Service Lead in Ashford

ABL Health have expanded the Kent stop smoking offer with a Specialist Stop Smoking Outreach Service, commissioned by Kent County Council. This transformative service seeks to work collaboratively with communities and Secondary Care to transform the lives of the local Kent population. The service will support residents to help them stop smoking and improve their wellbeing - all embedded in sustainable behaviour change.

Main duties of the job

You will lead and support a team of Stop Smoking Specialist Advisors and an Administrator, providing day-to-day supervision, performance management and professional guidance to deliver high-quality, evidence-based tobacco dependency support to priority community groups and the CoSTED Programme across Kent. You will coordinate the Kent Specialist Stop Smoking Outreach Service, ensuring consistently high standards of practice through regular audits, observations, development planning and reflective practice, while driving quality improvement and supporting effective governance. You will take a lead role in service planning, development, implementation and operational coordination, monitoring performance through internal review boards, ensuring KPIs are achieved and working closely with the data team to demonstrate clear and measurable outcomes. You will collaborate with clinical and professional leads to embed best practice, maintain accurate and timely client records, produce high-quality performance reports, and use feedback and evaluation to continually improve service delivery. The role will also involve building and maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders across community, primary care and secondary care settings, strengthening referral pathways and feedback processes, providing very brief stop smoking advice training to professionals and stakeholders, contributing to multidisciplinary meetings, community engagement and wider service campaigns.

About us

ABL is an exciting fast-growing community health organisation. ABL is an experienced, CQC registered, provider of community health services. As an organisation we are passionate about delivering evidence based, innovative, effective and relevant health care services in partnership with individuals, communities and stakeholders.

Job responsibilities

You will lead a team to provide targeted outreach, flexible, bespoke tobacco dependency support, with a focus on priority cohorts where smoking prevalence is high and engagement requires a consistent innovative co-productive approach. The priority cohorts you will be supporting are:

• Mental Health
• Social Housing
• Workplace
• CoSTED Programme - Proactive outreach and VBA within A & E Departments

This is a leadership role where the post holder will have a real influence on the clinical and operational excellence of the service. Working with the System Integration Lead, the post holder will create strong partnerships with community groups and organisations to deliver tobacco dependency services in a bespoke manner, based on the requirements of each cohort. You will also work proactively with secondary care settings and will support stop smoking specialist practitioners to deliver outcomes that benefit clients referred to the service.

The desire to make a difference

We are looking to change the lives and improve the wellbeing of the people in Kent.

Skills and Competencies Required

• An experienced leader with experience in delivering health and wellbeing related services across community settings and to priority groups with the ability to motivate, engage and support teams to achieve the highest standards and outcomes.
• Skilled in project management accustomed to using tools and processes to identify project goals, set and manage the schedule, anticipate, and identify issues, remove obstacles, delineate responsibility, track task completion, and communicate progress.
• Experience in leading evolving and developing services within a complex health system.
• A strategic thinker, able to foresee and take action to deal with problems and opportunities.
• An adept communicator who adapts the message to fit the needs of the audience including clients, staff, volunteers and partner agencies.
• Results orientated always working actively to outperform their goals.
• Be able to build strong relationships, foster trust and co-operation among colleagues and stakeholders for best outcomes.
• Be quality driven; naturally seek high standards for self and others and actively seek to improve them.
• Value and remain open to new ideas and perspectives.

Person Specification

• Experience of working and engaging with communities (LGBTQ+, social housing, workplace, mental health substance misuse and other priority groups).
• Delivery/management experience e.g., stop smoking, weight management, physical activity or other types of behaviours change interventions.
• Experience in managing teams.
• Project and operational management experience.
• Demonstrable experience in working with a range of stakeholders to improve health outcomes for the population.
• Experience in contract and performance management including writing service reports.
• Previous experience of working in Smoking Cessation services.
• Experience working with commissioners.

Qualifications

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in health improvement/public health/social care related field.

Disclosure and Barring Service 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.