AQUARIUS ACTION PROJECTS
40,160 - 57,730 per year
Lancashire
Full-time

Area Manager (Lancashire)

  • locations
  • Blackpool Haven
  • Willow House
  • time type
  • Full time
  • posted on
  • Posted 2 Days Ago
  • job requisition id
  • JR009901

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Area Manager - LancashireLocation: Lancashire

Working Hours: 37Contract Type: PermanentSalary: £40,160 - £57,730

Make a real difference in your community

Are you passionate about helping others live safer, healthier and more independent lives?
Join Waythrough, one of the UK’s leading mental health and social support charities, and make a lasting impact every day.
We support over 125,000 people each year through our 200 services, empowering individuals to overcome challenges around mental health, housing, and substance use.

About the Role

As an Area Manager at Waythrough, you’ll lead and inspire teams delivering a diverse range of services supporting people with mental health needs and substance misuse challenges, including drug and alcohol recovery. Our portfolio goes beyond traditional treatment, spanning mental health housing, recovery, and employment support, to help people build stability, resilience, and independence.
 

You’ll oversee a portfolio of services within your region, ensuring they are safe, sustainable, person-centred, and high performing. Your leadership will create a culture of care, learning, and continuous improvement, empowering teams to deliver high-quality support and achieve meaningful outcomes.
 

Working closely with Service Managers, commissioners, and partners, you’ll drive innovation, performance, and excellence across all areas, ensuring compliance with CQC, Ofsted, and other quality frameworks.
 

What You’ll Do

  • Lead, develop, and oversee operational delivery across multiple services.

  • Ensure compliance with regulatory and quality standards, safeguarding, and governance frameworks.

  • Manage and mentor Service Managers, fostering a positive, high-performing team culture.

  • Oversee budgets, financial performance, and risk management.

  • Analyse performance data to drive continuous improvement and innovation.

  • Build strong partnerships with commissioners, stakeholders, and community organisations.

  • Contribute to strategic planning, service transformation, and business development.

  • Act as

    CQC Registered Managerwhere required.

To Succeed in This Role, You’ll Need:

To be an experienced leader with a strong background in mental health, substance misuse, or housing services, passionate about empowering people and transforming lives. You thrive in a dynamic environment and are skilled at balancing operational oversight with people leadership.
 

Essential skills and experience include:

  • Proven leadership experience within drug and alcohol recovery, mental health, housing, or related services.

  • Experience managing performance and budgets across multiple teams.

  • Strong understanding of safeguarding, compliance, and quality frameworks (CQC, Ofsted, QAF).

  • Excellent communication, analytical, and organisational skills.

  • Ability to build partnerships and drive service excellence through collaboration and innovation.

Desirable:

  • Business development experience and familiarity with government strategy and policy.

  • Understanding of void management.

For full person specifications and job details, please visit this link.

About Waythrough

Formed in 2024 through the merger of Humankind and Richmond Fellowship, Waythrough is now one of the largest mental health and social support charities in England.


With 3,500 staff and volunteers across more than 200 services, we help people to live full, meaningful lives.


Some roles may still appear under our legacy brands (Humankind, Richmond Fellowship, Aquarius) while we complete our integration — but wherever you join us, you’ll be part of one supportive team, sharing one purpose.

What We Offer

We value the people who make a difference every day. Alongside meaningful work, you’ll enjoy a comprehensive benefits package:

  • 27 days’ annual leave, rising to 32 after 1 year (plus bank holidays)
  • Pension scheme with 4.5% employer contribution, matched up to 6.5%
  • Life assurance (3× annual salary)
  • Enhanced sick pay and family-friendly pay
  • Birthday leave and the option to buy up to 5 extra days’ annual leave
  • Professional fee reimbursement for relevant qualifications
  • 24/7 online GP access and Employee Assistance Programme
  • Recognition and long service awards via our Way to GoandAspirationsportals
  • £500 Recommend a Friendbonus
  • Cycle to Work scheme and Credit Union membership
  • Discounts via Blue Light Card, Charity Discounts, Extras and Tickets for Good
  • Free will writing service and wellbeing initiatives throughout the year

Inclusion and Accessibility

Waythrough is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and communities — especially those with lived experience of the issues we support.

If you need adjustments or support to apply, please email recruitmentteam@waythrough.org.uk.

How to Apply

If you’re viewing this advert on an external platform such as Indeed, please click ‘Apply via Company Website’ to view the full job description and submit your application.

Please note: The salary listed reflects the full earning potential for this role. Starting salaries depend on experience and progression within the band.

About Us

Waythrough launched in October 2024 following the merger of Humankind and Richmond Fellowship.

Our vision is to break down the barriers that stop people getting the support they need to live a life they value. We tackle poverty and disadvantage in communities, through mental health, drug and alcohol, housing and related support.

We have almost 200 services around England – and nearly 3,500 amazing staff and volunteers who run them. Every year our services support around 125,000 people.

Bringing together two big organisations is not a small task and it’ll take a while to fully integrate our systems, processes and approaches. That’s why you will notice the jobs here are still branded ‘Richmond Fellowship’ or ‘Aquarius’ (our subsidiary charity in the Midlands). Next year we’ll be fully integrating our recruitment systems but for now they are separate.

Thanks for bearing with us – and don’t forget to check out the Waythrough jobs on the Humankind job site https://peoplekind.my.salesforce-sites.com/recruit/

Aquarius

Aquarius is a subsidiary of Waythrough. Aquarius is a Midlands-based charity supporting individuals to overcome the harms caused by drugs, alcohol and gambling. Aquarius has always held the view that people we support could resolve their problems with support and guidance and that people have the ability to find their own solutions to their problems. Our roles across the organisation include Practitioners and Administrators as well as Team Managers.

Find out more at www.aquarius.org.uk

Area Manager - AQUARIUS ACTION PROJECTS | Work In Charities