Job Description

Are you passionate about making sure people have a voice and a choice when it comes to their care? Fancy a new role you can get your teeth into and make a big impact?

We're on the hunt for a new deputy head of our Shared Lives service.

What is Shared Lives?

Shared Lives is a little bit like fostering, but it's for adults who need some support to live as independently as possible. Someone who needs support goes to live with one of our ace Shared Lives carers and they support them to live their best lives, do all the things they love and be part of their communities. PSS invented Shared Lives back in 1978 and it's now become a national model of care that lots of other social care providers run. We're really proud of that. It's the most brilliant, safe and cost-effective form of care there is (and we're not just biased - in October 2023, CQC rated 97% of Shared Lives schemes in England as good or outstanding, in comparison to just 78% for the wider social care sector!).

We have Shared Lives schemes in seven different places across England and North Wales - and we've got big plans to add to that.

What do we need out deputy head of Shared Lives to do?

Alongside the head of Shared Lives, your job will be to make sure each one of the services in Shared Lives is absolutely top-notch in every way:

They provide excellent support to the people who use our Shared Lives service They support people to reach their goals Any issues that crop up are dealt with effectively and in line with our policies and procedures They run effectively and like clockwork (but are flexible enough to change things up when it's needed - even if it's how things have always been done); They're performing well financially, they're sustainable and they're cost-effective Carers, PSS Shared Lives teammates and people we support all feel really well informed, motivated and part of a big family Our service is getting better all the time
You'll be supported by a cracking team of service managers who will lead each of the seven individual regional services within Shared Lives. They'll be looking to you to help them review and develop their services, looking at best practice and national/local strategic priorities together.

On a day-to-day basis, your work would involve things like:

Getting behind our Shared Lives teams and offering them your support with Care Quality Commission (CQC) compliance, safeguarding reports and complaints Leading the way when we win new contacts in new areas of the UK (the plan is to grow our schemes) Deputising for our head of Shared Lives: maintaining the risk register for services, identifying, managing, monitoring and escalating risks appropriately when our head of Shared Lives isn't around Helping keep our Shared Lives carers and supported people feeling happy, connected, motivated and part of our big Shared Lives family Finding out what our carers and supported people need and how they feel things are going by heading out on the road to meet them Supporting our Shared Lives communications and engagement manager with nailing any info and insights they need for their role by sharing what you know, and supporting them with maintaining and introducing communications and engagement initiatives
By 2029, we want to make PSS the most inclusive place it can possibly be, where everyone feels like they belong - and you'll need to play your part, along with everyone else at PSS, to make it happen.

Check out the full job description on our website for more info about what you'll need to do in this role.

So what are we looking for?

We're on the hunt for someone who (amongst other things):

leads teams brilliantly and especially through periods of change, has great people skills, communicates well and brings people along with them on the journey; is open-minded, determined, professional, big-hearted and genuine; understands and knows lots about the relevant quality and regulatory frameworks for health and social care; builds fantastic relationships with people; is self-aware and takes accountability for results whether they're good or bad; loves driving continuous improvement strategies to make sure we're getting nothing but excellent outcomes for the people we support; and has a degree in health or social care, or an equivalent qualification
Have a look at the person specification within the job description for more info about what we're looking for.

Before you apply, we just want to let you know some key information about our selection process:

We have an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policy, which aims to remove any kind of discrimination in employment. Our candidates are selected on merit only, which means they'll be given equal opportunities no-matter what their age, disability, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, race, religion or beliefs might be.

Once you hit that 'apply' button, you'll be taken across to an online recruitment system called Applied. Applied is the only hiring software with diversity and fairness built into every step of the process and we're very proud to partner with them to help us give you an unbiased recruitment experience.

Applied wants to make sure its doing its job by finding out more about the socio-economic backgrounds of people applying for roles through their site. Once you register your details on the Applied site, you'll be asked to give a bit of info about you: things like your age, gender, ethnicity, etc. You'll also be asked questions around whether your parents went to university and whether you had free meals at school. These questions are set by Applied experts based on extensive research and expertise, and you can find out more about this here.

This information is completely anonymised, and here at PSS, we never see answers linked to a candidate's name. The answers you give here don't form any part of our decision-making. We only receive combined data about an applicant pool (and only when there's enough applicants to ensure that answers can remain anonymous). We report on this data every quarter to help us find out if there's anything in our process that harms the chances of success for candidates from minority groups and any possible steps to help improve this.

If you still prefer not to answer, that's no problem at all - there's also an option to select 'prefer not to say'. The only EDI-related information that we will learn about you is if you tell us that you have any reasonable adjustments needed at any part of our process.

Your trusty candidate pack will also help you get a feel for what it's like to work with us, find out what we're looking for, explain the recruitment process and help you decide whether you can see yourself as a part of our amazing team. Each section is crammed with hints and tips to help you make a great application, so please take the time to give it a good read.

Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions about the above by emailing peopleandcultureteam@pss.org.uk or calling our team on 0151 702 5555.

We also welcome any feedback you might have about our approach so there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to give this as part of the process.

Like the sound of it?

Come and join us!

Closing date: Sunday 15th June 2025

Interview date: 1st July 2025

Deputy Head of Service (Shared Lives)

Salary: 45,000 per year

Job Ref No: DHOS052025

Hours: 37 hours per week

Location: Office closest to applicant (listed in the job description)

Contract type: Permanent

PSS values the importance of diversity

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 45,000.00 per year

Benefits:

Bereavement leave Company events Cycle to work scheme Enhanced paternity leave Free flu jabs Referral programme Sick pay Store discount
Schedule:

Monday to Friday
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Conwy, LL22 8LJ

Reference ID: DHOS052025