Head of Service Delivery (Maternity Leave Cover)

About the role 

Smart Works is looking to appoint a Head of London Service Delivery for 12 months, to start in September 2024. This is a maternity cover role for an established leadership role within the Smart Works staff team.

 

The Head of London Service Delivery is responsible for leading the delivery of the Smart Works service across London. Last year the Smart Works centres in London supported over 3500 unemployed women from across London, and the demand for our service is expected to rise significantly in the coming months.

 

By effectively leading and managing a team of nine, the Head of London Service Delivery will ensure Smart Works is well positioned to meet the growing demand for our services and maintain quality as the charity grows. They will ensure that every client who visits Smart Works leaves their appointment feeling confident and with the best possible chance of job success.

 

They will monitor performance against KPIs and will work with their team to ensure there is a steady flow of referrals, the volunteer community is engaged and supported and client feedback is consistently positive.

 

More broadly, the Head of London Service Delivery plays an important role in creating a welcoming environment and a supportive team culture in all three London centres. The successful applicants will need to build strong working relationships across the staff and volunteer teams, as well as with external partners and other senior staff working across the 11 centres across the UK.

 

If you’re experienced in programme delivery and passionate about supporting women, then this is an ideal opportunity for you.

 

 

Duties and responsibilities

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the successful candidate will lead a range of activities including:

 

• Being responsible for delivering a quality, consistent service across all three London centres; this includes the delivery of virtual appointments
• Leading and developing the Service Delivery team working in London, ensuring strong performance against targets and KPIs and creating a supportive team culture
• Representing London in group forums, sharing learnings and best practice with other Smart Works centres
• Acting as a key public brand ambassador for Smart Works Charity in London, especially within the referral partner community
• Day-to-day management of the client CRM system in London, ensuring complete and timely data capture
• Accountability for the management, retention, development and growth of London volunteer community
• Safeguarding Officer for London and the Smart Works Group

 

 

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Excellent interpersonal skills with an adaptable style to suit different people and situations
• Experience managing a team
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, client-focused environment
• Proven record delivering results against ambitious targets and KPIs
• Strong experience leading change and delivering innovative solutions to complex problems
• An understanding of safeguarding requirements for a charity like Smart Works
• Confident public speaker, with experience of representing an organisation to external stakeholders

 

 

Desirable Criteria

• Experience working with and managing a community of volunteers
• Experience managing data collection and producing reports for senior staff and trustees
• Experience as a Safeguarding lead or Officer
• Understanding of the UK employability sector

 

 

General duties of a Smart Works staff member

• Work collaboratively and cooperatively with all team members and take an active part in staff meetings and discussions
• Adhere to our policies and procedures and be an ambassador for our charity
• Play your part in ensuring that each woman who comes through our door is treated with respect and empathy

 

 

Benefits, terms, and conditions

• Full-time role
• Salary of £38,000 - £40,000 depending on experience
• Monday-Friday with typical working hours 9 am -5 pm in line with centre opening Hours. Whilst occasional work from home days can be accommodated, due to the nature of the role, it cannot bedone remotely. We are happy to discuss flexible working
• The role will be based across all three Smart Works centres in London, with the successful applicant being required to regularly spend time in all three centres. The centres are located in Islington, Ladbroke Grove and Croydon
• There may be occasional evening and weekend work as the successful candidate will be part of the wider centre team, supporting with networking and key events support
• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and additional discretionary leave between Christmas and New Year
• Positive working environment with investment in training and progression
• VIP access at Smart Works sales, events and pop-up shops
• All successful applicants must provide references and complete a satisfactory Basic DBS check

 

 

How to apply

Please submit a CV and answer the following questions by 5pm on Thursday 11th July 2024.

 

• Why do you want to work for Smart Works? (Max 350 words)
• What relevant experience do you have for the role? This may include experience delivering charitable programmes, working with volunteers, delivering against targets or lived experience of the services offered at Smart Works. (Max 300 words)
• How would you create a collaborative and supportive culture across the London Service Delivery team? Please be mindful the team works across three different sites in London (Max 350 words)
• Is there anything else you would like to share? (Max 250 words)

 

 

Closing date for applications 5pm Thursday 11th July.
  

First round interviews will be held virtually on Tuesday 23rd July, via Microsoft Teams.

 

Second Round interviews will be Monday 29th July, in person at our London Office. 

 

Role to start in September 2024.

 

Smart Works is committed to best practice employment practices, including reducing the burden for those seeking work. Smart Works will therefore reimburse reasonable costs of travel to interviews if required.

 

We do not use AI in any part of our recruitment process. Your application will be carefully considered by the People Team.

 

If you require any reasonable adjustments or alterations for the application and recruitment processes, please contact us about submitting a manual application.

 

Smart Works is committed to best practice employment practices, including reducing the burden for those seeking work. Smart Works will therefore reimburse reasonable costs of travel to interviews if required.

 

At Smart Works we will apply suitable measures to keep your information secure in accordance with our Privacy Policy (a current version of which is available on our website) We particularly welcome applications from black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, disabled candidates, and candidates with lived experience of female unemployment as we would like to increase the representation of these groups at Smart Works.

 

Smart Works promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion in our workplace. We make employment decisions by matching the Charity's needs with the skills and experience of candidates. These decisions are made irrespective of age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.