Expect the Best Team Manager – Job Description

Overall Purpose of the Job:

Expect the Best is an innovative peer to peer quality checking service which employs people with learning disabilities and other lived experiences to quality check a wide range of health and social care services. Previously funded by the Department of Health, Expect the Best has now developed into a sustainable and flexible quality checking service with great potential for further expansion.

The Team Manager will be supported by the Project Manager to deliver quality checks, support quality checkers, and to work closely with commissioners and other stakeholders to improve the quality of a wide range of health and social care services, and to develop a robust quality checking framework.

Theproject currently operates across 7 London boroughs covered by the North West London Mencap Consortium, and the Team manager will work closely with the Project Manager to continue developing the service, seek new funding, and to expand the service into new areas and locations.

The Team Manager will be based initially at Barnet Mencap and to work flexibly across the Boroughs in which Expect the Best operates. The service is currently commissioned to deliver Quality Checks in the Boroughs of Barnet, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, and Ealing. The Team Manager mayalso be required to travel across Greater London, attend national Meetings, and to work from within other North West London Mencap Consortium sites (Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Richmond) as required.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Quality checking

  • Organise, and deliver Quality checks to Health and Social Care Provider services across the Boroughs in which Expect the Best operates.
  • Support Quality Checkers to deliver Quality checks to provider services using Expect the Best tools
  • Writing Expect the Best quality check reports
  • Delivering quality reports and constructive critical feedback to service providers.
  • Awarding the Participation Certificate and providing follow up support
  • Ensuring information gathered during visits is logged onto the data system, reports are drawn off and fed back to the appropriate bodies via the Project Manager
  • Following a visit, encouraging providers to further develop their services by providing constructive feedback and signposting to examples of good practice
  • Gathering positive experiences and achievements from the quality checking team and clients and passing this information on to the Project Manager.
  • Supporting Local Authorities, Commissioners and Service Providers to develop and improve internal Quality Assurance Frameworks
  • Organising, attending and when required chairing Quality Assurance meetings and conferences supported by the Project manager
  • Attendand lead meetings with Local Authority, and NHS Commissioners

Project development

  • Build relationships with key stakeholders including Local Authority Commissioners, Service Managers and Health Leads
  • Work with the Project Manager on the continual development of quality checking tools and resources in line with the project plan
  • Understand the targets and performance indicators and work towards them.
  • Raise the awareness of Expect the Best by creating and disseminating promotional materials
  • Creating Easy Read accessible documents using picture symbols
  • Working with the Project Manager to identifyand approach potential new commissioners, providers and customers and working with them to expand and develop Expect the Best into new areas.
  • Working with the Project Manager to develop and deliver business plans which support the rollout of Expect the Best to commissioners and self-funders across all client groups
  • Promote Expect the Best through social media
  • To maintain the website and the project database
  • To organise training for staff across the project
  • To minute meetings when required.
  • Work in partnership with Royal Mencap and other Organisations
  • To complete reasonable additional responsibilities as directed by line manager

Staff Management

  • Team Manager will be supervised and line managed by the Project Manager
  • Responsible for direct supervision of quality checkers
  • Identify training needs for quality checking team
  • Organise and run internal training sessions for Expect the Best quality checkers
  • Ensure reasonable adjustments are in place for quality checkers who have disabilities including Access To Work and resolution of issues relating to earning while receiving benefits
  • Ensuring staff are aware of, and adhere to, the employing organisation’s policies and procedures
  • Ensuring staff supervisions occur regularly and appraisals occur annually
  • Support Project Manager with recruitment of Quality Checkers as and when required
  • Process and submit Quality checker timesheets and expenses, and support other HR functions.

Safeguarding

Expect the Best is a support mechanism for safeguarding and is not a replacement for statutory procedures

  • Adhere to the safeguarding policies and procedures of the lead organisation and the local area’s safeguarding procedures
  • Ensure Quality Checkers are trained on, aware and adhere to relevant safeguarding policies and procedures
  • Report concerns to the Project Manager and contribute to reports to senior management in provider organisations
  • Work alongside the project to facilitate ongoing monitoring of safeguarding alerts which have been raised following a quality checking visit to ensure action has been taken.
  • Where a safeguarding alert is raised informing the Project Manager and supporting the process to inform social services

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

  • The organisation actively promotes equal opportunities policies and anti-discriminatory practices at all times.

PROMOTION OF SERVICE

  • The organisation develops links with the community and other organisations and promotes positive images of people with learning disabilities.
  • It is expected that the post holder will perform the role in a way that furthers the values of the organisation with reference to equal access and opportunity and quality of service provided.

Person Specification ______

Job Title: Team Manager– Expect the Best

You must be able to demonstrate and state on your application form or personal statement how you meet the criteria below. Please address in turn as many points as you feel relevant.

eSSENTIAL:

Qualification/ Experience

  1. Experience of working within and developing a team
  2. Experience of working to set targets within a business plan
  3. Experience working with or within health and social care services and/or service providers or a relevant university degree
  4. Experience of working with people with learning disabilities and/or autism
  5. Experience of supervising and line managing staff

Knowledge/skills

  1. Understanding of the current Health and Social Care agenda including the Caring for Our Future white paper, personalisation and Healthwatch.
  2. Excellent IT skills including Microsoft office
  3. Good understanding of the issues faced by people with disabilities
  4. Establishing and maintaining good working relationships
  5. Excellent communication skills – verbal and written, including presentation skills
  6. Ability to build the skills of others and provide training, includingfor people who may have a learning disability
  7. Excellent literacy and report writing skills

Competencies/behaviours required

  1. Ability to learn and self-develop
  2. Ability to work independently/self-starter and take initiative
  3. Good organisational and prioritising skills
  4. Diplomacy skills
  5. Ability to provide innovative solutions
  6. Trustworthiness and discretion when handling confidential information
  7. Ability to develop professional networks
  8. Ability to meet outcomes/outputs of business plans
  9. Political awareness
  10. Ability to turn the vision of Expect the Best into reality
  11. Leadership, Influencing and mediating skills
  12. Ability to collate, measure, assess and make use of qualitative and quantitative data

Circumstances

  1. Willingness to travel and work across Greater London (mainly North West London)
  2. Commitment to a diversity approach to work
  3. Willingness to work within a single management structure involving a number of delivery partners
  4. Willingness to be a forerunner in new and innovative practice

Desirable:

Qualification/Experience

  1. Experience in Marketing services/support
  2. Experience in developing marketing tools/media
  3. Experience in fundraising
  4. Experience in recruitment
  5. Events management experience including conferences

Knowledge/skills

  1. Considerable knowledge of issues facing public and charitable sector
  2. Knowledge about available services in the social care market
  3. Knowledge of and/or and experience of working in/with Health services and the NHS
  4. Knowledge of CQC Quality standards, or other measures or quality.
  5. Budget management skills

Competencies/behaviours desired

  1. Ability to summarise complex documents and ideas
  2. Inspiring and leadership skills
  3. Ability to challenge

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