Service Delivery Manager

We are recruiting for a Service Delivery Manager to lead our delivery at HMPYOI Feltham.

The Service Delivery Manager role is ideal for someone who thrives when building relationships with young people, is highly organised, and has the passion and drive to achieve outcomes in challenging environments. 

This is an exciting on-the-ground position, working mainly within prisons in London and the South East, as well as in the community in partnership with other organisations. 

You will be responsible for engaging young people in prison and in the community to participate in Spark Inside’s life coaching workshops and one-to-one coaching. 

You will also manage our team of freelance coaches and play a key role in project management and smooth running of our coaching programmes. 

To succeed in the role, you will need to build and maintain relationships with people at all levels in the criminal justice system including prisoners, prison staff of various levels and commissioners. 

You will also work in partnership with Youth Offending Services, the National Probation Service in the community, and other organisations as Spark Inside’s partnership work evolves. 

You will enjoy working in challenging and changeable environments.

Responsible to: Deputy Head of Service Delivery 

Contract: Permanent 

Hours: Full time - 35 hours per week 

Salary: £37,850 

Location: Primarily working in prisons in London and the South East, including HMPYOI Feltham, with occasional office based work in London and some opportunity for home-working 

Annual leave: 28 days per year (plus Bank Holidays and three days at Christmas)

Main Responsibilities

PARTICIPATION ENGAGEMENT AND SUPPORT:

• Build relationships with young people in prison and engage them in our coaching programmes.
• Maintain these relationships before, during and after our programmes to support retention and ongoing impact.
• Build relationships with professionals in prison and in the community (e.g. prison officers, YOS caseworkers, charity partners) to increase meaningful referrals to our programmes.
• Respond to referrals from our community partners and engage young people in one-to-one coaching or community coaching programmes and match them with coaches.
• Identify eligible participants to engage in our in-prison advisory boards and Champions projects and liaise with our Participation and Engagement Manager to facilitate initial engagement.

MANAGING COACHES:

• Manage and maintain regular contact with Spark Inside team of Life Coaches.
• Act as the first point of contact for delivery enquires from the coaching team.
• Oversee the calendar of coaches’ availability to deliver coaching programmes; and oversee the central record of scheduled workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions.
• Ensure coaches complete regular and timely progress reports on Spark Inside IT systems.
• Coordinate and manage prison vetting and Key/safety training for all coaches working in prisons.

PROGRAMME LOGISTICS:

• Ensure all referral forms are accurately completed for all potential participants prior to engagement in the programmes.
• Maintain records of all participants referred to and engaged in our programmes.
• Have regular meetings with the main contact person within each prison to identify and action any concerns impacting on the delivery of Spark Inside’s services.

REPORTING AND MONITORING:

• With the Head of Service Delivery, participate in performance review meetings with prisons, commissioners or funders as needed.
• Enter participant data into our recording systems and ensure programme activity is up to date in order to generate monthly and quarterly reports.
• Ensure all records of coaching activities and client data is up to date.

Skills and Qualities

The right person will share a passion for our cause, and a commitment to high standards of delivery. You will be determined, resilient and persistent with a strong track record in engaging people. You will have a can-do attitude, great persuasion skills, tenacity and optimism with the ability to think on your feet to solve problems. You will enjoy working in a chaotic and changing environment, keep calm under pressure and will make things happen.

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE:

• Outstanding people skills and the ability to engage with people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.
• Detail orientated, with the ability to manage a range of tasks and ensure all deadlines are met.
• Ability to keep calm under pressure, with tact and patience, when working in difficult environments.
• Understanding of issues facing children and young people in prison and in the community.
• Understanding of challenges facing staff who work in the criminal justice system.

EXPERIENCE:

• Experience of youth work, youth engagement and/or working with people who face disadvantage or challenges.
• Experience of project delivery and management.
• Experience working within the prison system (Desirable)
• Qualification in Youth Work/Community Work (Desirable)