Jobs in Dunstable

We're looking for a proactive and approachable Registered Manager of 16-17 Supported Accommodation who will thrive in a busy, fast-paced environment, has high standards, enjoys delivering results and believes everyone should be treated with kindness, fairness and respect.Part-time applications are also welcome.

As Registered Manager, you will oversee YMCA's Supported Accommodation Service, ensuring young people aged 16–17 receive safe, high-quality, aspirational support that enables them to belong, contribute and thrive as they prepare for adulthood and independent living.

Initially, you will lead the successful mobilisation and Ofsted registration of our first service before overseeing multiple sites as the service grows.

About the Role & Key Responsibilities

Exceptional Service Delivery

• Lead on ensuring that the day to day operation of the service is in line with the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and Supported Accommodation Quality Standards.
• Lead, supervise and develop a high-performing staff team - preparing every staff member for registration and future Ofsted inspections.
• Motivate, inspire and develop multiple supported housing teams including 4+ direct reports to successfully manage their own teams, including the delivery of recorded monthly supervision and case management.
• Complete a monthly case management review of each site with relevant manager, including an in-depth audit to ensure young people are receiving the best possible support including high quality case notes, interventions, goals, and a consistency of delivery and approach across all teams.
• Work to build effective staff teams that meet and exceed their set goals and targets and monitor their performance, pro-actively addressing any challenges with the support of HR colleagues.
• Empower your teams to meaningfully engage, involve, and devolve decision making power to young people wherever possible to enable them to highlight and design areas for service development and co-create possible solutions or opportunities for change.
• Model for your teams the use of coaching and motivational interviewing techniques to empower young people with complex needs to regularly set and achieve ambitious person-centred goals, praising them for their achievements, and celebrating where appropriate through the resident incentive scheme.
• Work with your teams to ensure all young people understand and meet the terms of their licence agreement, outlining the expectations we have of them and what they can expect in return from the team at YMCA.
• Ensure you and your teams follow our agreed policies and procedures, including our Positive Change procedure if young people do not meet the expectations shared with them in their licence agreement practicing ‘elastic tolerance’ giving them the opportunity to recognise and change their behaviour.
• Build and maintain excellent working relationships with Local Authorities and ensure the team develop and maintain excellent working relationships with Social Workers, Personal Advisers, local education providers and other partner agencies.
• Be the primary organisational representative at Ofsted inspections, commissioning meetings and placement reviews.

Collaborate with the Head of Resident Services & Head of Housing Services

• Utilising the YMCA Emotional Needs framework, ensure that each young person has a person-centred support plan in place where they set themselves goals focused on independence, emotional wellbeing, education and employment.
• To ensure young people develop practical life skills needed for independent living – including cooking, budgeting, tenancy management, health and wellbeing and positive relationships.
• To ensure that young people are supported with challenges as they present in a curious, empathetic, and solution focused way, responding in a timely manner, as part of or in addition to any planned sessions.
• To deliver a person-centred, asset-based, and trauma-informed approach at all times, recognising that one of the stages of change is relapse which is an important part of the journey towards achieving long term success.
• To ensure smooth transitions between placements.
• Share opportunities to signpost young people for specialist internal and external support with your teams wherever possible i.e. ARC, MK ACT, Mental Wealth.
• Arrange and ensure your teams actively engage in all Reflective Practice sessions designed to allow space for practitioners to consider, reflect on, and improve their practice on an ongoing basis.

Compliance

• Lead on ensuring that all aspects of service delivery, including H&S, Facilities etc are compliant with the necessary regulations, to ensure smooth Ofsted registration, working with teams from across the organisation where necessary.
• Ensure you and your teams collect and record all data required for monitoring and evaluation purposes and write regular case studies to demonstrate the ongoing impact of your work.
• Complete audits, quality assurance processes and continuous improvement plans to ensure continued compliance and success.
• Monitor incidents, complaints and outcomes for young people.
• Ensure that all contract and funding reporting is completed on time and to a high standard to protect and grow our vital commissioning and funding relationships.
• Ensure you and your teams record all information and actions taken factually and as if written to the young person on In-Form (our housing management system) and MyConcern (our safeguarding record system) in a way that you would feel happy to share with the young person if requested.
• Ensure all teams record and complete any actions needed in terms of licence management following property checks, damage to property, or abandonment of property etc.
• Receive and record all compliments and complaints about the housing service on In-Form in line with all Housing Ombudsman requirements and respond to all complaints in writing in a timely manner in line with the appropriate policy and procedure.
• Ensure that all service areas are delivered within budget, reporting any concerns to SLT in a timely manner.
• Ensure service level risk assessments and other health and safety compliance documents are completed as and when necessary for all relevant housing support areas.
• Ensure all H&S and Facilities checks are completed to ensure compliance with Ofsted requirements, raising this promptly with the SLT if Ofsted registered properties are not compliant.

Safeguarding

• Ensure safeguarding lies at the heart of every aspect of the service.
• Act as a Designated Safeguarding Lead and ensure all members of your team record any Safeguarding concerns immediately on MyConcern and make any referrals requested in line with the Safeguarding policy.
• Act as the first point of contact for on-call queries from your direct reports, escalating any significant incidents or safeguarding concerns to SLT, and ensuring adequate cover is in place where necessary.
• Ensure teams are regularly trained in Professional Boundaries to remind staff of their obligation to uphold & maintain them at all times.

About You

You're an experienced leader who enjoys raising standards and making things better. You naturally see opportunities to improve services, simplify processes and create environments that people are proud to be part of. You're equally comfortable developing long-term plans as you are supporting your team to resolve day-to-day operational challenges.

You'll ideally have:

• Experience of managing and motivating a large team providing 24/7 support across multiple sites.
• Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare, or other qualification accepted by Ofsted (or willing to work towards).
• At least 2 years experience working in supported accommodation, residential childcare leaving care or other supported housing setting for young people.
• Excellent knowledge of safeguarding, risk management and partnership working.
• Strong understanding of the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and Supported Accommodation Quality Standards.
• Experience of working in an asset-based, person-centred, trauma-informed Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE).
• Experience of effective reporting and data collection for the purposes of monitoring and evaluation.
• Excellent leadership, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Strong planning, organisational and problem-solving skills.
• The confidence to challenge poor performance, influence others and drive operational excellence.
• A proactive, customer-focused mindset with a genuine passion for raising standards.

Why Join Us?

This is an exciting opportunity to make a genuine impact within a growing organisation that's ambitious about both its people and the communities it serves.

You'll have the opportunity to:

• Make a real difference in a purpose-driven organisation.
• Build trusted relationships across the organisation.

Everyone is Welcome Here

At YMCA South Midlands, we believe everyone should feel they belong.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and communities. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the people we serve and where everyone is treated with dignity, respect and fairness.

As a charity with a Christian heritage, our faith inspires our values and our commitment to serving others. We welcome people of all faiths and none. All appointments are made on merit.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want every candidate to have the opportunity to perform at their best throughout our recruitment process.

If you have a disability, long-term health condition or are neurodivergent and would benefit from any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know when you apply or contact us at any stage. We'll be happy to discuss how we can support you.

Safer Recruitment

YMCA South Midlands is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all colleagues to share this commitment.

As part of our safer recruitment process, the successful candidate will be required to complete pre-employment checks, which will include a DBS check, verification of identity and right to work in the UK, employment references, qualification checks (where applicable) and other relevant pre-employment screening in line with our Safer Recruitment Policy.

Ready to Apply?

If you're passionate about people, thrive in a fast-paced environment and want to help build a culture where people are supported, challenged and inspired to achieve their best, we'd love to hear from you.

Job title: Finance Lead
Contract: Temporary (3+ Months)
Locatiom: Hybrid (London office/remote working)
Pay rate: £24.04 - £25.11 per hourplus holiday pay
Hours: Monday-Friday 36 hours per week


Weare supporting a small, publicly funded organisation to recruit an experienced Finance Lead on a temporary basis for an initial 3-month period. This is an excellent opportunity to join a highly respected organisation with a national remit. With a workforce of around 22 employees and a small, collaborative corporate services team, the successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring the smooth running of the finance function. The organisation operates in a public-sector environment and works closely with external stakeholders, auditors and governance committees.

Key Responsibilities

To lead on the Finance and Corporate Management Information for the Commission, including financial reporting, external returns, banking, budgeting and budget management, financial projections, capital and internal audit.

• Lead day-to-day finance operations and financial stewardship.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and financial planning activities.
• Produce management information, financial reports and expenditure analysis.
• Complete bank reconciliations, month-end processes and financial controls
• Liaise with external auditors and support audit preparation.
• Support risk management, governance and committee reporting.
• Work closely with operational managers and senior stakeholders on budget monitoring and financial matters.

About You

• Qualified accountant (ACCA, CIMA, ACA or equivalent) or a strong qualified-by-experience finance professional.
• Experience managing budgets, forecasting and financial planning.
• Strong management reporting skills, including variance analysis and financial commentary.
• Experience of month-end processes, bank reconciliations, balance sheet reconciliations and financial controls.
• Experience supporting external audits and preparing financial information for auditors.
• Ability to work effectively with senior stakeholders, budget holders and non-finance managers.
• Strong understanding of financial governance, policies and procedures.
• Experience within a public sector, regulatory, charity or publicly funded organisation would be highly desirable

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help with making the application process work for you.

For almost 50 years, Animal Aid has been one of the UK's leading animal rights organisations. As we embark on an ambitious strategy to 2030, we're looking for an exceptional Head of People and Operations to help us build the organisation that will deliver our next stage of growth. 

This is a new and critical senior leadership role. While our mission is to create lasting change for animals, it is our people who make that possible every day. You'll help ensure Animal Aid is a supportive, high-performing and values-led organisation where staff can do their very best work for animals. 

Reporting to the General Manager and working closely with the CEO and Senior Leadership Team, you'll lead our people function, oversee HR strategy and operations, support organisational development, and play a key role in finance, governance and organisational effectiveness. 

We're looking for someone who combines strong HR leadership with excellent operational skills, strategic thinking and a genuine commitment to building positive workplace cultures. 

You'll bring: 

• Significant senior-level HR and people management experience 

• Strong knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice 

• Experience developing policies, processes and organisational systems 

• Excellent relationship-building, communication and leadership skills 

• The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery 

• CIPD Level 5+ (or equivalent experience) 

• Commitment to Animal Aid's aims and values, and sympathy with our ethical vegan position. 

This is a rare opportunity to help shape the future of a respected and influential not-for-profit at a pivotal moment in its development. 

Join us and help build the organisation that will power the next generation of progress for animals. 

Please note: Animal Aid cannot provide visa sponsorship, so applicants must have the legal right to live and work in the UK to be considered for this role. You must live in the UK and we are unable to pay any relocation costs.

First-round interviews will be held online the week commencing 14th September, with the second round held in person on 21st and 23rd September.

Part-time Operations Coordinator 

Job Description and Person Specification 

Summary 

Role: Part-time Operations Coordinator (freelance – 22.5 hours per week/approximately 3 days per week) 

Contract period: 12 months (with the possibility of extension) 

Location: Home-based and Oxfordshire 

Pay: £27,850 per annum pro rata

Reports to: CEO 

Background 

Sundial Centre for Education on Harmful Practices (“Sundial” previously called Oxford Against Cutting) delivers high quality education and training on harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA) and online harms. We offer safeguarding training for teams of professionals such as teachers, police and social workers. We also deliver lessons in schools, as well as workshops for community groups. We ensure people from FGM- and HBA- affected communities and young people are at the forefront of our work and our workshops are often delivered with facilitators with lived experience. 

We are currently seeking an Operations Coordinator to provide professional and efficient and specialist administrative support.

Job description 

• To contact with schools and relevant institutions to promote Sundial’s training and workshops 

• To liaise with schools/organisations and facilitators to coordinate bookings of Sundial’s training and workshops, including logistics and timetables

• To organise team meetings

• To draft invoices and maintain records 

• To assist with keeping contact databases and records up to date 

• To draft, type and dispatch charity office correspondence 

• Maintain the bookings calendar

• Maintain DBS, safeguarding and training records

• To assist in scheduling social media posts

• To support the CEO and Research & Operations Manager where appropriate 

• To attend regular meetings as required 

Personal specification 

•  Self-starting, hardworking and committed to tackling harmful practices

•  Methodical, detail-oriented, with genuine passion for administration work

• Excellent writing skills and good telephone manner 

• Good written and verbal communication skills

• Time management and organisational skills to be able to deal with multiple tasks and a range of priorities 

• IT skills – competent in Microsoft Office applications of Word, Powerpoint and Excel and able to use Mailchimp, Canva and Word Press

• Previous experience dealing with finance processes (desirable)

• Previous experience working in the charity sector (desirable) 

How to apply: 

Please send your CV and a covering letter explaining your interest in the issues that the charity addresses and your relevant experience. Please also ensure your CV includes details of two referees. We will not contact your referees prior to interview. 

We strongly encourage applications from people from minoritised communities and people from FGM- and HBA-affected communities. 

Applicants called to interview will be invited to complete a written task.

The appointment is subject to an enhanced DBS check and references. 

Please submit your application by midday, Friday 11th September.

Interviews will take place on 24th & 25th September.