Team Leader- Rough Sleepers

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Team Leader to join our community-based treatment service, supporting adults aged 18 and over who are experiencing difficulties related to drug and/or alcohol use.

Our services provide a person-centred, integrated approach to treatment, combining clinical, psychosocial and wellbeing interventions to meet the holistic needs of people in the community. We use both harm reduction and abstinence-based approaches, tailoring treatment and support to the individual needs and circumstances of each service user.

As Team Leader, you will play a key role in ensuring the delivery of high-quality, effective services. You may hold a small caseload and will support practitioners to deliver high-quality assessments, SMART care plans, structured one-to-one interventions, group work and structured treatment programmes. You will also provide appropriate harm reduction advice and guidance and, where required, undertake urine and oral swab testing to support clinical treatment.

A key aspect of the role will be supporting and developing your team. You will provide supervision, training, guidance, constructive feedback and professional development to direct reports, helping practitioners, peer mentors, volunteers and apprentices to develop their knowledge and skills and maintain high standards of practice.

Rough Sleepers Initiative Lead

As the Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) Lead, you will take responsibility for managing a team of frontline workers, predominantly within the RSI team, while working collaboratively across the wider service.

You will develop and maintain effective working relationships with partner agencies involved in the initiative and ensure that services work together effectively to achieve positive outcomes for people experiencing homelessness and substance misuse.

Partnership working will be central to the role. You will work closely with organisations and professionals including GPs, hospitals, mental health services, housing providers, employment services, health trainers, probation, police and social services. Through effective collaboration, you will help service users navigate changing circumstances, make positive lifestyle changes and prepare for the future.

Working alongside the Service Manager, you will help ensure the service meets the KPIs and outcome indicators set by the commissioner and The Forward Trust, while maintaining compliance with relevant CQC standards and quality requirements.

You will have a particular focus on monitoring outcomes, supporting effective partnership working and ensuring that the service consistently delivers high-quality, person-centred interventions.

Flexibility is an important part of the role, and depending on the service, you may be required to work evenings and/or weekends.

About You

We are looking for an experienced and motivated substance misuse professional who can combine strong clinical and therapeutic knowledge with effective team leadership.

You will have:

• Experience of managing or leading within a community-based substance misuse service.
• Experience of carrying out comprehensive assessments and designing and implementing high-quality SMART care plans, as well as supporting staff to deliver these to the required standard.
• Experience of delivering structured interventions to service users and the ability to share your knowledge and expertise with direct reports.
• Strong knowledge and experience of psychosocial interventions and their application within substance misuse services, with the ability to develop the knowledge and practice of practitioners, peer mentors, volunteers and apprentices.
• Experience of using motivational interviewing techniques effectively in both one-to-one and group settings.
• Strong IT skills and confidence using IT systems to support case management, record keeping and service delivery.
• Previous experience of providing supervision, appraisals, guidance and constructive feedback to staff.
• Experience of working with people who are rough sleeping or experiencing homelessness.
• Experience of providing counselling or therapeutic support to people experiencing drug and/or alcohol problems.

Previous experience of working within a community-based treatment setting.

Knowledge and experience of a range of therapeutic approaches, including both abstinence-based treatment and harm minimisation approaches.

The ability to build positive, professional relationships with service users, colleagues and external partner agencies.

A commitment to person-centred, inclusive and recovery-focused practice.

The ability to lead, motivate and support staff while maintaining high standards of practice and accountability.

You will be an excellent communicator who can work confidently with a wide range of professionals and agencies. You will be able to balance operational responsibilities with direct work and will be committed to achieving positive outcomes for service users.

Most importantly, you will share our commitment to treating people with respect, dignity and compassion, recognising their individual strengths and supporting them to make meaningful and sustainable changes.

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

We are committed to our cause and the work we carry out as a charity. Equally the wellbeing and the employees who work for us are also important. Joining us an employee, we will offer you the following benefits - 

• Flexible working
•  Support for Families – We support our employees through every stage of family life by offering enhanced maternity and paternity pay for eligible employees who have completed 26 weeks' continuous service, alongside family-friendly policies and a supportive, inclusive workplace. If you'd like more information about our family-friendly benefits, please contact our Recruitment Team at [email protected] 

Training and development opportunities

Simply Health Cashback Scheme (optional)

Season Ticket Loan Scheme 

Cycle to work scheme

Crisis Loan Scheme

Electric Car Scheme

3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)

Access to Blue Light Card

25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 

Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 

Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 

Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Please note that we may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications. Please note that remote roles may require occasional travel for site visits, training and meetings.   Diversity at Forward Trust The Forward Trust commits to providing opportunities to everyone. We want to ensure we have a diverse team with a range of lived and professional experiences. This includes those with ‘Lived Experience’ of addiction, offending, or homelessness. Some of our roles may require a minimum period of sustained recovery (normally around 3 years). This is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and exceptions may be considered depending on the role and individual circumstances.

When we recruit, we welcome applications from everyone. This is inclusive of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and/or belief, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity and socio-economic background. Where operationally possible, we will consider flexible working requests and make reasonable adjustments for all roles.

To find out more about Forward’s commitment to being an inclusive employer and our current EDI strategy click here

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We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know.   Employee Screening and Eligibility to Work Dependent on role you may be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service Check, details of which will be shared with you at interview.

If successful in your application, you will be required to provide eligibility to work evidence in line with the ‘Eligibility to Work in the UK’ requirements. Our Commitment to Safeguarding
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. Forward Trust follow safer recruitment practices and support a culture of openness and accountability.