Head of services jobs

Head of Communities and Prevention Services

Job title: Head of Community and Prevention Services

Salary: £55,000 FTE

Hours: 30 – 37.5 hours

Contract Type: Permanent

 Start date: ASAP

Reporting to: Chief Executive

Line Reports: x2 -3 (tbc)

Place of work: DENS locations in Hemel Hempstead/Some home working will be possible.

Overall Job Purpose:

 As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will be instrumental in developing and driving forward DENS community and prevention services, during an exciting period for the charity, as we move into the new DENS Centre and relocate our Foodbank. As an ambassador both internally and externally, you will work collaboratively with the CEO and the wider leadership team to deliver DENS strategy and role model organisational values. With a focus on building and maintaining a strong network of external relationships, you will identify opportunities for growth and partnership working. You will be responsible for a diverse range of services in the community.

About You

You are a strategic and visionary leader with a solid background in the homelessness sector, a deep understanding of the challenges faced by the client community, and a firm grasp of safeguarding principles. With proven line management experience, you know how to motivate teams, coach peers, and foster a collaborative, high-performing culture. You excel at building strong external partnerships with local government and funders, using your exceptional interpersonal and communication skills to influence, negotiate, and champion DENS’s strategy. Highly organised and proactive, you bring strong project delivery skills to drive service innovation, such as leading the long-term development of the new DENS Centre, while remaining deeply committed to equity, diversity, and DENS’s mission to help rebuild lives.

How to apply

Read the full Job Description & Personal Specification.

If you match our criteria:

· Fill in the DENS Application Form including your Supporting Statement

· Closing date for receipt of applications is 9am 11th August 2026

· We may interview, and offer the role to a suitable candidate before the deadline

We will not accept a general CV for this role

Please advise us should you require adjustments to be made for you at interview.

Please advise us should you require adjustments to be made for you at interview.

 Extra info re benefits……

Why join DENS?

You’ll be part of a supportive, friendly, and dedicated team of fundraisers who foster a collaborative "One Team, One Goal" culture. We value and celebrate every member's contribution, ensuring you thrive in our positive working environment. Enjoy flexible working arrangements that support your work-life balance, along with ongoing training and development to enhance your skills. Your fundraising efforts will directly contribute to creating positive change and making a lasting impact in our community.

Benefits include:

• 25 days or equivalent annual leave, excluding Bank and Public Holidays
• One additional day of annual leave after each 5 years’ service, up to 3 days.
• Flexible working environment
• Medicash plan, including Virtual GP, some dental and optical cover
• Employee assistance programme – 24/7 mental health support helpline
• Blue Light Card discounts
• Professional development and training, including on-going access to e-learning platform
• Staff Networks, Wellbeing Days and whole team events
• One day to volunteer for DENS or another organisation
• NEST pension scheme

About DENS

Our aim is to be the first port of call for people in Dacorum who are facing homelessness, poverty and social exclusion; to support and empower them to take the next positive step in their lives, secure and maintain a long-term housing option and be an active member of their community.

We ensure individuals have access to temporary and short-term accommodation, and individuals and families have access to emergency food and provisions. We provide a range of services so that people can develop the resilience, skills, and confidence to take the next step in their lives.

At TLG, we’re passionate about building an exceptional team to help us bring fullness of life for every child, no matter what struggles they face. We’re excited to offer a unique opportunity for a motivated, mission-driven individual to join us as Therapeutic Hub Head of Service in Greenwich.

We’re looking for a skilled and innovative individual to lead one of our pioneering Therapeutic Hubs, developed in partnership with a local church. This role sits at the front line of responding to the growing mental and emotional health needs of children, young people and families, offering high-quality therapeutic support to intervene early and prevent crisis.

As Head of Service for the Hub, you will provide strong clinical leadership, delivering targeted therapeutic support for complex cases while overseeing referrals and therapeutic pathways within the Hub. You will lead and support a multidisciplinary team of volunteer counsellors, trainees and therapeutic coaches, modelling trauma‑informed, relational practice shaped by PACE values and reflective supervision.

Alongside direct delivery, you will play a key role in developing the Hub’s reach and effectiveness, working collaboratively with TLG, Emmanuel Church London (the Greenwich Hub partnering church) and local referrers. Safeguarding, quality and professional excellence are central to the role, with responsibility for ensuring the Hub is a safe, welcoming and effective space for children and families from diverse backgrounds to find healing and hope.

Due to the pioneering nature of this role, its scope may initially feel broad, as a key focus in the Hub’s early stages will be on shaping and developing the service with the church and central TLG team. TLG has a clear and realistic understanding of time and capacity, allowing the role to grow at a manageable and sustainable pace. As the Hub becomes more established, you will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with the team to refine and focus the role in line with emerging needs and capacity. You will be supported throughout by a strong central team, working alongside you to ensure the role remains both manageable and impactful as it evolves.

If you are a skilled clinician with a heart for children, families and the local church, and you’re excited to help shape an innovative model of care, we would love to hear from you.

TLG is a Christian charity and, as a team, we want to bring our faith to the work we do; as such, we are recruiting an individual with a strong and vibrant Christian faith. We would welcome applications from candidates from diverse backgrounds to enable us to better reflect the needs of the communities we serve.

Hours: Part-time, 2.5 days (18.75 hrs) per week (0.5 FTE)

Closing Date: Sunday 23rd August

Initial Interviews: TBC – Online

Final Interviews: TBC – at Emmanuel Church London

Job Description: Head of Services

Reports to: Chief Executive

Location: Woking, Surrey

Hours of Work: Full time, 37.5hrs per week

Salary: £42,000 - £45,000 (DOE, pro rata)

About Us:

At York Road Project, we are dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals experiencing homelessness in Woking. We believe in harnessing the unique strengths and potential of each individual to create a pathway towards stability and independence.

The Role:

We are looking for a proactive and organised Head of Services,  providing full operational leadership across our Accommodation Services and Day Centre Services, ensuring safe, consistent and effective delivery across all frontline provision.

This includes:

• Direct Access Accommodation (10 beds)
• Move-on properties (14 beds)
• Day Centre Services
• Frontline staff across both services

The role holds full responsibility for day-to-day operational delivery and decision-making within services, ensuring they run safely and effectively, with only critical or strategic issues escalated to the Chief Executive.

The role also provides management oversight of property, compliance and health and safety functions delivered by the Facilities Manager and wider staff teams.

Key Responsibilities:

Service Oversight

• Provide operational leadership across both services, ensuring safe, consistent and effective delivery.
• Support and enable staff delivering day-to-day services, providing clear leadership, guidance and appropriate autonomy within agreed standards.
• Maintain service quality, structure and consistency, stepping in where required to resolve operational issues.
• Promote a collaborative, trauma-informed working culture where staff are empowered to deliver services effectively.
• Use service delivery data, client feedback and staff insight to support continuous improvement.
• Ensure accurate recording of service activity and outcomes is maintained.

Accommodation & Day Centre Services

• Provide management oversight of Direct Access Accommodation and move-on properties, ensuring safe and effective delivery.
• Ensure occupancy levels, allocations and housing processes are effectively managed by operational staff and administrative support functions.
• Maintain operational oversight of property standards, compliance systems, inspections, maintenance reporting and fire safety processes delivered by the Facilities Manager and wider staff teams.
• Ensure compliance with HMO requirements, supported housing standards and organisational procedures through monitoring and escalation where required.
• Provide leadership and support to staff responsible for housing management functions, ensuring systems are followed consistently.

Safeguarding & Risk Management

• Provide oversight of safeguarding across all services, ensuring procedures are followed consistently.
• Ensure safeguarding systems, risk assessments and incident management processes are implemented effectively.
• Monitor safeguarding activity and ensure appropriate action and escalation.
• Support staff in managing safeguarding concerns, complex needs and high-risk incidents.
• Ensure safeguarding concerns are escalated in line with organisational and statutory requirements.

Health & Safety

• Provide management oversight of health and safety across all services, ensuring safe and compliant working environments.
• Work alongside the Facilities Manager to ensure health and safety policies, risk assessments, inspections and safe systems of work are effectively implemented and maintained.
• Monitor operational health and safety activity within services, ensuring hazards, incidents and safety concerns are identified, recorded and escalated appropriately.
• Ensure safe systems of work are followed across services, including lone working procedures and site safety processes.
• Escalate serious health and safety concerns in line with organisational procedures.

Staff Leadership & Management

• Provide supportive leadership across both services, fostering a stable and positive working environment.
• Lead supervision, reflective practice and performance management conversations.
• Promote a trauma-informed approach across the team.
• Build a culture of accountability, openness and professionalism.
• Oversee recruitment, induction, training and development.
• Manage rotas and staffing levels to support service delivery and wellbeing.
• Ensure staff are supported in managing complex and challenging situations.

Reporting, Service Development & Operational Oversight

• Oversee referrals, allocations and engagement pathways across services.
• Maintain oversight of operational data, ensuring accuracy and reliability.
• Monitor service performance, demand, outcomes and operational pressures.
• Produce regular reports for the CEO covering activity, performance, risks and outcomes.
• Analyse data and feedback to identify trends and service improvement opportunities.
• Support development of effective client progression pathways.

On-Call & Operational Cover

• Participate in a Monday–Friday on-call rota.
• Respond to urgent operational incidents and staffing issues.

Professional Standards & Ways of Working

• Work in a trauma-informed, person-centred and non-judgemental way across all service delivery.
• Maintain confidentiality and comply with GDPR and organisational policies.
• Work collaboratively with partner agencies to support positive outcomes for clients
• Maintain clear and appropriate professional boundaries with clients, staff and external partners.
• Manage workload independently, prioritising competing demands effectively.

Knowledge and Skills:

Essential

• Significant experience leading frontline or community-based services delivering high‑quality, trauma‑informed emotional and practical support.
• Strong track record of supervising, developing, and supporting staff and volunteers, including performance management and professional growth.
• Demonstrable experience of safeguarding adults and/or children at risk, with confident use of safeguarding processes.
• Proven ability to oversee operational service delivery in complex or high‑pressure environments and make sound, independent decisions.
• Experience setting service aims, outcome objectives, and KPIs, and reporting performance to senior leadership, commissioners, or governance boards.
• Ability to reach, engage, and develop services for vulnerable or underserved groups.
• Experience working collaboratively with partner agencies and external stakeholders to deliver integrated support.
• Skilled in managing competing priorities while maintaining service quality and compliance.

Desirable

• Working within homelessness, supported housing or related sectors.
• Delivery of trauma-informed services.
• Involvement in service development, redesign or improvement projects
• Setting and monitoring KPIs or outcome frameworks
• Managing budgets or operational resources.
• Working with volunteers in service delivery.

Personal Attributes

• Ability to manage competing priorities under pressure.
• Resilient and confident working in complex environments.
• Commitment to supporting people experiencing homelessness.
• Positive attitude, maintains a positive attitude even in challenging situations.
• Future-orientated, has a forward-thinking perspective, anticipates future needs or issues and plans accordingly.
• Team worker, demonstrates a commitment to strong collaborative work by actively engaging with colleagues, volunteers, external partners and to be accountable for the outcome.
• Ownership, a willingness to take ownership of tasks and projects and to be accountable for the outcomes.
• Aligned with the values and mission of York Road Project.

Benefits:

• Holiday entitlement of 25 days per annum, plus bank holidays (pro-rata) 
• Pension Scheme.
• Birthday day off.
• Medicash healthcare plan,
• Flexible working and hybrid working opportunities. 

Hours: 4 days per week (30 hours) between 9.00am and 5.00pm

Clolsing date:  Tuesday 30th June at 11pm

Interview date: Friday 10th July

Salary: £48,000 p/a pro rata 

Contract: 1 year fixed term (covering a maternity leave position)

The Southmead Project is an equal opportunities employer providing free specialist counselling and support for survivors of abuse across Bristol and surrounding areas. Our recruitment is done in line with safer recruitment practices. We welcome people of any race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, class, ability, language, religion and cultural background. We value the differences between people and affirm each person as an individual.

We value our team very highly and pride ourselves on being a supportive employer. We provide the following benefits to encourage a supported, well-rounded and enriched practice:

• Paid supervision for 1.5 hours per month, with an external supervisor of that person’s choice

• Line management for 1 hour per month

• Training budget of £500 per year to spend on relevant training of that person’s choice

• Employer pension contribution of 5%

• Generous annual leave allowance and paid sick leave

• Cycle to work scheme

• Optional private counselling for up to 12 sessions per year with an external counsellor of that person’s choice

Therapeutic Management

• To manage and support a staff team, including the Head of Active Recovery, a Counselling Lead, Nexus Counselling Manager, a Family Support Group Facilitator, and administrators.

• To oversee all of the charity’s therapeutic services and ensure that efficient and high-quality services are delivered.

• To be the charity’s Designated Safeguarding Lead to respond effectively and efficiently to safeguarding concerns.

• To ensure staff are sufficiently trained in adult and child safeguarding and that training records are kept up-to-date.

• To oversee the charity’s pre-trial therapy processes and be a point of contact for the police.

• To develop and improve the charity’s therapeutic services, including any expansion of the services.

• To manage therapeutic recruitment, inductions and training.

• To hold monthly staff meetings and service team meetings when needed.

• To oversee the individual and group supervision arrangements and reporting for all staff. 

• To manage and have overall responsibility for the ongoing use of an online Case Management System, ensuring that data is inputted accurately for reporting purposes.

• To support the charity’s quality assurance and development of its services through monitoring  and responding to client feedback and outcomes data.

• To develop the charity’s survivor voice work and ensure that the charity’s services are informed by survivors and their lived experience. 

• To manage any complaints raised by clients. 

Leadership

• To work collaboratively as part of a Leadership Team to make decisions and resolve issues affecting the day-to-day running of the charity and management of its staff team.

• To strategically plan and develop the therapeutic services of the charity.

• To develop relationships with partner agencies and professionals to raise awareness of our therapeutic services and strengthen our work.

• To build and maintain a positive working relationship with the Board of Trustees.

• To attend and contribute to trustee meetings and trustee working group meetings, reporting on the therapeutic services and any clinical matters arising. 

• To assist in promoting the charity by attending all relevant meetings directly connected with your work.

• To undertake any other duties appropriate to the needs of the charity.

Client Work

• To provide one-to-one counselling for survivors of abuse of all genders, both online / by phone and face-to-face, with a caseload of approximately 4 clients. 

• To maintain confidential and accurate counselling notes of all sessions.

• To attend monthly one-to-one clinical supervision with a supervisor approved by the Southmead Project. (Supervision is a requirement of this charity as members of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy).

• To attend monthly one-to-one line management meetings.

• To work to the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy ethical guidelines.

• To work within the framework, spirit and ethos of the Southmead Project’s Equal Opportunities Policy, and actively engage in promoting the policy within the charity and in all dealings with clients and other agencies.

• All members of staff, paid and unpaid, are required to undergo the enhanced level of Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Please see attached job description for full details. 

The cost of living, loneliness and the breakdown of community has driven more than 6.3m into deep poverty in the UK. But, at Christians Against Poverty UK (“CAP”), we won’t sit back and let poverty destroy lives. Our vision is to see Transformed Lives, Thriving Churches, and an End to UK Poverty.

We are different to other debt charities. We work by catalysing a church-based movement against poverty.  Our local CAP workers and volunteers come alongside people in financial crisis or vulnerability with practical help and the good news of Jesus. Last year nearly 7000 households with debt were supported by our services, 64% were less anxious about their finances afterwards and almost 2,000 people we worked with became debt free in 2025.

Underpinning these outcomes are our products that include Debt Help, Job Clubs, Life Skills and Money Coaching. It is the development of these offerings that form the core focus of the role – and through better integration and innovation we see huge potential.

The role reports to the Chief Agility Officer, and is the chief service architect of the CAP church-based movement’s ecosystem. With a seven figure budget and a lean but capable team of three, it will lead our transition towards a modular suite of services, ensuring every interaction across our audiences are seamless, dignifying and high-impact. It is responsible for balancing safety, regulation and theology with flexibility and innovation, enabling a national movement to grow at scale.

If you bring a track record of developing and executing outstanding service-based products we would love to hear from you. For more details including how to apply please see the application pack below. Closing date 31 August 2026.