Volunteer peer support worker jobs

Chief Executive Officer - The Brain Charity

Location: Liverpool-based - occasional travel across Merseyside and the UK

Salary: circa £65,000 (+ 10% company pension on successful completion of probation)

Contract: permanent, full-time

Are you ready to lead a values-driven charity that supports people affected by neurological conditions and their families across Merseyside and nationally?

The Brain Charity is a Liverpool-based national charity supporting adults, children and their families affected by any of more than 600 neurological and related conditions. Since our roots in Merseyside community neurology (1992) we have grown a centre-based offer, hospital liaison roles and a national information, training and support service - from practical welfare and legal advice, counselling and rehabilitation (Neuro Gym) to peer connection via The Brain Food Café and employer/school training. We put lived experience, co-production and neuro-inclusive practice at the heart of everything we do.

As our next Chief Executive, you will:

• Strategic leadership: Develop and deliver a 5-year strategy and an operational plan with clear priorities that secures the charity’s long-term impact and sustainable growth.
• Values leadership: Model and embed the charity’s person-centred, inclusive and co-productive values across services and culture.
• Growth & income diversification: Lead development of diverse income streams - fundraising, legacies and commercial activity - to strengthen financial resilience.
• Partnerships & advocacy: Strengthen senior relationships with NHS partners, local authorities, commissioners and wider stakeholders; amplify the charity’s voice in neuro-health and community settings.
• Service quality & impact: Embed rigorous outcome measurement, quality assurance and contract compliance so our impact drives commissioning and service development.
• People leadership: Stabilise staff morale, lead and develop a high-performing Senior Leadership Team, and promote wellbeing and inclusive working practices.
• Governance & financial stewardship: Provide timely, high-quality reporting to the Board; oversee budgeting, forecasting and risk management to safeguard financial sustainability.

Who you are:

• An experienced Chief Executive or senior director with a minimum of three years’ experience at CEO or equivalent level.
• Proven track record of winning and managing commissioned contracts and delivering against local authority or health contracts.
• Skilled at building strategic partnerships and commanding credibility with senior stakeholders across health, local government and the voluntary sector.
• Confident at leading turnaround and financial sustainability work - experienced in budgeting, forecasting and making difficult decisions when needed.
• A values-led, collaborative leader with high emotional intelligence, resilience and a commitment to co-production and inclusion.

Why The Brain Charity?

• Lead a respected, person-centred organisation with a unique, wide-ranging offer across advice, emotional support, rehabilitation, social connection and national training.
• A high-impact role where you can stabilise the organisation, professionalise fundraising and scale services strategically.
• Liverpool-based centre with hybrid working and national reach - a chance to influence neuro-health practice and commissioning across the UK.

Please see the attached Recruitment Brief with details on how to apply.

Closing date for applications: 9am, Monday 10th November 2025

As leading charity recruitment specialists and a certified B Corp, Harris Hill is committed to high and ever-improving standards of equitable and inclusive recruitment. We actively welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, sexuality and other protected characteristics.

We have an exciting opportunities for a Qualified and/ or Trainee Multidisciplinary Advocates to join our established and friendly Advocacy Team. 

We work for Rethink Advocacy, which is part of Rethink Mental Illness a national charity that has been transforming the lives of people severely affected by mental illness for over 50 years.

As an unqualified, inexperienced independent multi-disciplinary advocate, you will be required to enrol on the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification and complete the course within a set timescale, using protected study time to focus on this. You will shadow experienced team members and then be observed providing advocacy to those who are eligible for our services until you are able to pick up a caseload of your own. You will receive training in the different remits of advocacy, instructed and non-instructed advocacy and safeguarding and be supported to develop a thorough understanding of the role and boundaries of advocacy. The role involves acting on the instruction of the people you support, empowering them to have a say in their situation, to understand their rights and any options open to them and supporting them towards self-advocacy. When providing non-instructed advocacy, you will ensure that the unique preferences and views of the person are taken into consideration in any decisions made by care providers.

As a qualified and / or experienced independent advocate, you will provide statutory and / or non-statutory independent advocacy to those who are eligible for the service within the community or care settings. This may include secure facilities, hospitals, care homes, supported living facilities and people within their own homes or temporary accommodation.

You will provide statutory and / or non-statutory independent advocacy within the community or care settings. This may include secure facilities, hospitals, care homes, supported living facilities and people within their own homes or temporary accommodation.

Advocacy is having someone by your side, and on your side, when you want to be more involved in decisions about your care, treatment and living arrangements. An advocate can talk through the situation you’re currently in and the options open to you. They can help you decide what you want and then communicate it to people. This is particularly useful if it’s difficult to understand things or to speak up and be heard.

Our Wandsworth and Richmond service provides a range of specialist advocacy services to Adults (and children) as appropriate across a range of disciplines.  We provide a range of statutory (instructed or non-instructed) and non-statutory advocacy support in secure units, hospitals, care settings or in the community, working with a range of health and social care partners.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion 

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer.  We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter. 

We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation 

We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation. You can read more about our progress here. 

Job Purpose

This role sits within our crisis alternative service, Safe Space, which is a core and out of hours service providing a safe and welcoming space for people who are feeling distressed and experiencing crisis. Our aim of the service is to keep individuals well in the community and prevent readmission into hospital. The service operates 365 days a year from 14:00-22:00pm across all of our boroughs.

Staff within the service will provide person-centred, practical and emotional support, face to face or via telephone or virtual on a one-to-one basis to individuals experiencing mental health crisis or preventing crisis.

The objectives of the service include:

• To improve the mental wellbeing of people experiencing mental health and social crisis in HFEH.
• To proactively work with keeping people well in the community to reduce re-admitters into hospitals by working with WL NHS teams (e.g. discharge, LPS, CATT, MINT and SPA)
• To provide a true alternative to A&E via a non-clinical drop-in service to support clients
• To provide support to clients accessing the service- for instance: signposting, de-escalation and crisis recovery planning.
• To contribute to an improvement in individual mental wellbeing.
• To remain a source of independent support for all clients.
• To treat service users with respect, dignity and personalised support
• To raise awareness of mental health services available with the goal to improve long term mental health and reduce social isolation
• To increase self-management skills of those accessing the service
• To reduce the use of police, ambulance and statutory mental health services whilst experiencing crisis via a drop-in service.
• To reduce the use of statutory crisis services by people experiencing mental ill health without positive outcomes for the individual.

The Role

The role of the team manager will be to support the rest of the team in delivering interventions on a one-to-one. The role will also involve triaging and assessing all clients accessing the service, signposting and delivering collaborative self-management plans with clients to improve mental wellbeing. The role will also include line management and supervision of senior support workers and support workers within the service. Team managers are responsible for management of their site; including report writing, audits and being the named manager for the site and allocated borough following the borough-based approach. This role directly supports the service managers in keeping to a high standard service. The role will include implementing a smooth running of the service including facilitating debriefing and providing senior support onsite. The role of the team manager is non-clinical.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing a person centred and recovery orientated approach in all aspects of the roles and responsibilities.

• Guiding the team, responding to referrals and planning each shift in terms of staffing, activities and case allocation

• Understanding of risk and risk management

• Understanding safeguarding adults and children processes and legal requirements

• To work autonomously in a fast-paced environment and under pressure

• Oversee re-admitters and clients being discharged on a weekly basis

• Responsible lead for allocated site, attend and lead discussions with MDT teams

• Responsible for keeping allocated site to a high standard and reporting any health and safety concerns

• To facilitate daily briefings with team to ensure continuity and safety

• Understanding of safety planning and de-escalation

• Monitoring and management of team training, absence and wellbeing

• Working collaboratively with clients to understand their needs and developing flexible and realistic crisis support packages/person centred plans

• Promoting people’ rights and responsibilities

• Conduct monthly supervisions and annual appraisals of supervisees

• Work and manage the team in-line with targets and KPI’s, ensuring that outcomes, outputs and impact are recorded

• Listening to clients and encouraging positive steps towards self-management of crisis and recovery, providing advice, information, practical and emotional support to clients

• To attend all mandatory training including safeguarding and GDPR and actively embrace own CPD

• Proactively recognising the indicators of deteriorating mental health and facilitate appropriate action, whilst liaising with relevant agencies e.g. CATT, Emergency Duty Teams, CMHTS, etc

• Maintain and ensure team compliance of accurate records, detailing interventions

• Abide by supporting governance such as Mind Policy and Proceedures, Understanding CQC standards and NICE guidelines around mental health

• Providing administrative support to the team

• Overseeing and provide shadowing to new staff members and volunteers

• Attend reflective practice, peer supervision and line management supervision

• Create and maintain good working relationships with partner agencies

• Provide guidance to support workers and volunteers

• To work with service managers and assist with reporting and monitoring

Person Specification

• Minimum of 1 year working in mental health services and with clients experiencing mental health distress and crisis

• Experience of line management within a mental health setting

• Experience of de-escalation

• Experience of managing challenging behaviour and dealing with clients with complex needs

• Evidence of continual professional development

• Understanding of the Recovery Model in mental health

• Understanding of the principles of trauma informed care

• Understanding of suicide prevention and safety planning

• Experience of managing safeguarding risks and understanding legal requirements for safeguarding adults and children

• Understanding of how to report and mitigate risks

• Understanding of the relationship between mental health and social issues and how these issues may impact on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing

• Understanding of relevant legislation and policies

• Understanding safeguarding adults and children processes and legal requirements

• Awareness of issues in mental health service provision

• A good understanding of mental health conditions

• Experience of working with vulnerable individuals

• Creative and flexible approach to working with individuals

• Ability to deal with stressful and difficult situations in a calm manner and de-escalate challenging situations

• Ability to prioritise and manage workload

• Ability to involve clients and carers in all aspects of work

• Empathy and non-judgemental approach

• Good communication skills

• Capacity to work within an agreed shift pattern

• Experience of delivering information and advice (housing, benefits, debt etc)

• Experience of non-clinical, therapeutic interventions like psychoeducation

• Good IT skills including Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, with proven ability to input and extract information and produce reports

• Understanding of different databases such as Views, Salesforce and NHS

• Car driver with sole ownership of a vehicle and ability to travel to multiple locations (e.g. NHS sites and community sites) would be essential.

• Ability to work out of hours and on weekends at multiple locations including NHS sites and community sites

Due to the urgent need to fill this post, we will be shortlisting applications as they are received and may invite candidates to interview before the closing date. We will only shortlist applicants with two weeks' notice.

The Interim Head of Services will oversee the effective delivery, performance, and quality assurance of some of our mental health services in Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Redbridge.

What you'll do: 

• Lead and support Service Managers and Coordinators to deliver high-quality, client-centred services.
• Drive continuous service improvement and foster collaboration across teams and partners.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with key stakeholders to enhance service delivery.
• Act as a Designated Safeguarding Officer, providing expert guidance to ensure client safety and staff compliance. 

See the job pack for full details.