Service director jobs

The Director of Service Delivery is a senior leadership role responsible for ensuring Emerging Futures’ services are safe, high‑quality, and financially sustainable nationwide.

The role oversees supported housing for people experiencing homelessness and substance use, as well as community‑based coaching, peer support, and therapeutic programmes.

The postholder will lead large, geographically dispersed services through change and growth, using a compassionate, trauma‑informed, and values‑led approach alongside strong accountability and data‑driven decision‑making. At a pivotal time for the organisation, the role focuses on strengthening systems, leadership capability, and assurance in response to regulatory change and organisational learning.

This is a home‑based role with significant national travel, providing visible leadership and building strong relationships across diverse, remote teams.

The Organisation

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is the UK’s leading children’s charity, driven by a single, unwavering belief: every child deserves to be safe, loved, and free from abuse. Established in 1884 and operating under Royal Charter, the organisation has spent more than 140 years working to prevent cruelty to children and create lasting change in their lives.

Today, that mission has never been more urgent. As the challenges facing children continue to evolve, from the risks of online harm to complex family circumstances, the NSPCC provides vital frontline support while also working to influence the systems that protect children. Each year, it helps make over a million children safer from abuse, with thousands of adults turning to its Helpline and children and young people relying on Childline’s 24/7 counselling when they have nowhere else to turn.

Working across all four nations of the UK and the Channel Islands, the NSPCC combines direct services, education programmes, and national advocacy to drive impact far beyond its immediate reach. Central to its work is a commitment to evidence-led practice, ensuring every action is informed by what works, and that the voices and experiences of children and young people remain at the heart of a safer, more protective society.

The Role

At the heart of NSPCC is its Services Directorate, delivering practical, child-centred support that helps keep children and young people safe. These services translate the organisation’s mission into action through prevention, therapeutic support, and strengthening safeguarding practice.

The Services Director will play a critical role in shaping the NSPCC’s future as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, leading the development and delivery of a national services strategy and overseeing a complex portfolio of services.

Key aspects of the role include:

• Leading high-quality national and local services that improve outcomes for children and young people
• Shaping and delivering the services strategy to support the organisation’s wider ambitions
• Driving integration and impact across NSPCC and Childline services
• Building strong relationships with senior stakeholders, including the Chief Executive, Board, and external partners

The Person

This is an opportunity for a collaborative, values-driven leader to navigate complexity, drive meaningful change, and make a lasting difference to children’s lives at scale. The successful candidate will demonstrate the following:

• Extensive experience and proven track record at Director level of successfully developing and delivering services, including co-production and collaboration with partners, in a complex stakeholder environment that have a measurably positive impact for beneficiaries.
• Highly experienced in child protection with demonstrable knowledge and experience of child safeguarding. A social work qualification will be highly advantageous.
• Proven experience leading and managing teams of functional experts, overseeing significant income and expenditure budgets, and driving operational performance through the setting and monitoring of clear, aligned objectives.
• Experience of designing and delivering transformational change and driving performance management using appropriate quality and management methods and models, to deliver efficient and effective services.
• Demonstrable understanding of the operational context for services including the commissioning and market environment.
• Experience of managing senior stakeholders, both internally and externally, and confidence in dealing with, and influencing, senior employees and volunteer colleagues, and producing and imparting clear and non-technical advice and information.
• Values the different skills and attributes of others, utilising the insight, experience and expertise of colleagues.
• Experience of representing an organisation at the highest level. Clearly articulates a compelling vision, focussing on both what the future might hold and the more immediate stepping stones to realise those outcomes.
• Challenges constructively and evidences a willingness to receive constructive challenge in order to drive our individual and collective efforts forward.

Further Information

For further information about NSPCC, the role responsibilities, and the person we are looking for, please download the Candidate Briefing Pack.

How to Apply

If you are interested in this key role within the NSPCC and feel you have the skills and experience required, please include the following with your application:

• An up to date CV with the details of two referees (we will not contact them without your prior permission).
• A supporting statement which addresses how you meet the criteria for the role as detailed in the Person Specification. Please also discuss your motivations for applying.

Closing date for applications: Monday 1st June 2026
Preliminary interviews with Russam: 12th-16th June 2026
First stage interviews with NSPCC: Week commencing 29th June 2026
Second stage interviews with NSPCC: Week commencing 6th July 2026

At Target Ovarian Cancer, we exist to identify and tackle the biggest challenges in ovarian cancer so that it doesn’t limit life.

Too many women are diagnosed late. Too many face barriers to treatment, unequal access to care, or don’t get the support they need. We’re here to change that and we’re at a point where we can go even further.

To do that, we need strong foundations that allow us to grow our impact with confidence. That’s where this role comes in.

Why this role matters

This is not just a finance leadership position. It’s an opportunity to shape how a national charity delivers life-changing impact.

As a key member of our Senior Leadership Team, you will help ensure we have the financial strength, organisational resilience, and operational excellence needed to transform outcomes for women affected by ovarian cancer.

You’ll work closely with our CEO and Board to guide critical decisions, ensuring we’re building something ambitious and sustainable.

What you’ll lead

You will provide strategic leadership across the organisation’s core foundations:

• Financial sustainability – ensuring we can invest boldly and responsibly in our mission
• People and culture – building an inclusive, supportive environment where colleagues thrive
• Governance and risk – maintaining trust, accountability and strong decision-making
• Data and technology – enabling smarter, faster, more impactful work

You’ll bring clarity to complexity, strengthen our foundations, and help us grow with confidence and purpose.

Who we’re looking for

You’re a values-driven leader who combines commercial acumen with a deep commitment to impact.

You might come from the charity, public or private sector — but what matters most is that you:

• Understand how strong financial leadership enables real-world change
• Build trusted relationships and influence at the most senior levels
• Lead teams with empathy, clarity and high expectations
• Care deeply about equity, inclusion and improving outcomes for others
• Are motivated by the opportunity to use your expertise for a meaningful cause

A recognised accountancy qualification (or equivalent experience) is expected.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation, and particularly welcome applications from people currently underrepresented at senior levels, including those from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic backgrounds, and disabled or neurodivergent candidates.

If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process or in the role itself, we’ll work with you to make that happen.

Why join Target Ovarian Cancer?

Because this is a moment that matters.

We have a clear strategy, a powerful mission, and the opportunity to make a lasting difference — from improving early diagnosis to strengthening support and amplifying the voices of those affected.

You’ll be joining a passionate, collaborative organisation that is committed to being:

• Supportive
• Expert
• Pioneering
• Empowering
• Impactful

Alongside this, we offer flexible working, strong wellbeing support, and a culture that values your growth and contribution.

Apply

If you want your leadership to make a tangible difference — not just to an organisation, but to lives — we’d love to hear from you.

Send your CV and cover letter via the link by Sunday 17th May, midnight.

For an informal conversation about the role, please reach out to our exclusive recruitment partner, Bryony Thomas, via the Allen Lane agency website.

We reserve the right to close the application process early. As such, we highly recommend an early application.

As the Interim Director of Services, you will join our Leadership Team as the driving force behind our service delivery and performance, cultivating an inclusive and supportive culture.

The successful candidate will bring strong operational leadership and a deep understanding of mental health services. They will be committed to building trusted, empowered teams and strengthening authentic partnerships that reflect the diversity and needs of our local communities.

The Interim Director of Services will have overall responsibility for the strategic oversight and operational management of MindTHNR services, ensuring services are user-led, safe, evidence-based, and sustainable. Working as part of the Leadership Team and reporting directly to the Chief Executive, you will champion the internal culture at MindTHNR, specifically driving forward our commitment to being a truly anti-discriminatory and inclusive organisation and creating space for honest conversations and feedback.

We are looking for a candidate who has demonstrable experience in a senior operations role and is excited by the challenge of leading high-impact and successful operations teams.