Head of Quality and Practice

One Small Thing; Southampton; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday

Birthday day off

Long service award

Induction and training

Counselling via OpenUp

Enhanced sick pay

Life Assurance 3x salary

Team member of the month

Refer a Friend

Pension 5%

Blue Light Discount

Job summary

The Head of Quality and Practice at One Small Thing will lead the development and delivery of high-quality trauma-informed practice across the Hope Street Hub and supported housing in Southampton. You will strengthen safeguarding, quality assurance and service improvement, modelling reflective leadership and building a team culture rooted in relational practice and accountability.

This role requires a driving licence and work with justice-involved women.

Qualifications

• Extensive safeguarding expertise and leadership experience in services for justice-involved individuals or women-only spaces.
• Experience leading quality assurance and service improvement.
• Driving licence and access to a vehicle are required.
• Role restricted to women under the Equality Act.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of high-quality practice across Hope Street Hub and supported housing.
• Drive quality assurance and improvement processes to maintain safety, effectiveness and responsiveness.
• Provide reflective leadership to team members, modelling trauma-informed, relational practice.
• Build strong partnerships across the wider justice landscape to support systemic change.

Skills

Leadership experience

Safeguarding expertise

Trauma-informed practice

Driving licence

Job description

The Head of Quality and Practice is a senior operational leadership role responsible for strengthening the quality, consistency and effectiveness of practice across Hope Street's trauma-informed residential community for justice-involved women and their children.

Working closely with the Community Director, you will lead the development and consistent delivery of high-quality practice across the Hope Street Hub and supported housing. You will contribute to strategic planning and service development, and lead quality assurance and improvement processes so that the operational model remains safe, effective and responsive to the needs of the women and children we support.

You will provide reflective leadership to key members of the team, modelling trauma informed and responsive practice. In so doing, you will foster a team culture rooted in relational practice, curiosity and accountability and help ensure that day-to-day delivery is consistent with our values and overall aims.

Given Hope Street's distinctive role as a community-based residential service and alternative to custody, we are seeking someone with extensive safeguarding expertise and experience of leadership in services for justice involved individuals or women-only spaces. This insight will enable you to support team members navigating complex systems, contribute to casework with confidence, and help ensure that Hope Street continues to challenge traditional responses to justice-involved women through a trauma-informed, community-led model. Your professional credibility and operational expertise will support meaningful change and reinforce strong partnerships across the wider justice landscape.

This role requires a valid driving licence, access to a vehicle and business-use motor insurance.

This post is restricted to women due to the nature of the role. The Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (part 1) of the Equality Act 2010 applies.

About One Small Thing

One Small Thing was founded in 2014 by prison philanthropist Lady Edwina Grosvenor, in response to the unacceptable levels of suicide, self-harm and violence within women's prisons in England, with the aim of achieving wholesale system change across the justice system, one small thing at a time.

Our vision is a justice system that recognises, understands, and responds to trauma. Our mission is to redesign the justice system for women and their children by:

• Redesign the way the justice system responds to women and their children in a way that can be replicated and scaled nationally.
• Educate people within the justice system on the impact of trauma and draw on our knowledge and expertise to help build capacity within organisations.
• Influence politicians and policy makers to encourage culture change across the justice system and the people who work within it.

Our name reflects the value of those small things - empathy, compassion, respect - and their combined power to make a big difference to the individual - and to society as a whole.

We are a Real Living Wage Employer

• 28 days holiday plus Bank Holidays - pro rata
• An additional day off on your Birthday
• Long Service Award - extra holiday for 3+ years' service
• A comprehensive induction and training programme
• An unlimited counselling service through our Employee Assistance Programme, OpenUp, which can also be extended to three members of your family.
• Enhanced sick pay
• Life Assurance - 3 times your salary, plus access to Wecare which includes 24/7 GP consultations
• Team member of the month awards
• Refer a Friend Recruitment Bonus
• 5% employer contribution to your Pension, increasing after 3+ years' service
• Blue Light Discount Scheme