Day Opportunities Manager – Adult Services in London

The Post is located at Oswald Street, Lower Clapton, Hackney. Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values.

At Oswald Street Day Centre we support adults (18 – 65) who may have a learning disability or autism. We are currently working to support people to access continuing education, secure real jobs, achieve desired goals and aspirations to become more involved in community outreach.

You will be responsible for working within the Borough’s Autistic agenda and developing a Centre of Excellence for People with Learning Disabilities and Autism with the aim to achieve accreditation from the National Autistic Society. You will work to ensure the wellbeing of service users, giving adequate support to maximise their dignity, independence, and privacy.

You will be responsible for supervising a team and delivering creative Day Opportunities and Community Outreach Programmes for people with a learning disability, physical disability, autism, challenging behaviour and older adults in response to their assessed Care Act needs and agreed care plans. The role also includes collaborating closely with customers’ families and carers to enable individuals to access meaningful activities, develop social and life skills that will enable them to make choices and take control of their lives.

Whilst we value experience, you need to be committed to providing quality day opportunities to adults on the Autistic Spectrum and Learning Disabilities, while understanding the needs of Older People. You will need to evidence leadership qualities, flexibility, enthusiasm, initiative, and resilience, for what is often a very demanding but rewarding vocation.

You will be required to demonstrate that you are able to lead a very vibrant and demanding environment, whilst being able to initiate a range of educational, vocational, and recreational activities for people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, challenging behaviour, autism and Older People based on assessed needs. Knowledge and experience of managing people with challenging behaviour and proven skills in evaluating and monitoring service user progress is essential for this role.

You will be responsible for reassessing service users, the team and circumstances to ensure care and support is delivered in a safe and appropriate manner. You will need to ensure all records, paperwork and files are maintained to a high standard. You will be accountable for the use and safekeeping of data, as well as being a fair and supportive people leader. You will need to demonstrate you are able to manage, guide and motivate a staff team. You will need to have excellent communications skills, an ability to build strong relationships and a professional demeanour that generates confidence.

This is a busy post and tasks are varied. You will need to be able to prioritise and meet deadlines and the demands the role may bring.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and develop a large and diverse service.

Qualifications

• QCF Level 5 diploma in leadership in Health and Social Care, or an above or equivalent qualification (essential).
• Management experience in social care and ability to develop and maintain national Autism Accreditation Standards and registration with National Autistic Society.
• An Enhanced DBS Check is required for this post.

Application and regulatory requirements

For regulatory requirements, please provide your full employment history from age of first employment, including an explanation for any gaps of employment on the online application form. If this is not provided at the application stage, your application may not be considered.