JOB DESCRIPTION
TITLE OF POST:
Interim Director of Service Development
Responsible to:
The CEO and Board of Trustees
Responsible for:
Five Service Managers and respective frontline delivery teams totalling c 75
FTEs
Job Purpose:
To lead existing business as usual services during a period of transition,
alongside implementing organisational change i.e.
1. Introduce and implement a planning system that links strategy to staff
appraisal, increasing accountability and focus across the charity.
2. Develop financial acumen across the charity with, in particular,
Service Managers.
3. Update systems, policies and procedures and implement these across
services
4. Support the development of montoring and evaluation practice across
the charity
5. Maintain confidence with external stakeholders during the change
process.
Salary and Scale:
Salary PO 7/8 (expected salary point 57 £55,107 - includes Inner London
Weighting)
Contract:
August 2017 – July 2018 (12 month contract), full time 35 hrs per week.
MAIN TASKS:
1
Planning and HR
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Participate in the charity’s Senior Management Team and maintain effective communication
between service teams and all other parts of the organisation.
Provide CSTM’s service delivery staff with a clear direction and day to day guidance, based
on the charity’s strategy and core values.
Ensure that each service is meeting its objectives, meeting funding and contractual
requirements and continuously improving.
Ensure good communication across the service delivery team through meetings,
consultations and short life working groups.
Working closely with the SMT, produce and implement a staff development plan to support
service staff through a process of transition and change in the organisation.
Work with the CEO and Head of HR and Administration to pilot a new organsiational
planning system from September 2017, including supporting Service Managers to create
team plans linking the charity’s strategy with its appraisal system .
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Ensure all service staff are recruited, inducted, supervised, supported and appraised using
consistent systems, taking any appropriate action in consultation with the Head of HR and
Administration.
Participate in Joint Negotiating Committee discussions where appropriate.
Build the confidence of Service Managers to make operational decisions autonomously
through coaching, training and other development opportunities.
Financial Management
Work with the Head of Finance, Premises and IT to create a budget with clear cost centres
based on services;
Provide support to service managers to understand and interpret their own budgets and
how they link to plans, so that financial acumen in the charity is significantly improved;
Identify cost savings in service expenditure to improve the efficiency of the charity overall;
Help Service Managers to participate in financial reviews of expenditure and budget setting
for the 2018/19 financial year;
Authorise expenditure and act as a cheque signatory within agreed limits.
As part of the SMT, help to produce 3 year financial projections for the charity;
Work with the Head of Fundraising and PR and Service Mangers to increase knowledge and
understanding of funding sources and funder/contract management.
Systems and Policies and procedures
Provide service staff with professional leadership and expertise, keeping up to date with
relevant professional developments, technical and legal information and best practice, and
applying this knowledge to service delivery.
Review operational policies and procedures, prioritising areas representing significant
organisational risk (Equalities, Health and safety, Safeguarding, Data Protection) to ensure
that CSTM meets its legal obligations in all aspects of service delivery.
Participate in and/or lead task groups working on issues which cross divisional boundaries.
Ensure policies are in place and that any training is provided for the service staff team;
Promote good practice in the use of Information Technology to support the CSTM’s service
delivery activities.
Support the implementation of the IT upgrade planned for October 2017, including the
logistics of buidlings closure and IT training with staff.
Ensure that client feedback and consultation takes place and that complaints are dealt with
fairly and efficiently.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability
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Work with the CEO to develop a new CSTM outcomes framework, theory of change and
service model, which links the charity’s emerging strategy with existing monitoring and
evaluation data collection systems;
Provide support to Service Managers and staff in developing understanding of data, regular
review of performance with teams and continous improvement;
Have overall responsibility for ensuring that data and reports are produced to meet
funding/contractual requirements and that results are shared with service teams for
discussion and review.
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Provide reports to the Board of Trustees on service delivery and progress against the interim
strategy;
Attend Board meetings and other Trustee meetings as appropriate and at the request of the
CEO;
Attend regular SMT meetings and wider staff meetings to support the charity’s transition
process.
External Relationships
Maintain and build the network of relationships with other agencies on which CSTM’s work
depends, allocating networking and feedback responsibilities across the service teams.
Represent CSTM professionally and effectively with external stakeholders and take
advantage of any opportunities which may arise to develop new projects or partnerships.
Liaise with relevant statutory and non statutory agencies - including government
departments
Maintain open, transaprent communication with Westminster City Council, St. Martin’s
Charity and other key funders in relation to organisational change and frontline service
delivery;
Assist the Chief Executive in raising CSTM’s public profile, taking part in meetings, forums,
press, media and publicity activities as necessary
Attend relevant forums and external meetings as agreed with the CEO.
General
Comply with all of the organsiation’s policies and procedures including Health and Safety,
Equalities and Safeguarding;
Work consistently within the charity’s core values;
Undertake occasional duties as agreed with the CEO, commesurate with salary and level of
seniority;
Assist in the promotion of the work of The Connection at St Martin’s to its visitors and
funders.
Job descriptions are intended to give individuals clear guidance on what they are expected to achieve.
However, they rarely capture all tasks and responsibilities. The Connection at St Martin’s is a small
organisation and its work, by definition, is not neat. All staff are therefore expected to adopt a flexible
approach and will occasionally be required to undertake other duties not detailed above but within the
scope of the job.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
This person specification sets out the ESSENTIAL and DESIRABLE experience and abilities needed by the
successful candidate for this post.
Knowledge and Experience
Working in at a senior management level in an organsiation providing services
for people experiencing servere and multiple disadvantage.
Detailed understanding of homelessness and, in particular, rough sleeping
Writing and implementing detailed operational plans, setting and monitoring
performance of delivery based on these plans.
Contributing to the development of 3 – 5 year organisational strategy
Contract management and development of positive external stakeholder
relationships
Financial management and budget review across multiple cost centres
Understanding of fundraising through Trusts, individual giving and company
donations
Working within a Senior Management Team and with a Board of Trustees.
Essential/Desirable
Essential
Safeguarding and other key policy areas associated with service delivery with
people who have severe and multiple disadvantage
Monitoring and evaluation based on outcomes including data analysis, report
writing and contract monitoring.
Skills and Attributes
Strong organsiational skills and the ability to manage a complex workload
Resourceful and able to problem-solve
Leading, managing, developing and motivating managers and frontline staff
through change.
Training managers to broaden their core management skills, capacity and
confidence.
The personal gravitas and credibility to build confidence internally and externally
Good IT skills
Able to work flexibly, including occasional evenings and weekends.
Work consistently within the charity’s core values: Aspirational, respectful,
honest, empowering; open minded.
Essential
Desirable
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Desirable
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Desirable
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Background Information
The Connection at St. Martins is based at the Heart of London, near Charing Cross Station and Trafalgar
Square. CSTM has been helping homeless people since the 1940s and is one of London’s largest
homelessness charities. CSTM helps 4,500 people each year through five services for rough sleepers and
people who are vulnerably housed. These include:
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A Day Centre supporting 2500 people to engage in mainstream services
A Night Centre providing 750 people a year with access to emergency accommodation
Street Outreach for 2500 people a year to assist them off the streets quickly to minimise sleeping
rough
Advice for 900 people a year so that they can access housing and overcome mental health problems.
Workspace helping 700 people a year to move towards into work, learning and volunteering
Connection at St. Martins has an annual turnover of £4.6m, a staff team of 115 and around 30 regular
volunteers. The fundraising team raise £2.5m a year and the charity benefits from the BBC Radio 4
Christmas Appeal, run by our partners - the St. Martin’s Charity. This gives the charity a very sound financial
footing. There are close working links with Westminster City Council, including delivery of a large Street
Outreach contract which is due to be re-tendered in the early Autumn of 2017. The Connection has a range
of statutory and voluntary sector partners including the Police, NHS, The Passage, St. Mungos and our local
corporate neighbours.
Having enjoyed a long period of continuous leadership, the charity’s CEO retired in April this year and the
Director of Serices will be retiring shortly. A new CEO has joined the charity, alongside a new Chair of
Trustees. This change in leadership brings an inevitable difference in style and approach. An interim
strategic plan has been put in place to guide CSTM through to March until the new 3 year strategy is
launched in April 2018. To deliver the new strategy, there will be changes in the charity’s senior and middle
service management structure. To support this transition, the charity will appoint an Interim Director of
Service Development to work closely with the CEO and existing managers to oversee existing service delivery
and prepare for change.
Alongside overseeing “business as usual” service matters, the Interim Director of Service Development will
be largely focused on helping the services managers to:
 introduce and implement a planning system that links strategy to staff appraisal. This will include
learning to plan in a structured way in consultation with frontline delivery teams , ensuring
everyone is accountable for delivery against individually agreed objectives;
 Understand and manage their own service budgets including how they link to contracts, funding
agreements and longer term fundraising plans;
 Review operational policies and procedures, prioritising areas represneting significant organisational
risk (Equalities, Health and safety, Data Protection);
 Respond to a major IT upgrade planned for October – which will include a combination of on the
ground disruption whilst hardware is installed and training with staff in using new software and
associated systems;
 Develop an ovearching outcomes framework, theory of change and servcie model, which links with
existing monitoring and evaluation data;
 Maintaining confidence with external stakeholders during the change process.
It is anticipated that this process will give the existing service managers the skills and insight to work within a
new structure from July 2018. Alongisde the change work outlined here, the charity will also be creating an
Innovation Team to take forward longer term work on personalisation and co-production, research, policy
and new service areas (e.g. health and homelessness, women, non UK migrants).
The Interim Director of Service Development role requires someone with a very strong track record in
service delivery with people who have complex needs (but not necessarrily within homelessness). The post
holder must be able to hit the ground running and juggle the different areas of work outlined through good
planning and time management. It is important to have experience of managing change, with an emphasis
on providing training and personal development with middle managers to widen their skills, knowledge and
experience. Finally, the post holder must be a positive role model with the personal credibility to build
confidence in the charity both internally and externally while the change process progresses.