provide Practice Leadership: Support a multidisciplinary team of solicitors, legal advisers and volunteers to deliver excellent, trauma-informed legal support.
•Ensure Quality and Compliance: Help ensure consistent regulatory compliance and quality assurance across legal casework, including legal aid requirements.
•Strengthen and Grow Services: Help develop and improve legal service delivery models, including responding to emerging needs and client priorities.
•Contribute to Systemic Change: Support Release’s wider mission by helping connect legal services with policy, research, and advocacy work.

This role is ideal for someone with strong legal aid expertise and management potential, who wants to take a meaningful step into senior leadership whilst continuing to centre client care, justice and harm reduction.

Person Specification

Essential
•Minimum 6 years + post qualified solicitor with a current practising certificate, and
•Minimum 4 years + substantial experience in legal aid casework, supervision and/or compliance, and
•Minimum 2 years + experience of supervising others and/or management experience and
•Substantial experience in public law, housing law, and/or community care law within legal aid practice, and
•Strong commitment to social justice, harm reduction, and trauma-informed practice.

Desirable

Experience working in a charity or non‑profit organisation.
Experience supporting, contributing to, or developing test case work, policy‑linked casework, or other legal work aimed at achieving wider systemic or community impact, including through indirect, collaborative, or emerging roles.
Understanding of the impact of drug policy and criminalisation on marginalised communities.
Experience in developing new services, partnerships, or funding‑linked delivery models.

We are committed to building a legal services team that reflects the communities we work alongside and embeds equity, inclusion, and accessibility at every level of our organisation. We aim to support people to grow into leadership roles with confidence, recognising that talent and potential are developed through opportunity as much as experience. If you are motivated by community impact, collaboration, and strengthening access to justice through legal aid, we encourage applicants who meet the core requirements to apply, even if their experience does not align with every element of the person specification. We particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience of marginalisation and from groups currently under‑represented in senior legal leadership.