Shared Lives Plus is the UK membership charity for more than 6,000 Shared Lives carers, 150 Shared Lives schemes and a growing network of over 25 local Homeshare organisations. Our vision is a kinder, stronger society built on sharing our lives and our homes. We help build communities where everyone lives a full life, regardless of the support they need. We do this by turning Shared Lives and Homeshare into thriving, mainstream options, with all the right structures in place to support and guide those who want to share their lives and homes.

We have recently secured funding from the National Lottery to fund this post for the remainder of the year, and with over £140k of income secured for strategic advice, with additional project funding of over £30k we know that this will be an important role in securing future income for the organisation.

We are looking for a talented candidate to lead our strategic advice and development team, which provides improvement support, research, consultancy and workforce development, including training, to clients across health and social care who want to grow and diversify Shared Lives and Homeshare. The person will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team, responsible for the organisation’s strategic approach to delivering income generation including supporting the development of funding proposals for specific development projects, which can include for example projects for Foundations explore how we implement a new approach to shared lives or to develop new good practice guidance, and our strategic advice offers to local authorities .

This person will be responsible for agreeing and delivering an ambitious income target of approx. £300k per annum initially. This person will manage a small internal team of staff and a pool of experienced associates, who will deliver a broad range of projects such as developing new commercial training offers, conducting service reviews service reviews and option appraisals, business case development, systems and process reviews, coproduction with people with lived experience and carers and supporting local authorities to develop plans for growth and diversification of Shared Lives. There will also be some work to support the growth of Homeshare. and We believe strongly in coproduction, and we expect this candidate to be skilled at working collaboratively with people who draw on care and support and carers.

Although as a charity we are committed to both of our models we do anticipate that the majority of the focus will be on Shared Lives due to the demand from local authorities and the difference in the current scale of the models.

As well as a competitive salary, you will benefit from flexible working, 27 days annual leave (pro rata), birthday leave, and health and wellbeing support via Care First. At Shared Lives Plus you will join a dynamic, passionate, and inclusive team who believe that everyone should be able to choose who they spend time with and do what matters to them.
Shared Lives Plus is an Equal Opportunities Employer and we are committed to ensuring that all staff are motivated, skilled and rewarded by their work. We welcome applicants regardless of race, religion or belief, colour, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age and other protected status as required by law. We promote and protect human rights; they are the foundation of what we do.

We want to be an inclusive place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come and contribute their unique strengths and perspectives. We are focused on equality and believe that all the fascinating characteristics that make us different, make us more able to deliver our life-changing work with passion and creativity.

The overarching objectives of this role include:

• Member of the Senior Leadership Team responsible for contributing to the strategic business plan and developing and owning specific plans for growing strategic advice and development projects, including attending Board meetings when required.
• Lead and develop a successful Strategic Advice and Development function in Shared Lives Plus
• Line manage the Strategic Advice and Development team and manage relationships with the pool of experienced Associates, who will deliver some elements programmes of work.
• Co-ordinate input to projects from the wider organisation clarifying roles and responsibilities and timescales.
• Raise awareness of the value of Shared Lives and to a lesser extent Homeshare models, lead the development of proposals, development strategies and to secure commercial income
• Build commercial partnerships with key national organisations to develop and grow our revenue for support, including organisations which providing consulting services to local authorities seeking to grow community-based and preventative forms of support
• Manage the delivery of complex, multi-stakeholder, consulting and improvement projects
• Develop, and market-test and take new commercial products and services to market, which confirm our commitment to co-production.
• Develop and implement quality assurance framework and assure the quality of projects and delivery across strategic advice.

• Generate and sustain income for Shared Lives Plus strategic advice in line with the 5-year strategy, annual income targets and, developing, testing and positioning new products to create a sustainable income pipeline.
• Provide line management to our strategic advice and development team and develop good relationships with our team of external associates
• Develop appropriately costed and methodologically robust proposals in response to tenders and requests for projects and consultancy support to grow and diversify shared lives and to do some initial feasibility work to assess Homeshare.
• Lead complex, multi-partner and stakeholder programmes applying best practice in programme management and applying project management tools to ensure programmes are delivered to time and within budget.
• Work with Head of Membership and Head of Comms to co-ordinate input to projects from the wider organisation clarifying roles and responsibilities and timescales.
• Consider how to improve the involvement of Shared Lives Ambassadors and Champions, and the wider membership of people with lived experience, in the design and delivery of projects.
• Develop, market-test and launch new commercial products and services in partnership with our wider membership team to which support the shared lives sector and carers.

• Lead and develop strategic plans to grow Strategic Advice, commercial income and test and implement a broad range of commercial products, including consultancy, training offers and working practice.
• Ensure that the team has high quality training, skills development and exposure to new thinking.
• Work in a way which promotes diversity, equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
• Operate at all times in a way that is consistent with Shared Lives Plus’s legal responsibilities including health and safety legislation and guidance.
• Work in accordance with Shared Lives Plus aims and objectives, policies, and procedures and to promote a positive image of the organisation and its members.

• Engage in continuous self-development and training
• Work in a way which promotes diversity, equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice
• Operate at all times in a way that is consistent with Shared Lives Plus’ legal responsibilities including health and safety legislation and guidance.
• Work in accordance with Shared Lives Plus aims and objectives, policies, and procedures and to promote a positive image of the organisation and its members.

Shared Lives Plus considers its culture to be a supportive, encouraging and empowering one. The culture is based on our values – these are listed below along with we feel this would look like for this role:

Authenticity

• We take time to understand from different perspectives
• We seek and give both positive and constructive feedback, ensuring our feedback is authentic and relevant – both praise and learning
• We can be relied upon to do what we say we will
• We take responsibility for our teams, maintaining a ‘no blame culture’, while ensuring staff are accountable and can learn from their mistakes
• We are open when we cannot meet expectations and give an honest explanation that builds mutual trust

Integrity

• We are respectful of colleagues and their perspectives
• We are open about our mistakes and take responsibility for our actions, seeing these as opportunities for learning
• We take responsibility
• We listen and seek to understand colleagues and customers, including when their priorities and thinking is different from our own

Sense of Purpose

• Our mission is at the heart of everything we do, and we work co-operatively with colleagues to achieve our joint purpose an objective
• We portray a positive image of the organisation
• We learn and develop and help others to do so
• We recognise that all behaviour is meaningful, whether positive or negative
• Meetings – we are punctual, we have read the agenda and prepared my thoughts, we have addressed any actions

Zest and Energy

• We look for opportunities to innovate and to make positive change happen
• Our doors are always open, and we support colleagues if they have problems
• We respond positively to new situations and opportunities
• To find solutions we have to recognise the obstacles to see the way to solving the problem/issue

To apply

If you would like to be considered for the role then please email Stephanie Cryer, HR Business Partner at Stephanie@sharedlivesplus.org.uk by Friday 11th August 2023.

Interviews will be held on the 4th of September 2023.

You can find out more about what it means to work at Shared Lives Plus via this link Working for Shared Lives Plus – Shared Lives Plus

JD-PS – Head of Strategic Advice and Development – July 2023