Head of Service (Children & All Age)

• Salary scale: £38,456 to £47,500 per annum
• Contract: Permanent
• Hours: 37 hours per week x2
• Base: Kenburgh House, 28 Manor Row, Bradford, BD1 4QU
• Probationary Period: 6 months
• Closing Date: 10am Monday 5 January 2026
• Interview Date: Monday 12 January 2026

About Us Bradford District and Craven Mind is a thriving, independent mental health charity with a clear purpose to promote positive mental wellbeing and empower and help people experiencing issues with their mental health to manage and work towards recovery and fulfilment.

We do this through:

• Building community and individual resilience for better mental wellbeing
• Providing early intervention advice and support
• Supporting people in crisis
• Empowering and helping people to recover and sustain improved wellbeing
• 25 days annual leave per year, rising to 28 days with length of service plus bank holidays
• Up to two additional leave days to use each year to support your wellbeing.
• Simply Health Cash Plan to claim back on personal health costs including dental, optical, prescriptions, physiotherapy and more.
• Employee Assistance Service including 24/7 confidential mental health support and access to structured therapy sessions.
• Generous pension scheme and employer contribution to help you plan for a secure future.
• Discount schemes including Company Shop and Blue Light Card.
• Excellent personal development opportunities including access to Clinical Supervision.
• Enhanced sick pay after your six-month probation.
• Accredited employer with Mindful Employer, Disability Confident and Real Living Wage.

Role Background We are recruiting to two new Head of Service posts, to strengthen leadership across our growing children, young people, families and all-age portfolio. Each post has a distinct focus, aligned to the different stages of need in our support pathway.

One post will lead our early intervention offer, including Guide-Line, KidsTime and subcontracted provision for children, young people & families (CYPF) presenting with emerging emotional health needs. The other will oversee our offer for those with more established emotional and mental health needs, such as Know Your Mind, Hospital Buddies and our subcontracted Youth in Mind delivery.

Although each post has its own portfolio, they will work as a dynamic leadership partnership, collaborating closely with each other, with the Director of Children, Young People and All Age services and with Service Managers across all programmes. Together, they will help ensure our services are connected, high-quality and responsive, offering a seamless experience for the communities we support across Bradford District and Craven.

Purpose of the role As a Head of Service, you will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight across a portfolio of mental health services, ensuring they deliver high-quality, impactful support. Working closely with the Director of Children, Young People and All Age services, you will drive service excellence, innovation and sustainability, embedding best practices and ensuring alignment with organisational goals.

You will oversee service performance, financial management, and stakeholder engagement. You will foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement and equity. As a key leader, you will empower Service Managers and teams to achieve outstanding outcomes, strengthening our reputation, partner relationships and expanding our reach across Bradford District and Craven.

• Ensure services, including subcontracted provision, are outcome-focused and delivered in line with organisational and system targets, resulting in high-quality, accessible support for people in need.
• Provide strategic guidance and operational support to Service Managers, enabling them to lead effectively and drive continuous improvement within their services.
• Contribute to the creation and delivery of new services, ensuring they are responsive, innovative and effectively address and capture the evolving needs of local communities
• Working together with senior leaders, develop and lead a high-performing, multi-disciplinary cross-organisation management team, to translate high-level organisational goals into actionable, measurable plans that are aligned with the wider organisation vision and strategy
• Ensure timely and effective responses to safeguarding concerns, incidents and disclosures, driving continuous improvement in response to learning
• Driving a high-quality approach to data integrity, monitoring and reporting, producing reports for a range of audiences and delivering data-driven service development
• Build and nurture strong strategic relationships with stakeholders, including commissioners, partners, and community organisations, ensuring alignment with service goals, fostering collaboration and enhancing BDC Mind's reputation and influence in the mental health sector
• Managing the service budgets in conjunction with the Director of CYP and All Age services, ensuring that the service operates efficiently and within budget
• Actively engage in supervision, team meetings and company events to contribute to a well-connected, informed and supportive team environment
• Successfully complete all mandatory and role-specific training to ensure best practices in safeguarding, data protection, health and safety and mental health awareness
• Adapt to evolving business needs by taking on additional responsibilities as required, ensuring a cohesive and effective team approach

Person specification Bradford District and Craven Mind is committed to promoting mental health awareness, reducing stigma, and improving the quality of life for people with mental health challenges. We value diversity, inclusion and lived experiences when recruiting our staff and volunteers.

Qualifications

• Evidence of ongoing professional development in leadership, mental health, safeguarding or service improvement.
• Relevant professional qualification or degree in health, social care, education, management or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of local CYPF emotional and mental health needs
• In-depth knowledge of best practice in mental health service delivery and integrated care approaches.
• Understanding of the local and national policy landscape and priorities relating to CYPF mental health.
• Knowledge of commissioning, contract management and quality assurance processes, including managing subcontracted partners.
• Awareness of structural barriers affecting access to mental health support, and approaches to improving equity and inclusion.
• Understanding of risk management, safeguarding and escalation pathways.
• Knowledge of data quality, impact measurement, KPIs and approaches to using data to drive service improvement.

Skills and abilities

• Ability to lead across multiple services, ensuring coherence, high standards and alignment with organisational priorities.
• Strong people-management skills, with the ability to motivate, empower and develop leaders.
• Skilled at building and maintaining effective relationships with commissioners, partners, subcontracted providers and community organisations.
• Ability to manage and monitor service performance, budgets, and operational delivery.
• Ability to use data to inform decision-making, reporting and service development.
• Able to lead change, foster continuous improvement and embed a culture of learning.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly to varied audiences.
• Ability to manage risk across services, ensuring safe practice and robust safeguarding responses.
• Effective problem-solving and decision-making skills, including under pressure.
• Ability to work collaboratively across leadership teams and operate effectively in a matrix management environment.

Experience

• Proven experience in leading services within mental health, children's services, education, social care or a related field.
• Track record of driving quality, innovation and service improvement.
• Experience of leading safeguarding practice and managing complex risk.
• Experience of building strategic partnerships and working collaboratively with commissioners, statutory services, VCSE partners and communities.
• Experience of implementing monitoring frameworks, analysing data and producing reports for senior stakeholders.
• Experience of supporting and developing managers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience of contributing to or leading the development of new services or pilots.
• Experience of managing service budgets, financial planning and resource allocation.
• Experience of managing both internal teams and subcontracted or commissioned provision.

Attitude and personal attributes

• Inclusive, approachable and respectful in all interactions.
• A positive, solution-focused and self-motivated approach to leadership.
• Commitment to supporting CYPF and our workforce with compassion, professionalism and equity.
• A collaborative mindset with the ability to build trust and foster teamwork across services.
• Comfortable navigating change and uncertainty, with a flexible and adaptive approach.
• A proactive attitude to learning, improvement and innovation.
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