Vacancy – Strategic Advice Consultant – Closing Date Wednesday May 22nd

Shared Lives Plus is the UK membership charity for more than 6,000 Shared Lives carers, 150 Shared Lives schemes and a growing network of over 25 local Homeshare organisations. Our vision is a kinder, stronger society built on sharing our lives and our homes. We help build communities where everyone lives a full life, regardless of the support they need. We do this by turning Shared Lives and Homeshare into thriving, mainstream options, with all the right structures in place to support and guide those who want to share their lives and homes.

As well as a competitive salary, you will benefit from flexible working, 27 days annual leave (pro rata), birthday leave, and health and wellbeing support via Care First. At Shared Lives Plus you will join a dynamic, passionate, and inclusive team who believe that everyone should be able to choose who they spend time with and do what matters to them.

Shared Lives Plus is an Equal Opportunities Employer and we are committed to ensuring that all staff are motivated, skilled, and rewarded by their work.  We welcome applicants regardless of race, religion or belief, colour, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, and other protected status as required by law. We promote and protect human rights; they are the foundation of what we do.

We want to be an inclusive place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come and contribute their unique strengths and perspectives.  We are focused on equality and believe that all the fascinating characteristics that make us different, make us more able to deliver our life-changing work with passion and creativity.

The overarching objectives of this role include:

1. Manage the delivery of complex, multi-stakeholder, consulting and improvement projects, to time and budget.
2. Carrying out a range of consulting methodologies and activities as part of the Strategic Advice’s growing support offer.
3. Support the development and market-testing of new commercial products and services, which support the shared lives and Homeshare sector.
4. Contribute towards generating income sustaining activities for Shared Lives Plus strategic advice in line with the 5-year strategy through Strategic Advice sales and business development activities.
5. Produce high quality report and presentations and clearly communicate to a range of sector audiences including senior sector leadership, social care practitioners, people who draw on services and carers, as well as internal Shared Lives Plus team which supports Shared Lives growth and diversification.
6. Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis of key data and performance information to support projects.
7. Work in accordance with Shared Lives Plus aims and objectives, policies, and procedures and to promote a positive image of the organisation and its members.

1. Manage the delivery of complex, multi-stakeholder, consulting and improvement projects, to time and budget.
   1. Maintaining high quality delivery through the development, communication and management of clear project plans,
   2. Working in collaboration with internal teams and external stakeholders,
   3. Identifying and managing project budgeting and risk.
2. Support the development and market-testing of new commercial products and services, which support the shared lives sector and carers
   1. Contribute to the identification, development, testing and ongoing refinement of new Strategic Advice support offers.
3. Carry out a range of consulting activities as part of the Strategic Advice growing support offer, including:
   1. Reviews and diagnostics
   2. Strategic and commissioning planning
   3. Cost and benefit analysis
   4. System and service design and improvement. Typical activities would include;
      1. workshop design and facilitation,
      2. interviews and focus groups,
      3. data and evidence analysis,
      4. report and guidance writing,
      5. producing evidenced based recommendations and outputs that supports sector improvement and development.
4. Contribute towards generating income sustaining activities for Shared Lives Plus strategic advice in line with the 5-year strategy through Strategic Advice sales and business development activities, including:
   1. Write high quality, accurately costed proposals / funding applications to secure new income for the charity.
   2. Along with the rest of the Strategic Advice and Development Team, help maintain a bank of high-quality case studies, examples, templates, visuals and references to support business development and proposal/application writing activities.
5. Clearly communicate to a range of sector audiences including senior sector leadership, social care practitioners, people who draw on services and carers, as well as internal Shared Lives Plus team which supports Shared Lives growth and diversification, including through the production of high-quality reports and presentations.
   1. Facilitate workshops and events to support Strategic Advice activities, including engagements with people with lived experience.
   2. Produce high quality reports and for a range a of internal Shared Lives Plus and external client stakeholders which supports Shared Lives growth and diversification.
   3. Develop presentations and clearly communicate to a range of sector audiences including senior sector leadership, social care practitioners, people who draw on services and carers.
6. Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis of key data and performance information to support projects.
   1. Utilising national and local data sets and qualitative data gathering to provide robust evidenced based support to the sector.
   2. Working with the wider team and the sector to develop informative and robust case studies and wider evidence.
   3. Building on evidence to develop and underpin new Strategic advice templates, tools and methodologies.
7. General responsibilities and working practices:
   1. Contribute to the planning and running of Shared Lives Plus conferences and events.
   2. Monitor and report on the outcomes of the post, including reports to the Board of Trustees and reports to funders.
   3. Engage in continuous self-development and training.
   4. Work cooperatively with Shared Lives Plus colleagues UK-wide.
   5. Work in a way which promotes diversity, equality and equity of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, embracing the principles of coproduction.
   6. Always operate in a way that is consistent with Shared Lives Plus’s legal responsibilities including health and safety legislation and guidance.
   7. Work in accordance with Shared Lives Plus aims and objectives, policies, and procedures and to promote a positive image of the organisation and its members.
   8. Work in accordance with Shared Lives Plus aims and objectives and policies and procedures and to promote a positive image of Shared Lives.
   9. Undertake such other duties as may reasonably be required, commensurate with the level of the post.

Shared Lives Plus considers its culture to be a supportive, encouraging and empowering one. The culture is based on our values – these are listed below along with we feel this would look like for this role:

Authenticity

• We take time to understand from different perspectives
• We seek and give both positive and constructive feedback, ensuring our feedback is authentic and relevant – both praise and learning
• We can be relied upon to do what we say we will
• We take responsibility for our teams, maintaining a ‘no blame culture’, while ensuring staff are accountable and can learn from their mistakes
• We are open when we cannot meet expectations and give an honest explanation that builds mutual trust

Integrity

• We are respectful of colleagues and their perspectives
• We are open about our mistakes and take responsibility for our actions, seeing these as opportunities for learning
• We take responsibility
• We listen and seek to understand colleagues and customers, including when their priorities and thinking is different from our own

Sense of Purpose

• Our mission is at the heart of everything we do, and we work co-operatively with colleagues to achieve our joint purpose an objective
• We portray a positive image of the organisation
• We learn and develop and help others to do so
• We recognise that all behaviour is meaningful, whether positive or negative
• Meetings – we are punctual, we have read the agenda and prepared my thoughts, we have addressed any actions

Zest and Energy

• We look for opportunities to innovate and to make positive change happen
• Our doors are always open, and we support colleagues if they have problems
• We respond positively to new situations and opportunities
• To find solutions we have to recognise the obstacles to see the way to solving the problem/issue

If you would like to be considered for the role then please submit your CV along with a covering email/letter based on all the details in the job description and person specification telling us why you feel you’re the right person for the role to Stephanie Cryer, HR Business Partner at recruitment@sharedlivesplus.org.uk by Wednesday 22^nd May 2024,   Interviews will be held will be during week commencing 27^th May 2024.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 22nd May 2024 at 5:00pm.

You can find out more about what it means to work at Shared Lives Plus via this link Working for Shared Lives Plus – Shared Lives Plus