Maternity cover Service Manager Safe Zones

SafeZones Emotional Health and Wellbeing Service Manager Fixed term contract until June 2027 (Maternity cover) Role based in Greater Manchester 35 hours a week. The post-holder will work within Safe Zones in Greater Manchester, primarily from the Wythenshawe office but can also access The Children’s Society offices in Bolton and Wigan if required. The post holder must be available to work shift patterns, including evening and weekend hours.

Benefits:

• 36 days’ annual leave for full time roles, inclusive of flexible bank holidays, increasing with length of service
• Enhanced maternity/paternity leave
• We match up to 8% pension
• Free counselling service
• Opportunities to develop and widen your skills
• 2 days of paid volunteering time per annum to support another part of the organisation

About us:

The Children’s Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We deliver essential local services that provide safe, trusted support to children and young people during times of significant need. Our Youth Impact domain creates impact for children and young people. With highly skilled and experienced staff working across England and Wales, we provide direct support to children, young people, parents and carers, as well as conduct research and influence Government to make changes. We also provide training for professionals. Our value driven team change the lives of children in this country for the better - and with your help and expertise, tomorrow we can support even more.

About the role:

Safe Zones service offers step-down crisis support to young people experiencing mental health crises. These Safe Zones are located in multiple locations, including Bolton, Wigan and Tameside. Access is initially by referral from the Mental health Liaison Team, CYP Crisis Team, and CAMHS.

Your role will be:

• To lead and co‑coordinate the delivery of mental health early help services in Greater Manchester; predominantly ensuring that all elements of service delivery for children and young people are successful and delivered to a high quality against the contract.

Skills:

• The ability to act creatively and respond to new and challenging situations
• The ability to act on own initiative, supervise others and coordinate work
• Negotiation and Leadership
• Competent use of IT programmes
• Able to utilise therapeutic models in practice
• The ability to co‑ordinate working patterns, including on call rotas
• Can demonstrate lone working experience and aptitude

Work-based Knowledge:

• A working knowledge of common mental and emotional health issues that young people face, including current research and evidence bases.
• Issues facing hard to reach young people around access to early help support.
• Has a working knowledge of current mental health support agencies in the local area.
• An understanding of current legislation, policy, procedures, and issues relating to safeguarding children and young people.
• An excellent understanding and experience of working with young people who may be struggling with their mental and emotional health.

The Children’s Society runs over 100 local services that help thousands of young people who desperately need our support, and we campaign to get laws and policies changed to make children’s lives happier and safer. Every day we’re changing the lives of children in this country for the better – and with your help, tomorrow we can be there for even more.

Closing date: Midnight on Sunday 5th July 2026.

Safeguarding and Equality:

The Children’s Society is committed to safeguarding and protection of the children and young people we work with. As such, our safer recruitment process includes a Basic or Enhanced DBS check, 5 years of references, and additional vetting checks relevant to the role. We have a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices across all areas of our organisation. In support of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, shortlisting is carried out on an anonymised basis. Personal details are hidden from the shortlisting panel, and candidates are referenced by a candidate number only. As part of this process, we ask that your CV is anonymised before submission – this means removing personal information such as your name, contact details, age, and any other identifying details.