Service Manager

£37,030 pa + excellent benefits including 30 days holiday and flexible working
Maternity Cover- Fixed term until 15th October 2021
Blackburn plus some travel around Lancashire

Closing date: 20th September 2020 at 11.30 pm

Do you have a flair for business development and experience of managing staff and delivering contracts in a regulated environment? Then join Shelter as a Services Manager and you could soon be playing a key role in establishing and developing a dynamic new service.

A home is a fundamental human need, as essential as education or healthcare. Yet millions of people across Britain struggle on a daily basis with homelessness, bad housing conditions, soaring rents, discrimination and the threat of eviction. So, we are striving for change — with individuals, in communities, across society – and leading the way to a safe home. We need ambitious, best-in-class individuals who are passionate about our cause to join us at this exciting time. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

In response to growing needs, Shelter Lancashire is developing its service offer by providing Advice, Support and Guidance (ASG) on housing, debt and welfare benefits to people in housing need. We also provide specialist Legal Housing Advice funded by the Legal Advice Agency and have other externally funded contracts to provide Debt and Welfare Benefits advice across Blackburn and Lancashire. This structure enables us to provide an integrated and holistic service focusing on homelessness prevention and tenancy sustainment to individuals and families in greatest need, regardless of eligibility.

About the Role
Based at our HUB at Blackburn Central Library, this exciting new role will involve managing and motivating a skilled team and taking a can-do approach to achieving service outcomes. As well as having responsibility for the 10 or more members of staff of a medium sized service, we’ll rely on you to identify and contribute to development opportunities and get involved in local networks and partnerships. Your key focus however, will be on managing and delivering a few large and complex external contracts (or a number of smaller ones) and managing relations and negotiations with funders/ external stakeholders.

About you
You’ll need to be commercially aware, forward-thinking and flexible - someone who actively supports the introduction of new ideas, methods and processes to working practices. Structured, calm and well-organised, some experience of managing medium sized would be useful, while a proven ability in staff and service/business management, including service development, is essential. Proficiency using a range of IT tools to carry out your work, including Microsoft Office applications, case management and reporting systems is also required, as is the ability to type.

Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services. And we campaign to make sure that, one day, no one will have to turn to us for help. We’re here so no one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To find out more about the role and the benefits of working for Shelter please visit our website. Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

At Shelter, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We also encourage applications from people, who have been homeless or have been at risk of homelessness. We are facing diverse problems, so need diverse people to tackle them. In addition to this, we encourage an approach to involving people with personal insight of housing issues and homelessness in our recruitment processes.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.