Service Manager – Community | South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£66,274 - £73,496 per annum inclusive of HCAS
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	London, SW9 9SP
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	22 Sept 2026
Closing date:	24 Oct 2026

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Summary

The Community Mental Health Centre Service Manager will provide senior overall operational, quality and clinical leadership and responsibility for a Community Mental Health Centre. This means securing and assuring that the highest standard of clinical care is provided to our patients/service users when in treatment, covering all aspects of the quality agenda and all elements of operational leadership as part of the management team. The role also includes participating and leading the local management team in delivery of Trust objectives. The post holder will provide clinical and operational leadership to teams within their service line to maximise effectiveness and efficiency of service provision. The aim is to ensure integrated quality, clinical, operational, and financial outcomes are achieved

he post holder will provide effective leadership and operational management to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality, evidence-based services in line with Trust objectives and national standards. They will oversee the day-to-day running of the service, managing performance, capacity, and resources to ensure timely and effective care.

The role includes supervising, supporting, and developing staff through appraisal, training, and regular supervision, while addressing performance issues where required. The post holder will promote a positive, inclusive, and supportive working environment that encourages staff wellbeing, engagement, and retention.

They will ensure high standards of governance by managing risks, incidents, complaints, safeguarding concerns, and quality improvement activities in line with Trust policies and legislation. The post holder will work closely with partner organisations, including primary care, local authorities, and voluntary sector services, to support integrated care and improve outcomes.

The role also includes leading recruitment, workforce planning, induction, and absence management, while supporting service improvement, innovation, and transformation initiatives. The post holder will manage delegated budgets, ensure effective use of resources, and maintain accurate data recording and reporting to support performance monitoring, decision-making, and regulatory requirements.

We launched our five-year strategy, Aiming High; Changing Lives in 2021 together with Our Care Improvement System as our quality management system methodology to make a positive impact on patient care, outcomes and staff experience. By joining SLaM, all staff will get the opportunity to be part of this exciting improvement journey supported with learning and development to harness everyone’s potential as change makers.

By coming to work at our Trust, you will gain experience of being part of an organisation with a rich history and international reputation in mental health care. You will have access to professional development and learning opportunities and have the chance to work alongside people who are world leaders in their field. The Trust delivered more than 14,000 training experiences in 2014; providing an extensive range of learning opportunities for staff at all levels. In addition, our working relationship with King's Health Partners allows those working at the Trust to get involved in academic research.

Key Responsibilities:

Be overall responsible and accountable for all elements of the delivering outstanding care within the Community Mental Health Centre, managing staff alongside professional leads, within the Centre. This includes operational leadership encompassing day to day delivery with quality, safety, flow, workforce management, finance & performance.

1. To lead by example and secure and assure the highest standard of clinical care, ensuring delivery of all key performance indicators and quality metrics and outcomes.

2. Work within an anti-racist framework ensuring equity of access to care is considered in all care provision.

3. Understand and participate actions required related to clinical flow including optimising Length of Stay through enabling reduced delayed clinically ready for discharge.

4. Ensure all processes and policies related to quality and safety, including investigations, audits, Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), learning responses and completion of actions.

5. To put in place and monitor action plans and responses as necessary and in line with policy and Trust expectations.

6. To co-lead on the regular and systematic evaluation of care standards via formal audit or other ensuring that any necessary changes in implementation are actioned i.e. risk assessment and care planning.

7. To contribute to Trust wide outstanding care strategy formulation and take direction from the directorate leadership team on the implementation of the strategy locally, monitoring and evaluating progress.

8. To lead on the development and implementation of effective systems for monitoring and improving the quality of care and performance metrics including the care being provided and the MDT clinical pathways, as well as expected Trust KPIs for community services.

9. To act as a clinical advisor and role model for staff offering assistance and support and applying problem solving skills

10. To lead on the development and implementation of new policies and protocols and review practices in relation to new NICE Guidance.

Quality, Service Delivery and Leadership:

1. To be responsible for the day-to-day operational management, responsible for maintaining an overview of the standards of care and instigating remedial action as necessary.

2. To ensure that patient safety is at the centre of service planning, analysis and delivery.

3. To identify and coordinate opportunities for patient, Family & Carer involvement and engagement in service development, leading where appropriate.

4. To ensure the effective delivery therapeutic pathways of care in line with the trust model.

5. To participate in the review and management of VCSE contracts including providing feedback to providers when needed and in contract meetings.

6. Understand and manage demand and capacity, effective clinical flow, taking clear action to optimise length of stay and work as part of an overall system to ensure effective Trust flow.

7. To lead working with colleagues on the regular and systematic evaluation of care standards via formal audit or other methods, ensuring that any necessary changes are implemented.

8. Lead on embedding digital health tools in everyday practices, and co-produce data sessions to support staff understand local performance.

9. Use real time data to drive daily operational decisions.

10. To contribute to the development of a proactive philosophy and culture of health care provision, in which health promotional activity plays a major component.

11. To be responsible for ensuring that clinical initiatives and service developments become truly embedded in clinical practice and that staff have a clear understanding and opportunity to contribute to the change process

12. To promote a culture of respect for patient choice.

13. To identify and coordinate opportunities for patient, family and carer involvement and engagement in service development, leading where appropriate.

14. Responsible for ensuring that quality scorecards and assurance frameworks are utilised to improve the quality of clinical services, carrying out regular performance meetings with team leaders and key partners in care

15. To demonstrate clinical competence and role model effective clinical care delivery

16. To recruit/develop postholders who meet the organisational standards and ensure performance against leadership and management competencies adopted by the trust

17. Contribute effectively to Trust wide and Directorate research and development

18. To undertake specific service improvement and development projects, in collaboration with the Head of Nursing and Quality and Deputy Service Director as required, using quality improvement methodology.

19. Regularly undertake reviews of patient safety incidents, complaints, patient and carer satisfaction, PSIRF responses, clinical outcomes and care process compliance, highlighting any gaps in practice to improve patient and staff safety.

20. Work with the Head of Nursing and Quality and Deputy Head of Nursing and Quality to identify specific trends regarding incidents analysis, actions to improve practice and participate in implementing support/improvement plans.

21. To work with clinical teams to support identification of clinical risks for patients and for the service and implement improved plans of care where necessary.

22. Contribute to complaints and PSIRF responses as required or directed by Head of Nursing and Quality. Support clinical teams in implementation of recommendations from PSIRF investigations.

23. To work in partnership with the Trust Infection Control Team and OCS to ensure that the required standards of hygiene and cleanliness are monitored and maintained.

24. To lead on the management of medical devices and have oversight of reviewing, maintaining and renewing equipment as appropriate.

25. Fully trained on Supported Learning and Teaching Pathway – practices and ability to deploy.

Workforce and Human Resources:

1. To be responsible for monitoring the staffing establishment, ensuring timely recruitment and appropriate selection of staff alongside professional leads, to ensure that there is an appropriate skill mix within teams that reflects service requirements and safe care delivery.

2. Provide demonstrable assurance that staff have the appropriate skills and competences and up to date mandatory training to deliver high quality care

3. To ensure that the clinical practice of all practitioners providing services to patients is of a high standard and in line with professional bodies and policies.

4. To provide strong effective and decisive clinical leadership ensuring a high standard of patient care is achieved ensuring effective relationships, leading and working with the wider MDT cohesive staffing team within the Centre and wider.

5. To contribute clinical leadership to within the MDT.

6. To provide clinical supervision where appropriate, ensuring that standards, competencies and practice development are monitored.

7. To assist in recruiting, motivating, training, developing and retraining appropriate staff enabling them to have the skills, experience and discretion to function effectively in their roles

8. To robustly follow process and policy in relation to employee relations, performance management, sickness management, and any other human resource formal or informal activities

9. Develop and monitor initiatives that promote equity of care and equitable staff experiences across the trust.

10. To maintain their own professional registration.

Financial Management:

1. To oversee and effectively manage the budget in the Centre alongside professional leads, ensuring expenditure is managed and providing recovery proposals for reducing excessive expenditure against agreed run rate.

2. Understand and analyse costs that have been incurred and work with the General Manager and wider management team to form a view and response including planning leave and managing absence effectively and working within the Trust policies.

3. Understand how costs may be managed in the context of varying clinical demand.

4. Contribute to the delivery of Cost Improvement Programmes and financial sustainability in the Teams, Directorate and Trust

5. Annual delivery against any Directorate financial targets.

This advert closes on Tuesday 6 Oct 2026

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