Deputy Chief Executive Officer

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Job description

Hear Us is Croydon's Mental Health Service User Group which acts as a coordinating body to facilitate, and ensure service users involvement in, the planning, delivery and monitoring of mental health services in Croydon. Helping to improve the quality of the services commissioned and delivered in Croydon.

As Croydon's only service user group for people with severe and enduring mental illness, our organisation is 100% service user run. This strength gives us a unique insight into the barriers faced by our service users; particularly those also experiencing drug & alcohol misuse or leaving prison. We provide specialist peer support and personal support for our service users - people with complex mental health issues living or working in the London Borough of Croydon. Our practical, regular activities help users to cope better with daily living and helps to relieve their social, emotional and physical needs.

Purpose of Post: The Deputy Chief Executive post is a new role that will support the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to provide strategic leadership of Hear Us and help to support strategic development, sustainability and management of Hear Us, in line with stated organisation aims and objectives. The post holder will develop innovative ways for service users to get involved and have a say in local mental health service planning and provision.

Hear Us are funded by Croydon CCG and as well as other grant funders when available.

This post is funded by the National Lottery

Key Responsibilities

1. The post holder will ensure service users' involvement in the planning, delivery and monitoring of mental health services in Croydon and help to improve the quality of the mental health services commissioned and delivered in Croydon.
2. In collaboration with the Board of Trustees, the post holder will be responsible for the development and implementation of Hear Us' strategic plan (taking into account the changing needs of mental health service users in the area), legislative and economic drivers.
3. In collaboration with the Board of Trustees, the post holder will ensure effective management and staffing structures are in place to fulfil the strategic objectives of the organisation.
4. The post holder will be responsible for maintaining and reporting the financial position in line with the agreed organisational financial strategy
5. The post holder will have overall responsibility for the development and delivery of the services provided by Hear Us.
6. The post holder will have overall responsibility for the successful delivery of any agreed organisational objectives and targets.
7. The post holder will act as the designated Safeguarding lead and will liaise with core funders.

Coordinate Operational Responsibilities:

1. The post holder will develop a supportive and vibrant group with mental health service users in Croydon to discuss, lobby and campaign on mental health issues locally and nationally where applicable.
2. The post holder will manage, support and provide supervision to a small staff team of paid staff and volunteers, most of whom will be past or current mental health service users.
3. The post holder will develop and maintain a healthy working practice for yourself, your staff and volunteers by having clear personal and professional boundaries.
4. The post holder will outreach to user groups (not just in Croydon), and individual users and to encourage and support participation in Hear Us. This will include visits to hospital wards, day centers, etc. and will involve active outreach to underrepresented service users and groups (BME, LGBT etc.…) which are underrepresented within Hear Us and the wider mental health community.
5. The post holder will develop and support different techniques such as our Linkworking Project and the Reachout Challenge, open meetings with guest speakers and social events to attract service users to Hear Us to build a strong and diverse group.
6. The post holder will provide and purchase training, and to encourage and support users who are attending meetings on behalf of Hear Us (i.e. assertiveness skills, meetings skills training etc.).
7. The post holder will actively campaign with and for service users on issues raised by service users.
8. The post holder will support our Development and Fundraising Manager to actively secure the necessary funding, with project managers, the organization requires, in line with the agreed funding strategy.
9. The post holder will enable the Board, and sub-groups, to make properly informed decisions by ensuring that trustees are provided with appropriate, timely and necessary information, advice and guidance.
10. The post holder will actively oppose discrimination against people who experience mental distress in Croydon.
11. The post holder will enable Hear Us members to have an impact on policymaking and the planning of services in Croydon. This will involve liaison with the South London & Maudsley NHS Trust, Croydon Social Services, Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the voluntary sector.
12. The post holder will work with the Trustees and staff team to develop systems of monitoring Hear Us and evaluate its effectiveness through keeping statistics on equal opportunities; involving the membership in surveys and forums and adopting user focused monitoring tools through Linkworking, Open Forum and Welfare Surgeries projects.
13. The post holder will attend quarterly service level agreement monitoring with our core funder, the CCG.
14. The post holder will attend supervision and identify own training and support needs with your supervisor.
15. The post holder will ensure applications are completed to meet all requirements for registration/recognition with external bodies.

The Hear Us Trustees in consultation with the CEO may review this job description. The job description is not an exhaustive document and may be subject to change or revision in the future. This will be done in consultation with the post holder.

Person Specification

Outlined below are the skills, knowledge and experience required to carry out the duties on the job description. Applicants must be able to meet all the essential criteria. Meeting the desirable criteria will be a further asset. Please bear all the criteria in mind when completing your application form and make sure that you give examples and demonstrate that you meet the criteria.

Essential Criteria:

Candidates must be able to demonstrate that they have:

1. At least 2 years' experience or equivalent of running a group or small organisation, and project management including supporting and supervising a small staff team.
2. At least one year's experience of training, group work or facilitation.
3. Experience and knowledge of current national and local policy and practice relating to user involvement and user empowerment.
4. A proven ability to demonstrate a commitment to the empowerment of any service user client group and to user-run services.
5. An ability to motivate, support and train service users who want to get involved in user representation work.
6. Demonstrable experience of organising training events, conferences and public speaking.
7. Ability to communicate and engage effectively with people from a wide range of backgrounds including mental health service users in distress and commissioners, service providers and other professionals using presentations, face-to-face contact and in writing.
8. Experience of promoting equal opportunities of all people who experience discrimination and its effects.
9. Ability to write reports and put together publicity material for different audiences.
10. Project management skills, including financial planning, time management, project planning, monitoring and evaluation.
11. Competent IT skills and a commitment to advance training including Outlook, MS Word, Access, Excel, Publisher and QuickBooks and Adobe .
12. Ability to work out-of-hours, including weekends and evenings at events and on projects.
13. Ability to work to your own initiative and to contribute to team working.
14. Demonstrate and understand Hear Us equal opportunities policy.

Desirable Criteria:

1. Personal experience of mental distress and/or personal experience of using the mental health system as a service user.
2. Experience of working in a user-run organisation.
3. Knowledge of the mental health service user/survivor movement and its impact on mental health in the UK.
4. Knowledge and experience of working in the voluntary/community sector and the relevant charity and company law.

Please Contact Tim Oldham for Application Pack