Location: National (with regular travel across the UK, primarily East Kent)
Working Pattern: Hybrid – remote working with weekly visits to allocated units
We are seeking an experienced and motivated Recovery Support Team Leader to join our central Recovery Support team. This is a national role with a focus on East Kent, combining remote working with regular on-site visits.
As Team Leader, you will co-ordinate all recovery support functions across Forward Trust’s substance misuse services, ensuring they operate as a coherent and effective pathway to recovery. You will lead by example, modelling the organisation’s values and ethos, and promoting visible lived experience to inspire both service users and staff.
Your leadership will help to embed robust recovery support into every service, creating an environment where service users can further develop their recovery and build meaningful, sustainable lives.
Key Responsibilities
- Co-ordinate recovery support functions across substance misuse services into a unified, effective offer
- Provide leadership, supervision, and support to recovery staff, ensuring high-quality delivery and compliance with standards
- Develop and implement service improvements to strengthen recovery pathways
- Promote and support service user-led initiatives and peer support groups
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with external organisations to enhance service delivery
- Ensure effective data collection, monitoring, and reporting for audit, research, and contractual requirements
- Contribute to disciplinary and performance management processes where required
- Champion equality, diversity, and inclusion within all services
Essential Skills & Experience
- Flexibility to adapt to service needs as they evolve
- Positive problem-solving approach with the ability to focus on key issues
- Strong negotiating and influencing skills
- Proven experience developing and implementing service improvements
- Experience engaging effectively with client groups
- People management and supervision experience
- Understanding of the voluntary sector and equality/diversity issues
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office and database systems
- Commitment to 12-step interventions and treatment approaches
- Experience in overseeing data collection and reporting processes
- Knowledge and experience of disciplinary procedures and people management
Qualifications
- Level 3 Management Qualification (or commitment to achieve this or equivalent)
Desirable Skills & Experience
- Experience of building strategic partnerships
- Lived experience of substance misuse recovery (directly or through family/friends)
- Understanding of service user-led groups and their importance in recovery
- Knowledge of HR and finance functions in a contract setting