Head of Continual Improvement

Description

Are you ready to drive a culture of achievement and empowerment across SSJ service delivery? This is an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic and values-driven leader to ensure our services consistently deliver high-quality, safe, and effective support to our residents and clients. We’re looking for a leader who can deploy our values to lead by example, devolve responsibility, and empower operational managers to drive excellence in performance, quality, safety, and service delivery.

The Impact You’ll Make

• Service Quality Evidence: Guarantee high-quality services (housing, mental health, criminal justice, etc.), using evidence to prove effectiveness and measurable impact for clients.
• Safeguarding Risk: Champion full safeguarding compliance, empower managers, oversee risk assessments, and drive cross-service learning to prevent incidents.
• Inclusion Trauma-Informed Care: Actively lead on EDI, ensuring practical implementation of action plans; embed trauma-informed and psychologically informed services.
• Data Improvement: Maximise use of data and digital tools to reinforce a culture of continuous learning and consistency across direct reports.
• Compliance Reporting: Provide transparent, high-quality reporting to the EDS, ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements (housing, safeguarding, incident reporting, GDPR).
• Financial Growth: Oversee operational budgets, drive growth by establishing partnerships and contributing expertise to new tenders and bid writing.
• Leadership Standards: Represent SSJ as a leader for commissioners, uphold standards by handling employee relations matters (investigations/hearings).
• Note: Includes participation in the out‑of‑hours on‑call rota.

Key Responsibilities

Who We’re Looking For

An experienced, strategic leader with proven ability in governance, quality assurance, and high-performance management.

Essential Knowledge & Experience

• Governance Compliance: Great knowledge of charity/company regulations, data protection (GDPR), and information governance.
• Safeguarding Risk Mastery: Thorough understanding of safeguarding regulations and risk management tools/frameworks.
• Strategy Performance: Proven experience in strategic planning and managing KPIs.
• Quality Assurance: Expertise in developing robust quality assurance frameworks and external accreditations.
• Evidence-Based Design: Profound understanding of using evidence and evaluation to design effective services and write compliant policies.
• Financial Acumen: Practical experience in skillful budget management (planning, monitoring, controlling expenditure).
• Business Development: Knowledge of the tender process, service design, and successful bid writing.
• Team Leadership: Ability to effectively line manage up to 8 direct reports.
• Operational Awareness: Awareness of HR and Health & Safety compliance.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Essential Qualities and Skills

• Empowering Leadership: Ability to lead managers by fostering a culture of support, empowerment, and trust.
• Co-production Champion: Expertise in using co-production to place the (SURA) at the heart of service delivery.
• Analytical Change Management: Sharp analytical skills to identify gaps/trends, with proven experience successfully managing change programmes.
• Collaboration: Ability to build strong partnerships and collaborate effectively across all functions and directorates.
• Digital Fluency: Confident in using digital tools and databases.
• Facilitation: Experience facilitating workshops to drive performance and compliance.

Specific Leadership Requirements

• Governance Lead: Develop governance processes and act as the primary contact for governance queries.
• Safeguarding Lead: Ensure compliance and embed learning from serious incident reviews (SARs, DHRs, etc.).
• Risk Quality Oversight: Coordinate risk assessments, oversee internal quality systems, and produce compliance reports to the EDS.
• Strategic Execution: Partner with the H&S Manager for compliance.
• Implement performance frameworks and facilitate reviews, ensuring alignment with strategic plans.
• Readiness: Ensure organisational readiness for audits, tenders, and evaluations, driving process improvements.