Service Manager - Domestic Abuse in London

We are Hestia. We make a difference. At Hestia, we are guided by our core values and are dedicated to fostering an equitable, diverse, and inclusive organisation. Our mission is to empower individuals to rebuild their lives and achieve independence.

As Service Manager, you will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight across Hestia's Hackney Domestic Abuse Services, including multiple refuge properties and community-based resettlement support. You will lead a high-performing team of refuge workers, children and family workers, and managers to deliver safe, trauma-informed, and person-centred services for women and children fleeing domestic abuse. You will champion an empowering, anti-racist, and intersectional feminist approach, ensuring service users are supported to rebuild their lives, develop independence, and achieve positive outcomes.

The role requires oversight of safeguarding, service quality, compliance, performance, and contract delivery, while ensuring that women and children remain at the centre of all support planning and service development. You will be responsible for the day-to-day management of six dispersed refuge properties, maintaining safe, secure, and welcoming environments that meet Hestia's Psychologically Informed Physical Environment (PIPE) standards.

Working closely with local authorities, housing providers, commissioners, safeguarding teams, and community partners, you will oversee referrals, move-on planning, health and safety, void management, rental income, and property compliance. You will also lead staff recruitment, supervision, performance management, training, and professional development, using data, quality assurance, and performance reporting to drive continuous improvement and ensure excellent outcomes for women and children accessing the service.

You'll need to be able to demonstrate the core skills this role requires as well as match our values and mission. You don't have to tick all the boxes right away; the important thing is that you're willing to learn. We also value lived experience of the areas we support, so if you feel comfortable, please do mention this on your application.

We are looking for an experienced and compassionate leader with a strong understanding of domestic abuse services and a commitment to delivering high-quality, trauma-informed support to women and children. The successful candidate will have experience supervising and developing staff within a support, housing, social care, or domestic abuse setting and be able to demonstrate a track record of delivering consistently high standards of service performance and outcomes.

You will have significant experience assessing and managing risk for victim/survivors of domestic abuse and be confident leading safeguarding responses, managing complex situations, and making sound decisions in a fast-paced environment. Candidates should have a strong understanding of the welfare benefits system, housing pathways, and legislation affecting survivors of domestic abuse, including the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.

You will be knowledgeable about refuge and community-based domestic abuse services and understand the importance of co-production, ensuring women and children are actively involved in shaping their support and recovery. You will possess excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively with service users, staff teams, local authorities, housing providers, commissioners, and external partners.

The successful applicant will have strong organisational and IT skills, with confidence using systems such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Teams, Teams App, INFORM, Power BI, and other case management and reporting tools. You will have a sound understanding of safeguarding legislation and practice, health and safety responsibilities, housing management, and service compliance requirements.

Above all, you will demonstrate resilience, professionalism, and the ability to work effectively with traumatised and vulnerable women and children whilst managing competing priorities in a busy, multi-site service.

This post is open to female applicants only under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

We keep our interview process simple, so you know exactly what to expect:

• Shortlisting call: We have a team of dedicated recruitment specialists who will speak to you about your experience, motivations and values. They will also tell you about all the great work we do!
• Face to face interview: Now you will have face to face interview with the hiring manager. Our interviews are value and competency based.

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: Our services users come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes us stronger. We are committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce and value the skills, abilities, talent and experiences, different people and communities bring to our organisation.

Hestia is proud to be a disability confident employer, dedicated to the employment and career development of individuals with disabilities. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the role they have applied for. We also provide reasonable adjustments during the selection and interview process, and throughout your employment with us.

Hestia is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults, children and young people who are potentially at risk, and we therefore expect all staff and volunteers to do the same. We require all staff to undertake internal and external safeguarding training throughout their employment with Hestia.

If your application is successful, please be aware that you will be required to undergo pre-employment checks before a formal offer of employment can be confirmed. We reserve the right to close this job advert early should we receive a high volume of applications or if the position is filled before the closing date. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible to ensure their application is considered.