Team Leader – Wolverhampton Homeless Integrated Recovery Service (WHIRS)

Role Description

Title: Team Leader – Wolverhampton Homeless Integrated Recovery Service (WHIRS)

Reports To: Service Manager

Salary: Between £33,000-£36,000 depending on experience

Hours: 35 hours per week (full time)

This is a three-year fixed term contract.

Mission and values

The Good Shepherd supports disadvantaged people in Wolverhampton to end homelessness, recover, build independence and move out of poverty.

We provide food, practical help, one-to-one and group support, accommodation support, training and pathways into employment.

Our core values are hospitality, compassion, and respect. We recognise each person’s dignity and potential for growth, and we deliver services in a person-centred way.

Role Summary

The Team Leader will provide day-to-day leadership and operational management for the Wolverhampton Homeless Integrated Recovery Service (WHIRS), a partnership between Good Shepherd and Recovery Near You supporting people who are rough sleeping, recently housed or at risk of returning to rough sleeping.

The post holder will directly line manage the WHIRS Outreach Recovery Workers, and Recovery Sustainment Workers, ensuring consistent, safe and high-quality practice across outreach, recovery, tenancy sustainment and project administration.

The role will also oversee the LEAP team of Peer Mentors and support the development of the Lived Experience Recovery Organisation (LERO) and Good Shepherd’s wider recovery services, working closely with the Service Manager and Chief Executive.

Key Responsibilities

Project Leadership & Day-to-Day Management

Lead the day-to-day delivery of WHIRS, ensuring activity is organised, responsive and aligned with the project’s purpose, service model and agreed outcomes.

Coordinate team priorities, workloads, rotas, outreach activity, case discussions and operational meetings.

• Provide clear direction, practical support and timely decision-making to resolve operational issues and maintain continuity of service.

Work with the Service Manager to implement project plans, policies, procedures and service improvements.

• Ensure the team works within the scope of the service and uses resources effectively.

Line Management, Staff Development & Team Culture

Provide direct line management for the WHIRS Outreach Recovery Workers, Recovery Sustainment Workers and coordinate the delivery of the wider team including the Administrator, NMP, and other partners.

Undertake regular supervision, performance reviews, wellbeing conversations and development planning, maintaining appropriate records and following organisational procedures.

• Set clear expectations, monitor performance and outcomes, recognise good practice and address concerns promptly and fairly with support from the Service Manager.
• Identify learning and development needs and support staff to access appropriate training, reflective practice and professional development.

Promote a supportive, accountable and collaborative team culture rooted in hospitality, compassion and respect.

Case Management, Practice Oversight & Quality Assurance

Oversee the quality and consistency of assessments, recovery plans, risk assessments, safety plans, case notes, referrals, reviews and case closures.

Provide guidance and appropriate challenge on complex cases, safeguarding concerns, risk management, professional boundaries and multi-agency responses.

Chair or facilitate case discussions and ensure agreed actions are allocated, recorded and followed through.

• Monitor caseloads, engagement, missed appointments, transitions and outcomes to support safe and effective case management.

Undertake regular file reviews, practice audits and quality checks, agreeing corrective actions where required.

Partnership Working & Integrated Delivery

Coordinate effective working between Good Shepherd, Recovery Near You, homelessness services, health partners, accommodation providers and wider agencies involved in WHIRS.

Represent Good Shepherd and WHIRS professionally at operational, multi-agency and stakeholder meetings as required.

• Promote clear referral routes, information sharing, joint working and warm handovers across homelessness, treatment, health, housing and recovery pathways.
• Build constructive relationships with partners and respond to operational challenges in a solution-focused way.

Escalate strategic, contractual or significant operational issues to the Service Manager and Chief Executive.

Peer Mentors, LEAP & Lived Experience Leadership

Oversee the LEAP team of Peer Mentors, ensuring they receive clear role expectations, support, supervision and appropriate opportunities to contribute.

Create safe and meaningful opportunities for people with lived experience to shape WHIRS delivery, service improvement and wider recovery activity.

• Promote co-production and ensure lived experience insight is valued alongside professional and operational knowledge.

Support the development of peer-led activity, recovery groups, community connection and visible recovery pathways.

Ensure peer mentor involvement is supported by appropriate boundaries, safeguarding, risk management and wellbeing arrangements.

LERO & Wider Recovery Service Development

Work with the Service Manager and Chief Executive to support the development of the LERO and Good Shepherd’s wider recovery services

Help translate lived experience insight, project learning and local need into practical service developments and partnership opportunities.

• Contribute to consultation, co-production, service design and evaluation activity as required.

Strengthen links between WHIRS, peer mentoring, groupwork, mutual aid, meaningful activity, community opportunities and mainstream recovery pathways.

• Promote an approach that builds recovery capital, independence, connection and long-term sustainability.
• Promote an approach that builds recovery capital, independence, connection and long-term sustainability.

Performance, Monitoring & Reporting

Ensure staff maintain accurate, timely, confidential and auditable records on agreed systems.

Monitor project activity, demand, caseloads, outputs, outcomes, risks and service-user feedback, addressing gaps or data quality issues.

• Prepare or contribute to reports for managers, commissioners, funders, partners, trustees and evaluation activity.

Use performance information, feedback, audits and case learning to identify strengths, barriers, trends and improvement priorities.

Support the Service Manager with project reviews, commissioner meetings, audits and evidence of impact.

Safeguarding, Risk, Compliance & Health and Safety

• Promote a strong safeguarding culture and ensure concerns or incidents are recognised, recorded, escalated and managed in line with Good Shepherd policies and local procedures.

Provide management oversight of risk assessments, risk management plans, incidents, lone working arrangements and safe community-based delivery.

• Ensure the team follows requirements relating to confidentiality, data protection, information sharing, equality, health and safety and professional boundaries.

• Support learning from safeguarding concerns, incidents, complaints, feedback and near misses, implementing agreed actions.

• Promote trauma-informed, person-centred, non-judgemental, strengths-based and recoveryfocused practice.

General Duties

Attend and contribute to supervision, management meetings, team meetings, training, operational meetings and partnership meetings as required.

Work flexibly to support a community-based, multi-agency service working with people experiencing rough sleeping, addiction, poor health and multiple and complex needs.

• Deliver all duties in line with Good Shepherd values: hospitality, compassion and respect.

Carry out any other duties as reasonably requested by management, in keeping with the grade and nature of the post.

Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities of the post, each individual task undertaken may not be identified. Employees will be expected to comply with any reasonable request from a Manager to undertake work of a similar level that is not specified in this role description.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Good standard of general education, including English and Maths, or equivalent experience.

Relevant qualification in health and social care, substance use, homelessness, housing, recovery, leadership or management, or equivalent experience.

Desirable

• Leadership or management qualification.

Training in safeguarding, risk management, trauma-informed practice, mental health, substance use, harm reduction, motivational interviewing or psychologically informed environments.

Experience, Knowledge & Skills

Essential

• Experience of leading or supervising staff within homelessness, housing, substance use, recovery, health, social care or voluntary sector services.

Experience of managing day-to-day service delivery, staff workloads and competing operational priorities.

Experience of overseeing complex casework, safeguarding, risk assessment, support planning and multi-agency responses.

Experience supporting people affected by rough sleeping, homelessness, addiction, poor health, mental health difficulties or multiple and complex needs.

Strong understanding of recovery pathways, harm reduction, recovery capital, traumainformed practice and person-centred support.

Understanding of co‑production, peer support and the contribution of lived experience to service design and delivery.

• Experience of monitoring performance, maintaining data quality and contributing to reports, audits or evaluations.

Ability to build effective relationships with commissioners, statutory services, voluntary organisations and community partners.

Knowledge of safeguarding, confidentiality, data protection, health and safety, lone working, equality and professional boundaries.

Desirable

• Experience managing an outreach, assertive engagement, tenancy sustainment, inclusion health or integrated recovery service.
• Experience supporting peer mentors, volunteers or lived experience-led teams.
• Experience contributing to the development of a LERO, peer‑led recovery provision or wider recovery services.

Knowledge of Wolverhampton homelessness, housing, treatment, health and recovery pathways.

Abilities and attributes

Essential

• Confident, compassionate and accountable leadership style.
• Strong communication, relationship‑building, facilitation and conflict‑resolution skills.
• Ability to support and appropriately challenge staff while maintaining trust and professional boundaries.
• Ability to analyse information, identify risk and translate learning into practical improvement actions.
• Cultural awareness and commitment to equity, inclusion and accessibility.
• Commitment to trauma-informed, strengths‑based, recovery‑focused and non-judgemental practice.
• Flexible, solution‑focused and committed to ongoing professional development.

Ability to provide clear direction, make proportionate decisions and remain calm when managing complex or changing situations.

Ability to work collaboratively with internal teams, peer mentors, external partners and multidisciplinary colleagues.

Commitment to involving people with lived experience meaningfully and safely in service development and delivery.

Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to use Microsoft Office and computerised case-management systems.

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