Job summary
Are you ready to make a meaningful impact in the world of Public Health and Justice? Pact, a charity with a 125-year legacy, is seeking a visionary and compassionate leader to join our Senior Leadership Team as our National Director of Justice and Health Services. This role is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of our organisation as we expand our reach and deepen our impact for those caught in the criminal justice system and their families.
Main duties of the job
About the Role
This position represents a significant moment in Pacts history. Our current Director of Services, after many years of dedicated leadership, will be retiring. We are looking for an individual who will not only fill their shoes but bring fresh energy, relevant expertise in health or psychological therapies, and a collaborative spirit to help us continue our journey.
Responsibilities Include:
- Leading and inspiring our delivery teams, supporting them in providing effective, compassionate services in the face of challenges and growth.
- Driving systems integration initiatives across Justice-Health-Family-Social Work sectors to improve multi-disciplinary collaboration and health outcomes.
- Championing the voices of those we serve, particularly the families and significant others of people in the justice system, to foster patient and public advocacy.
- Working closely with HMPPS and NHS Justice-Health commissioners and providers to ensure the inclusion of families and caregivers in the system.
- Supporting Pacts growth plans, managing an expanding budget (from £7m in 2022 to £11m today, with projections of £13m by 2027), and ensuring financial sustainability and operational excellence.
About us
Pact has a proud history of innovation in family support and relationship-based interventions within the justice system. We are known for our pioneering work in prison visitor services, family casework, and unique relational/bio-psycho-social models of support. Our work has evolved from its original foundations, now embracing Public Health and Health commissioning to enhance health and wellbeing outcomes for people affected by the justice system.
Our mission is rooted in compassion and integration, joining up justice, health, and social work systems to reduce health inequalities and support families of those with convictions. As we move into this next phase, we seek to deepen our influence and continue building impactful, quality services.
Job description
Job responsibilities
About the Role
This position represents a significant moment in Pacts history. Our current Director of Services, after many years of dedicated leadership, will be retiring. We are looking for an individual who will not only fill their shoes but bring fresh energy, relevant expertise in health or psychological therapies, and a collaborative spirit to help us continue our journey.
Responsibilities Include:
- Leading and inspiring our delivery teams, supporting them in providing effective, compassionate services in the face of challenges and growth.
- Driving systems integration initiatives across Justice-Health-Family-Social Work sectors to improve multi-disciplinary collaboration and health outcomes.
- Championing the voices of those we serve, particularly the families and significant others of people in the justice system, to foster patient and public advocacy.
- Working closely with HMPPS and NHS Justice-Health commissioners and providers to ensure the inclusion of families and caregivers in the system.
- Supporting Pacts growth plans, managing an expanding budget (from £7m in 2022 to £11m today, with projections of £13m by 2027), and ensuring financial sustainability and operational excellence.
What Were Looking For
We seek a candidate with:
- Recognised and relevant professional qualification, post-graduate, and up to date registration in a related healthcare field (e.g., forensic, counselling, and/or clinical psychology, nursing, or occupational health)
- A passion for social justice, a commitment to reducing health inequalities, and experience with multi-agency collaboration.
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to build and sustain high-performing teams and cultivate a supportive work culture.
- Vision to help shape the next chapter of Pacts legacy, bringing innovative ideas and solutions to an evolving landscape.
Job description
Job responsibilities
About the Role
This position represents a significant moment in Pacts history. Our current Director of Services, after many years of dedicated leadership, will be retiring. We are looking for an individual who will not only fill their shoes but bring fresh energy, relevant expertise in health or psychological therapies, and a collaborative spirit to help us continue our journey.
Responsibilities Include:
- Leading and inspiring our delivery teams, supporting them in providing effective, compassionate services in the face of challenges and growth.
- Driving systems integration initiatives across Justice-Health-Family-Social Work sectors to improve multi-disciplinary collaboration and health outcomes.
- Championing the voices of those we serve, particularly the families and significant others of people in the justice system, to foster patient and public advocacy.
- Working closely with HMPPS and NHS Justice-Health commissioners and providers to ensure the inclusion of families and caregivers in the system.
- Supporting Pacts growth plans, managing an expanding budget (from £7m in 2022 to £11m today, with projections of £13m by 2027), and ensuring financial sustainability and operational excellence.
What Were Looking For
We seek a candidate with:
- Recognised and relevant professional qualification, post-graduate, and up to date registration in a related healthcare field (e.g., forensic, counselling, and/or clinical psychology, nursing, or occupational health)
- A passion for social justice, a commitment to reducing health inequalities, and experience with multi-agency collaboration.
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to build and sustain high-performing teams and cultivate a supportive work culture.
- Vision to help shape the next chapter of Pacts legacy, bringing innovative ideas and solutions to an evolving landscape.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised and relevant professional qualification, ideally post-graduate, and up to date
- registration in a related healthcare field (e.g., forensic, counselling, and/or clinical
- psychology, nursing, or occupational health).
Desirable
- Further, the following knowledge and education would be desirable:
- o Chartered and HCPC registered forensic or clinical or dual registration
- o A good understanding of the use of statistics and qualitative information for
- monitoring and evaluation purposes.
Skills and Attributes
Essential
- Ability to operate as a strategic, collaborative, and inspiring leader in the voluntary sector,
- including motivating and supporting small staff teams and managers with wide spans of
- control working across multiple locations
- Excellent inter-personal skills, with the ability to forge positive professional relationships and
- partnerships and a spirit of collaboration within Pact and with other important stakeholders
- including officials and commissioners in MoJ/HMPPS, NHS, Justice Health providers, PCCs,
- voluntary sector networks, and delivery partners.
- Excellent command of written and spoken English, including the ability to write high level
- professional business reports, briefings, and presentations.
- Strong management skills including recruiting & selection, task-based and clinical
- supervision, effective delegation, appraisal, coaching and performance management.
- Excellent engagement and advocacy skills with the ability to work sensitively and with
- warmth to encourage, enable and empower service users and people with lived
- experience to inform and guide our service design and delivery.
- Strong analytical skills, flexible thinking, and problem-solving skills
- Effective leadership skills including building effective teams, developing leaders &
- coaching new managers,
- Good budget management skills and the ability to work with finance and operational
- managers to ensure budgets remain on track and to support the investigation of variances.
- Excellent performance management skills including experience of setting up and/or
- overseeing a performance management framework.
- Excellent project management skills and techniques including oversight of deliverables and
- the ability to co-ordinate a whole organisation approach to service user participation.
- Confident in the use of MS Office suite
- Personal effectiveness, with high level negotiation skills
- Discretion and an appreciation of the vital importance of maintaining personal and
- commercial confidentiality where necessary
- Personal resilience and the ability to prioritise, delegate and work in a challenging and fast
- paced environment.
Experience
Essential
- Good working knowledge of the criminal justice system including the operational
- practicalities of courts, prisons, probation, liaison and diversion, and justice health services.
- Academic and practical understanding of the uses of statistics and data to measure
- impact and outcomes on factors that are predictive of behavioural change
- (offending/desistance)
- A professional appreciation of desistance literature and theories of change
- Experience of working effectively and strategically in a leadership role in a relevant
- discipline/function in an organisation with people in a wide range of distinct roles
- Experience of translating evidence into practical interventions
- Experience of developing and leading service delivery functions within a criminal justice or
- closely related setting working with people with multiple and complex needs (e.g. Forensic
- / Mental Health, Substance misuse)
- Experience of interventions and casework and of making effective use of case
- management systems
- Experience of recruiting, leading, and managing a team
- Experience of managing budgets and resources
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised and relevant professional qualification, ideally post-graduate, and up to date
- registration in a related healthcare field (e.g., forensic, counselling, and/or clinical
- psychology, nursing, or occupational health).
Desirable
- Further, the following knowledge and education would be desirable:
- o Chartered and HCPC registered forensic or clinical or dual registration
- o A good understanding of the use of statistics and qualitative information for
- monitoring and evaluation purposes.
Skills and Attributes
Essential
- Ability to operate as a strategic, collaborative, and inspiring leader in the voluntary sector,
- including motivating and supporting small staff teams and managers with wide spans of
- control working across multiple locations
- Excellent inter-personal skills, with the ability to forge positive professional relationships and
- partnerships and a spirit of collaboration within Pact and with other important stakeholders
- including officials and commissioners in MoJ/HMPPS, NHS, Justice Health providers, PCCs,
- voluntary sector networks, and delivery partners.
- Excellent command of written and spoken English, including the ability to write high level
- professional business reports, briefings, and presentations.
- Strong management skills including recruiting & selection, task-based and clinical
- supervision, effective delegation, appraisal, coaching and performance management.
- Excellent engagement and advocacy skills with the ability to work sensitively and with
- warmth to encourage, enable and empower service users and people with lived
- experience to inform and guide our service design and delivery.
- Strong analytical skills, flexible thinking, and problem-solving skills
- Effective leadership skills including building effective teams, developing leaders &
- coaching new managers,
- Good budget management skills and the ability to work with finance and operational
- managers to ensure budgets remain on track and to support the investigation of variances.
- Excellent performance management skills including experience of setting up and/or
- overseeing a performance management framework.
- Excellent project management skills and techniques including oversight of deliverables and
- the ability to co-ordinate a whole organisation approach to service user participation.
- Confident in the use of MS Office suite
- Personal effectiveness, with high level negotiation skills
- Discretion and an appreciation of the vital importance of maintaining personal and
- commercial confidentiality where necessary
- Personal resilience and the ability to prioritise, delegate and work in a challenging and fast
- paced environment.
Experience
Essential
- Good working knowledge of the criminal justice system including the operational
- practicalities of courts, prisons, probation, liaison and diversion, and justice health services.
- Academic and practical understanding of the uses of statistics and data to measure
- impact and outcomes on factors that are predictive of behavioural change
- (offending/desistance)
- A professional appreciation of desistance literature and theories of change
- Experience of working effectively and strategically in a leadership role in a relevant
- discipline/function in an organisation with people in a wide range of distinct roles
- Experience of translating evidence into practical interventions
- Experience of developing and leading service delivery functions within a criminal justice or
- closely related setting working with people with multiple and complex needs (e.g. Forensic
- / Mental Health, Substance misuse)
- Experience of interventions and casework and of making effective use of case
- management systems
- Experience of recruiting, leading, and managing a team
- Experience of managing budgets and resources
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
