Women’s Residential Service Director

Prospectus is pleased to be partnering with One Small Thing, an ambitious charity with a commitment to systemic change for women and their children in the justice system. Launched in July 2023, their newly built residential community-based service 'Hope Street’ pilots a new approach to working with justice involved women. From within a healing, trauma-informed residential environment, women, and children have access to a range of specialised practical and therapeutic support and education.

At an exciting time for the charity, they are now looking to recruit an experienced Service Director to lead the strategic and operational oversight of their brand-new residential Hub in Southampton and move-on properties across Hampshire.

As Service Director, you will lead an effective and cohesive operational management team overseeing the development and delivery of specialist services for justice involved women including those engaged with prison and probation services, ensuring that their team provide the highest standards of support, and that services are shaped by the needs of those who access them. Under your leadership, you will ensure that the training and development programme for team members enables them to effectively implement the Hope Street model across the service and deliver effective support to the women and children who reside at the Hub and across move-on properties in the county.

Additionally, you will lead the development of effective partnerships with key stakeholders in Hampshire, including partners within Justice, health, and housing providers to develop an effective women’s pathway across the county as well as identifying localised funding opportunities to support sustainability of the service. A key part of this role will be representing the wider organisation at local and national forums to raise the profile of the service and help embed the Hope Street community within the long-term strategy for women’s services in Hampshire.

To be successful, you will be an experienced senior leader with a track record of leading Residential Services within the criminal justice sector and/or gender specific, trauma responsive specialist women’s services. Experience of managing complex and challenging situations safely is crucial, as is experience of assessing and responding to adult and child safeguarding concerns. Knowledge of therapeutic interventions and an understanding of trauma and its long-term effects on a person’s behaviours is helpful, and a commitment to trauma-informed practice is essential. Ideal candidates will also have extensive experience of leading, managing and developing teams, managing and developing funding partnerships and will have worked directly in a multi-agency context with senior stakeholders across voluntary and statutory services.

Please apply with your CV only in the first instance (in Microsoft Word format); cover letters are not required at this stage.

In-person Interview date: Wednesday, 7th February at Hope Street, Southampton

Please note CVs will be reviewed, and initial interviews will be conducted on an on-going basis and therefore we encourage early application.

As a specialist Recruitment Practice Prospectus is committed to building inclusive and diverse organisations, and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Prospectus invests in your journey as a candidate and are committed to supporting you in your application.

This post is restricted to women only as a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9 paragraph 1, Equality Act 2010.