Based at: Hybrid with regular travel (BWC/The Grange)
Hours: Full Time – 35 Hours Per Week
Salary: £80,000 per annum
Reporting to: Chief Executive
Purpose of the Role
To inspire and motivate the Services teams, providing strategic oversight and leadership of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’s services to achieve the charity’s overall mission and strategy.
As a member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) contribute to the development and implementation of the charity’s overall vision, mission, strategy and business plans and represent Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’s services portfolio at Board meetings and with external stakeholders.
Key Tasks of the Role
Strategic Planning
- Support and help shape and deliver the charity’s overall strategy and business plan as a member of the Executive Leadership team and attendee of the Board of Trustees.
- Further develop and deliver the new services strategy to achieve Hearing Dogs’ overall vision, mission and strategy.
- Use the insight gained during the strategy development process to inform the provision of hearing loss support services (canine and other) to the required audiences and through relevant content creation.
- Collaborate with the Insights & Impact team to ensure lived-experience insights, co-design, and impact measurement are front and centre of our work.
- Oversee the development, efficiency, and delivery of a single operational ‘pipeline’ from puppy supply and training to matching with potential partners, building rigour, stability, and quality into the pipeline management.
- Oversee the lifecycle of the dog partnership, maximising the number of successful partnerships between deaf people and hearing dogs.
- Lead the strategic vision for the development and integration of our hearing loss non-canine services, ensuring those with and without a dog are able to benefit from the delivery of these services.
- Oversee and encourage the engagement of lived experience, and volunteer dog training volunteers in their contribution to the development of our services and in the dissemination and advocacy of the content.
- Working in partnership with the Director of Marketing and Communications, identify and forge connections with sector experts and umbrella bodies with a view to sharing our content research and expertise to achieve more impact, in particular in the area of assistance dog accessibility in public places.
- Identify opportunities for sustainability initiatives, and improvements in operational efficiency, identifying and managing risk.
Leadership
- Provide professional leadership across the organization as a core member of the executive leadership team, modelling the charity’s values and behaviours.
- Build, lead and mentor a high-performing Services team.
- Foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment, promoting professional development, succession planning, and continuous improvement.
- Lead the team by providing clear leadership, performance indicators and accountability for quality standards, ensuring corrective actions where necessary.
Operational Management
- Evaluate overall performance across the services directorate, analysing and interpreting data, setting and reporting on KPIs.
- Evaluate change in relevant external specialisms, including dog training and welfare, and legal updates, and ensure Services runs effectively and efficiently.
- Develop policies and procedures which are legally compliant and in line with best practice.
- Ensure compliance with the charity’s key policies in your directorate, including Safeguarding, Health and Safety, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and GDPR data protection.
- Ensure effective relationships with volunteers throughout the directorate.
Budget Oversight
- Develop and manage a 3-year rolling services budget, ensuring cost-effectiveness and alignment with organizational financial goals.
- Regularly monitor expenditure, identify variances, seek improvements, and implement corrective actions as needed to achieve agreed budget.
External Stakeholder
- Ensure effective relationships are built with recipients, potential recipients of hearing dogs and hearing link volunteers, aligned with the vision and mission of the charity.
- Develop network relationships with relevant external bodies e.g. Hearing loss sector experts nationally and locally, Kennel Club, British Veterinary Association, Canine behavioural research, Canine welfare research, organisations using working dogs to ensure the charity contributes to and learns from best practice.
General Requirements of All Staff
- Ensure compliance with GDPR and data protection.
- As a charity, Hearing Dogs has a large network of volunteers based at both our training centres and spread nationwide. As such, you may be involved in working with and/or supervising volunteers in this role.
- To undergo training to a set level of deaf awareness and communication as required by the charity.
- Carrying out any other reasonable duties requested by your manager.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This is in relation to the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults. Applicants will therefore be required to disclose all convictions (spent and unspent), cautions, warnings and reprimands and any relevant non-conviction information. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure Check under the terms of the Police Act 1997 (Part V).
| DBS | BASIC |
For operational reasons, the Charity reserves the right to transfer you to alternative duties. For this reason, it is a condition of employment that you are willing to do so, if requested, from time to time.