Forcesline Manager

Forcesline is SSAFA's frontline telephone service handling both day-to-day and more complex enquiries from the Armed Forces community.

This role is responsible for the management and development of the Forcesline service and will also act as point of contact for the Veterans Gateway.  The Manager will lead and support a team of advisors, developing the service in response to the needs of the clients and technological requirements, as well as ensuring a high quality of service. The role involves the preparation of data, briefings, presentations and some media work.

About the role

This role requires the management of a small team of advisors who provide free confidential listening, information and signposting service for serving personnel, their families, veterans and professionals who are looking for help. It requires a resilient individual who is able to both support the team and develop the service as it moves forward with advances in technology enabling wider means of communicating with those it is helping.  It is an exciting time to join as these changes are currently occurring and you will be involved with this transition.

About the team

You will work with a great team of advisors who are both experienced and skilled. All Forcesline Welfare Advisors are trained in Safeguarding and each practitioner has at least a Level 2 Counselling qualification. Their experience covers former Samaritans, Pastrol Care, Social Work and Police Despatch Calling. As a team they learn and support one another. You as their Manager will be fully involved with this and will ensure SSAFA delivers on its mission as a trusted source of support to the Armed Forces Community as their times of need.

About you

You will have had experience in delivering welfare support to others, and ideally this has been gained through a helpline. While the team is small, some management experience would be desirable. You will also need to be technically competent as most of this work will be done virtually through digital means.

About SSAFA

SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity is a trusted source of support for serving personnel, veterans and their families in their time of need. In 2022 our trained teams of volunteers and employees helped more than 59,000 people, including veterans, serving personnel (regulars and reserves) and their families.

SSAFA understands that behind every uniform is a person. And we are here for that person and their family, any time they need us and in any way, they need us.

Diversity and Inclusion at SSAFA

SSAFA exists to support a diverse range of beneficiaries within the armed forces community, and we believe diversity within our teams is key to ensuring we can deliver our services effectively. We thrive on differences and believe it is critical to our success as a worldwide charity. SSAFA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace that seeks to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We therefore encourage applications from all genders, races, religions, ages and sexual orientations, as well as parents, veterans, people living with disabilities, and any other groups that could bring diverse perspectives to our business.

SSAFA is committed to using the Disclosure & Barring Service to ensure we, as an employer, safeguard those we serve.

No agencies please. Any unsolicited submissions from agencies will be accepted as a direct application from the candidate and no fees will be payable.

Closing date: 09:00 on 14 October 2024. SSAFA reserves the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Interviews: Week Commencing 21 October 2024