Deputy Manager in London

We’re looking for a kind, compassionate, and resilient Deputy Manager to join our Young People Service in Ealing.

Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You’ll feel at home here. Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That’s why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren’t token gestures - we’ve thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our benefits include:

• Annual leave increasing up to days with length of service
• Free DBS
• Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
• Fully paid induction programme and further training
• ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
• Healthcare Cashplan through our partner Healthshield
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme for confidential support
• Online wellbeing resources
• A generous pension – we will contribute up to % and life assurance cover up to £ (T&Cs apply)
• Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff’s commitment and contribution

The Deputy Service Manager supports the Service Manager in effectively managing all operational matters within their designated services, including line management of frontline staff. The Deputy Service Manager shares responsibility for ensuring that a holistic and cohesive approach to customer support is embedded across accommodation services. Look Ahead operates trauma-informed and psychologically informed approaches, ensuring customers benefit from strengths-based support practices. The role requires an individual who embodies psychologically informed practice through their leadership style.

Oaklands & St Kilda consists of two supported accommodation services, each providing six mental health rehabilitation units for young people aged – who may have experienced a mental health-related hospital admission. The aim is to support young people to gain and develop the necessary skills for independent living and to manage transitions from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to Adult Mental Health Services. Together, these services support up to young people at any one time, offering a welcoming, supportive environment on a spot-purchase basis.

The successful candidate will deputise for the Service Manager when required. This includes direct line management, leadership, coaching, and supporting Specialist Support Workers, Support Workers, and Waking Night Support Workers. Responsibilities also involve ensuring compliance with current legislation, contractual requirements, financial regulations, and Look Ahead's Policies and Procedures.

The role of Deputy Manager will involve five-hour shifts, Monday to Friday. All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

What you’ll do:

• Support the Service Manager in driving operational activities within your service area, ensuring clear, relevant, and challenging objectives and ongoing performance tracking.
• Successfully lead and motivate your team, championing and maintaining a positive local culture within the service.
• Build supportive, trusting relationships with young people and create a welcoming and positive atmosphere.
• Prioritise the prompt filling of voids and the reduction of arrears and bad debts.
• Continuously work to improve staff competence, ensuring proactive ownership of staffing matters, swift resolution of conflicts, and effective management of issues.
• Facilitate transparent and effective communication flows between management and frontline teams.
• Lead on casework management, ensuring that risk assessments and support plans are regularly updated and dynamic.
• Promote partnership working to maximise opportunities and positive outcomes for customers.
• Monitor and maintain creative and ambitious plans for customer involvement.
• Support the Service Manager to prepare for quality visits, using Look Ahead’s local indicators to monitor performance, set targets, and implement action plans to maintain high-quality services aligned with local and national standards, and funder requirements.
• Assist the Service Manager in producing and submitting monthly management reports to the Performance team, ensuring data on local KPIs is accurate and current.
• Develop and maintain strong internal management relationships with other departments and functions within Look Ahead, ensuring best practice sharing and supporting initiatives for organisational improvement.
• Ensure Look Ahead's health and safety policies are consistently adhered to within the service, reviewing regularly at a local level, and ensuring staff receive appropriate training.
• Engage positively in reflective practice sessions with colleagues.
• Oversee safeguarding follow-up actions, ensuring cases are managed according to protocols and records are accurately maintained.
• Ensure adherence to all other Look Ahead policies and procedures.
• Carry out additional deputy management duties appropriate to the role, including potentially managing other contracts within your area or an alternative area if required.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time and is subject to change in accordance with the needs of Look Ahead.

About you:

• Enjoys social interaction and engaging with others; actively participates in local activities to promote customer involvement and inclusion.
• Able to lead and motivate staff transparently and consistently.
• Exhibits warmth, friendliness, and an open approach.
• Prefers working collaboratively within a team.
• Calm and resilient under pressure; does not allow emotions to negatively impact judgement.
• Practical, logical, and naturally well-organised.
• Thrives in environments characterised by change, diversity, and dynamic challenges.
• Confident with high levels of self-esteem.
• Respectful, articulate, and sensitive in communication style.
• Motivated towards excellence, continuous improvement, and demonstrates a proactive, 'can-do' attitude.
• Capable of positively managing challenging and diverse behaviours.
• Able to advocate effectively for young people across professional and community settings.
• Confident using IT systems such as SharePoint and the Microsoft Office suite.

What you’ll bring:

Essential:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Relevant qualification in business or management (CMI/NVQ Level or equivalent).
• Specialist knowledge related to supporting young people with mental health diagnoses.
• Experience working within complex mental health environments.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of trauma-informed practice.

Desirable:

• Experience managing accommodation-based services and resources, with proven ability to deliver within budget and meet performance targets.
• Experience supervising and leading staff teams providing support to young people in or leaving care.

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over services, providing support to around customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness, young people and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.

We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

• We focus on Excellence and innovation.
• We are Caring and Compassionate.
• We are Inclusive and Trusted.
• We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.

We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date. We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.