Head of Service for Dorset
About the role
JOB DESCRIPTION Head of Service for Dorset
| Reports to | coO |
| Direct reports | Operations Managers, Service Managers, Team Leaders and other locality leads as appropriate |
| Location | Dorset / hybrid, with regular travel across Dorset Mind delivery locations and occasional travel to Hampshire |
| Hours | 37 hours per week |
| Salary range | £43,895 to £49,665 per annum (Solent Mind Band G) |
Purpose
To provide strategic and operational leadership for Dorset Mind’s services across Dorset, ensuring that services are safe, high quality, cohesive, person-centred and well embedded in the communities they serve.
The post holder will lead the development of a strong Dorset locality offer, with a particular focus on service quality, performance, integration, stakeholder confidence and commissioner relationships. They will ensure services meet contractual expectations, demonstrate impact, respond to local need and contribute to Dorset Mind’s wider strategic aims.
The role will be central to building trusted relationships with commissioners, statutory partners, voluntary and community sector organisations, people who use services, carers, staff and volunteers. The post holder will act as a senior ambassador for Dorset Mind, ensuring the organisation is visible, credible and recognised as a high quality partner in the local mental health system.
Principal accountabilities
1. Strategic and locality leadership
Provide overall leadership for Dorset Mind’s services, ensuring they are safe, effective, inclusive, financially sustainable and aligned with organisational strategy.
Develop and deliver a Dorset locality plan focused on service quality, performance, integration, impact and sustainable growth.
Provide clear leadership and accountability to service and operational managers, supporting high quality and consistent delivery.
Contribute as a senior leader to wider organisational planning, decision-making and collaboration across Dorset Mind, National Mind and the Local Mind network.
2. Service quality and performance
Lead a strong quality and continuous improvement culture, ensuring services meet organisational standards and contractual requirements.
Maintain effective oversight of performance, outcomes, safeguarding, risk, information governance, health and safety and equality, diversity and inclusion.
Use service data, audits, feedback and learning to evidence impact, identify areas for improvement and ensure corrective action is taken where required.
Ensure the views and experiences of people who use services, carers, communities, staff and volunteers inform service delivery and improvement.
3. Commissioner and stakeholder relationships
Build trusted relationships with commissioners, funders, NHS partners, local authorities, VCSE organisations and other key Dorset stakeholders.
Represent Dorset Mind at strategic meetings, contract reviews and partnership forums, providing credible evidence of service quality, impact and local need.
Strengthen Dorset Mind’s profile and influence, supporting effective referral pathways, partnership working and improved service user journeys.
Maintain a strong understanding of local priorities, inequalities, community assets and gaps in provision to inform service and organisational planning.
4. Service development and sustainability
Identify opportunities to improve, develop and expand services in response to local need, commissioner priorities and organisational strategy.
Work with Business Development, Finance and senior colleagues to develop funding proposals, tenders and business cases.
Support the effective mobilisation of new services and ensure developments are financially viable, operationally deliverable and consistent with Dorset Mind’s quality expectations.
Maintain oversight of budgets and contracts, ensuring financial pressures, delivery risks and opportunities are identified and managed.
5. People leadership
Line manage service and operational managers, setting clear objectives and providing effective supervision, support, challenge and development.
Foster an inclusive, collaborative and high performing culture that supports staff wellbeing, learning and continuous improvement.
Ensure workforce plans support service requirements, quality standards, financial sustainability and future development.
Address performance, conduct, capability and wellbeing matters fairly and promptly in line with Dorset Mind policies.
6. Governance and general responsibilities
Ensure services operate in accordance with Dorset Mind’s policies and procedures, including safeguarding, risk management, health and safety, information governance and equality, diversity and inclusion.
Maintain oversight of incidents, complaints, risks and assurance activity, ensuring learning is identified, shared and embedded.
Work flexibly across Dorset Mind locations and undertake relevant training and continuing professional development.
Carry out other duties reasonably required to meet the needs of Dorset Mind.
This list is not exhaustive and may be reviewed to reflect the changing needs of Dorset Mind.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Head of Service for Dorset
| Requirement | Essential ordesirable |
| Qualifications, education and training | |
| Minimum of Level 5 qualification or equivalent experience, or capability and willingness towork towards. | Essential |
| Safeguarding qualification or training appropriate to senior operational leadership, orwillingness to undertake. | Essential |
| Management, leadership, health, social care, mental health, public health or VCsE sectorqualification. | Desirable |
| Mental Health First Aid qualification, or wilingness to undertake during probation. | Desirable |
| Experience | |
| Demonstrable experience in a senior operational, service delivery, quality, commissioning,partnership or locality leadership role within health, social care, mental health, publichealth or the voluntary sector. | Essential |
| Proven experience of leading complex services across a defined geographic area orportfolio. | Essential |
| Experience of improving service quality, performance, outcomes and consistency acrossmultiple services or teams. | Essential |
| Demonstrable experience of building and maintaining strong relationships withcommissioners, funders, statutory partners and VCSE stakeholders. | Essential |
| Experience of using data, reporting, feedback and quality assurance processes toevidence impact and drive improvement. | Essential |
| Experience of managing budgets, financial performance, contract delivery or servicesustainability. | Essential |
| Experience of leading teams through growth, change, integration or service mobilisation. | Essential |
| Experience of working alongside people with lived experience, communities or serviceusers to shape and improve services. | Essential |
| Experience of tendering, bid development, service design or business case development. | Desirable |
| Experience of working within Dorset's health, social care, mental health or VCSE system. | Desirable |
| Knowledge, skills and competencies | |
| Strong understanding of community-based mental health services and the widerdeterminants of mental health and wellbeing. | Essential |
| Excellent leadership and people management skills, with the ability to support, | Essential |
| challenge, motivate and develop managers and teams. | |
| Strong service quality focus, with the ability to translate standards, evidence andfeedback into practical improvement. | Essential |
| Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to influence, negotiate andbuild trust with commissioners, partners and communities. | Essential |
| Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to understand local systems, identify risks andopportunities, and develop coherent plans. | Essential |
| Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clearreports and present confidently to senior audiences. | Essential |
| Ability to balance strategic leadership with operational grip and attention to detail. | Essential |
| Financial acumen and ability to understand budgets, contract requirements andsustainability pressures. | Essential |
| Understanding of safeguarding, risk management, information governance, health andsafety and equality, diversity and inclusion. | Essential |
| Ability to use data and insight to monitor performance, demonstrate impact and supportevidence-based decision-making. | Essential |
| Understanding of commissioning, funding and partnership environments within health,social care or the VCSE sector. | Essential |
| Understanding of co-production and the value of lived experience in shaping services. | Desirable |
| Understanding of or lived experience of mental health issues. | Essential |
| Other | |
| Commitment to Dorset Mind's values. | Essential |
| Commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice. | Essential |
| Willingness to travel across Dorset Mind locations. | Essential |
| Willingness to undergo a relevant DBS check if required. | Essential |