Service Manager – Changing Lives, Nottingham

About us

Changing Lives is a nationwide charity helping people facing the most challenging of circumstances to make positive change - for good. We believe that everyone deserves a safe home, a rewarding job and a life free from addiction or abuse. We know that given the right support, anyone can change their life for the better.

Our services across the country help thousands of people each year who are experiencing a wide range of complicated challenges, including homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, unemployment, involvement with the criminal justice system, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse. By focusing on their strengths, potential and opportunities, we support the people we work with to overcome their problems and live safe, successful, independent lives.

Our charity is powered by over 600 passionate colleagues who bring a diverse and inclusive environment for our colleagues to grow. We are proud to say that many have actual lived experience of the challenges faced by those we support. We are looking for committed and compassionate professionals to join our team, who share our enthusiasm for changing lives.

About the Service - Criminal Justice Services

Changing Lives delivers a range of projects that support women involved in the Criminal Justice System. We believe that individuals become involved in the Criminal Justice System for a complex range of reasons.

Our experience has taught us that to help women stop offending and to rebuild their lives, we must address the underlying causes of crime. Our services are underpinned by an in-depth understanding of trauma and we support women to address challenges such as domestic abuse, homelessness or poor housing, helping women to develop tools to ensure that trauma in their past does not define the rest of their lives. We know that with the right support around them, women so often are able to break the cycle of crisis and crime.

We currently deliver diversion from custody schemes, education, training and employment services, and holistic services to women serving community sentences or following release from custody. We also provide some pre-release services and have a presence across a number of women’s prisons nationally. Our criminal justice services cover Northumbria, Cleveland, South Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire.

About the Job

This Service Manager’s role incorporates two primary areas of responsibilities. The Service Manager will oversee the delivery of all Female Justice services primarily within East Midlands. The second aspect of this role will require an in-depth knowledge of sourcing appropriate properties within East Midlands and York suitable for supported housing for women.

Our specialist Women’s Criminal Justice service provides inclusive and supportive interventions and are driven to achieve the best for local communities. We support women to build upon their strengths and work through any barriers that are preventing them from progressing and realising their potential.

The Service Manger will maintain and develop strategic and local partnerships, provide line management support to staff providing frontline delivery and will play a leading role of mobilising new initiatives and service within those establishments.

It will be important as a Service Manager that you ensure that the Service’s key functions are performing to a high standard and meeting all contract performance metrics. In your role you will be supported to take a lead role in promoting, developing and integrating the Services so that they are effectively able to meet the needs of participants involved in the criminal justice system. A key element of this work will be working with commissioners and stakeholders to monitor and manage performance and quality. It is also important to have a strong and open relationship with other Changing Lives Services and our partners within the wider resettlement strategy and criminal justice partnerships to support delivery and ensure that our work is in line with all local and national legislation and guidance.

As a motivational manager, it will be important to maintain the team ethos and build a dynamic culture of reflective practice and development. You will manage all aspects of team performance and development and utilise business partners, for example, Finance and People Team to enable this.

The role will be a critical partnership role, working strategically across the East Midlands and York to enhance existing partnership working in Changing Lives. The post holder will therefore require the emotional intelligence to recognise their own perspectives, strengths, contribution, and those of others, with a mind-set and determination to deliver a joint place-based vision across all of our themes.