Band E – Older Persons Service Manager
JOB DESCRIPTION
Band E – Older Persons Service Manager
Reports To: Head Of Service – Solent Mind
Direct Reports: Two CST Team Leaders; Remind Team Leader
Indirect Reports: CST Practitioners / facilitators; Remind staff; and volunteers (via the Team Leaders)
Location: Mobile role across Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth; community venues, Wellbeing Centres and partner sites
Working on behalf of: Hampshire Mind CIC
Hours: 030 hours (working pattern to be agreed; flexibility required to meet service and commissioner needs)
Salary Range: £28,495.95 to £32,241.89 per annum (£35,145.00 to £39,765.00
full-time equivalent) – Solent Mind band E
Purpose:
To provide strategic and operational leadership across older persons services, including the commissioned Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) service and the Remind dementia support service. The post holder will ensure safe, high-quality, person-centred delivery; effective workforce planning through Team Leaders; strong commissioner and stakeholder relationships; robust performance and outcomes reporting; and continuous improvement aligned to contractual requirements, organisational standards and best practice in older persons and dementia-informed care.
The post holder is employed by Solent Mind and works on behalf of Hampshire Mind CIC to strengthen system relationships and position the partnership for future opportunities in services that benefit older people more generally (not limited to CST and Remind). This includes supporting the development, mobilisation and ongoing operational management of any subsequent commissioned or funded older persons services across Hampshire.
Principal Accountabilities:
1. Service leadership and operational accountability
Hold overall operational accountability for CST and Remind, ensuring services deliver to specification, SOPs, quality standards and agreed outcomes.
Provide visible leadership across the patch, with a mobile presence across venues and hubs to support consistent standards, staff confidence, and relationship-building.
Oversee capacity planning and service modelling across both services, ensuring equitable access, efficient utilisation, continuity, and resilience (including cover arrangements via Team Leaders).
Ensure effective oversight of referral pathways and participant flow (where applicable), including suitability, reasonable adjustments, and communications standards with participants and carers.
Ensure venue strategy and arrangements support dementia-friendly, safe, and accessible delivery across multiple locations.
2. Commissioner, partner and stakeholder relationships
Act as the senior operational lead for commissioner and stakeholder relationships for CST and Remind, maintaining proactive, transparent, and solution-focused communications.
Represent Hampshire Mind CIC / Solent Mind at contract review and partnership meetings (e.g., MAS/OPCMHTs, Adult Social Care, PCNs/social prescribing, VCSE networks), strengthening pathways and resolving system barriers.
Attend key older persons and dementia forums and locality meetings across Hampshire, ensuring intelligence from the system informs service improvement and future positioning.
Ensure clear information-sharing arrangements and escalation routes are in place with partners, supporting continuity of care and safe participation.
Lead service user and carer involvement approaches across both services, ensuring meaningful co-production and feedback loops inform service improvement.
3. People management, supervision and workforce development
Line manages two CST Team Leaders and the Remind Team Leader, setting clear objectives and ensuring robust supervision, reflective practice, and wellbeing arrangements within all teams.
Oversee recruitment, onboarding and safer recruitment compliance for Older Persons services, working with People & Culture and Team Leaders to maintain staffing levels and capability.
Ensure staff and volunteers receive role-appropriate dementia-informed training, including evidence-based interventions (e.g., CST) and ongoing competency support through observation, feedback, and development planning.
Promote an inclusive, psychologically safe culture aligned to organisational values, supporting retention, progression, and high standards of professional practice.
4. Quality, safeguarding, risk management and governance
Provide leadership oversight of safeguarding across both services, ensuring staff confidence, consistent recording, and timely escalation in line with policy and multi-agency procedures.
Oversee incident, complaint, and near-miss management, ensuring timely review, learning and implementation of improvements, with clear governance reporting.
Ensure dynamic risk management is embedded in group and community delivery (e.g., distress, behavioural change, wandering, physical health concerns), with clear thresholds for pausing/adjusting participation.
Maintain oversight of information governance and safe information-sharing practices, ensuring confidentiality and GDPR compliance across services.
Lead and assure quality processes such as audits, observed practice frameworks, data quality checks, and service user/carer experience reviews.
5. Performance, outcomes and financial management
Oversee performance management across CST and Remind, ensuring accurate data capture, KPI monitoring and outcomes reporting (including equality monitoring where appropriate).
Work with Team Leaders to identify trends (e.g., DNAs, cancellations, demand hotspots) and implement time-bound improvement actions when required.
Prepare and contribute to commissioner/funder reports and contract review meetings, providing clear narrative on impact, learning, and improvements.
Manage delegated budgets and resources, ensuring value for money and timely monitoring of spend and variance; oversee procurement related to venues and materials.
6. Service development, mobilisation and growth (older persons services)
Work with Hampshire Mind CIC partners and across 3 local Minds to identify and shape opportunities that benefit older people across Hampshire (including dementia and wider older persons mental health support).
Contribute to bids, proposals, and service design of older people’s services by providing operational insight, pathway knowledge, capacity modelling, and implementation planning.
Lead or support mobilisation of any new older person’s services that are awarded, including staffing plans, training, venue readiness, SOPs, risk assessments, referral pathways, data/reporting set-up, and stakeholder communications.
Provide ongoing operational management for any subsequent older person’s services brought into scope, ensuring safe delivery, contract compliance, performance reporting, and continuous improvement.
Health, safety and information governance
Work within organisational policies for health and safety, lone working, and emergency procedures; ensure safe practice across community venues.
Ensure confidentiality and appropriate information sharing in line with GDPR and organisational information governance requirements.
Promote safe working practices and ensure timely reporting and mitigation of hazards and incidents.
General:
This job description is not exhaustive and will be reviewed periodically. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties appropriate to the role, in line with service needs and organisational priorities.
| Requirement | Essential or Desirable | |
| towards. | Qualifications/Education/Training: (Minimum standard of education and professional qualifications (RQF level) required to achieve the purpose of the job to a fully satisfactory level) • Minimum of level 4 qualification or equivalent, or capability and willingness to work | Essential |
| Experience: (What type and depth of experience is required to perform the duties to a fully | ||
| satisfactory level) ● conversations. | Substantial experience of managing older persons and/or dementia-related services in community, health, or social care settings. | Essential |
| Experience of structured, evidence-based group interventions (e.g., CST) and/or | Proven ability to lead and manage through others (e.g., Team Leaders), including supervision, performance support, and staff wellbeing. | Essential |
| Strong operational management skils across multiple sites/locations, including planning, risk management, and problem-solving in a fast-moving environment. | Essential | |
| Demonstrable experience of commissioner/stakeholder relationship management, including presenting performance and managing service improvement | Essential | |
| Strong understanding of safeguarding adults, mental capacity and information governance, and ability to embed safe practice at service level. | Essential | |
| Experience of performance management using data/outcomes and producing reports for internal governance and external stakeholders. | Essential | |
| Excellent communication and influencing skills, including the ability to handle sensitive situations with empathy and professionalism. | Essential | |
| Strong commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion, with experience of improving accessibility and cultural responsiveness. | Essential | |
| Competence in using IT systems and service management tools (e.g., CRM, spreadsheets, dashboards). | Essential | |
| as required. | Willingness and ability to travel across Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth | Essential |
| Knowledge/Skills/Competencies: Experience of managing commissioned services, contract compliance, and contract review processes. | Desirable | |
| Requirement | Essential or Desirable | |
| Training and development (role expectation) | Desirable | |
| Complete organisational induction and mandatory training, including safeguarding, information governance, and H&S. Maintain up-to-date knowledge of dementia pathways, best practice, and evidence-based interventions relevant to Older Persons services. Participate in management supervision with the Head of Service and contribute to | Desirable Desirable | |
| organisational quality/governance forums as required. Other: Commitment to Solent Mind's values. | Essential | |
Date job reviewed: June 2026
Reviewing Manager: Nicole McCormack
Date job originated: