Operations Team Lead in Ashford

This role provides the opportunity to lead a defined locality within One You Kent, delivering operational leadership across a specified locality of Kent. The Operations Team Lead will be a proactive and inspirational leader, responsible for developing and leading a multidisciplinary team to deliver high-quality, safe and effective services that achieve agreed outcomes and meet contractual requirements.

Working collaboratively with senior leaders, partners and stakeholders, the postholder will play a key role in embedding the service within the wider behaviour change programme across a specified locality, ensuring strong governance, effective performance management, and positive impact for local communities, in line with the values and objectives of ABL.

The successful candidate will lead the planning, coordination, and delivery of service activity across a designated locality, ensuring performance against contractual requirements, KPIs, and quality standards. You will provide day-to-day operational leadership, overseeing safe, effective, and high-quality service delivery while line managing Healthy Lifestyle Advisors and Smoking Cessation Practitioners through supervision, performance management, and professional development.

The role involves developing and managing project plans, delivery schedules, resource allocation, risk management processes, and district-level budgets, ensuring resources are used effectively and efficiently. Working collaboratively with Team Leads, specialist leads, commissioners, community organisations, and key stakeholders, you will support service development, continuous improvement, and the delivery of integrated health and wellbeing services across Kent.

You will monitor, analyse, and interpret performance, workforce, and outcome data to drive operational decision-making, identify opportunities for improvement, and contribute to regular contract and performance reporting. The postholder will also oversee quality assurance, governance, safeguarding, audit readiness, and client experience processes, while fostering a positive, inclusive, and high-performing team culture aligned with ABL values and committed to reducing health inequalities.

ABL Health Ltd is a dynamic, fast-growing community health organisation with an ambitious vision to create healthier lives and stronger communities. As an experienced, CQC registered provider of community health and wellbeing services, we are proud to deliver evidence-based, innovative and person-centred care that makes a real and lasting difference.

We work in partnership with individuals, communities and system partners to design and deliver services that are locally rooted, strengths-based and responsive to need. Everything we do is driven by a commitment to reducing health inequalities, improving outcomes and ensuring people have access to the right support at the right time.

ABL is a values-led organisation where people matter. We invest in our teams, encourage innovation and collaboration, and create an environment where ideas are welcomed, and professional development is supported. If you are passionate about improving population health, enjoy working at pace, and want to be part of a supportive, multidisciplinary team that shares a genuine commitment to making a difference, we would love to hear from you.

The Operations Team Lead will provide strategic and operational leadership for a designated locality within One You Kent, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe and effective health improvement services that achieve contractual requirements, key performance indicators, and positive outcomes for local communities. As an inspirational leader, you will manage and develop a multidisciplinary team of Healthy Lifestyle Advisors and Smoking Cessation Practitioners, fostering a positive, inclusive and high-performing culture aligned with ABL values.

You will be responsible for planning, coordinating and monitoring service delivery, managing resources, budgets, risks and performance, and ensuring robust governance, quality assurance and safeguarding processes are embedded throughout service provision. Working closely with senior leaders, commissioners, partners and community organisations, you will build strong relationships to enhance service integration, represent the service at key forums, and contribute to the wider behaviour change programme across Kent.

The role will also involve analysing performance and workforce data, monitoring trends and outcomes, producing contract and performance reports, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement, and using service intelligence and client feedback to drive innovation, reduce health inequalities and maximise the impact of services across the locality.

• Appropriate qualifications in either Smoking Cessation, Weight Management, Nutrition or Physical Activity
• Project Manager or leadership qualification

• Relevant experience of delivery (health/social care/nutrition/public health/community development)
• Project and operational management experience
• Experience of working in a health and social care environment
• Experience of delivering/managing community development/asset-based programmes
• Experience of working with overweight/obese adults, children/families and/or experience of working with stop smoking adults
• Experience of developing marketing campaigns, internal and external communications and stakeholder engagement.

• The ability to travel independently across the organisational footprint.
• Work flexibly and adapt to suit service need including evening and weekend work as required.
• Must be willing to undertake an Enhanced DBS check.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.