Vacancy – Senior Project Manager – Dementia Programme – Closing Date Monday 28th April 2025

Shared Lives Plus is the UK membership charity for more than 6,000 Shared Lives carers, 150 Shared Lives schemes and a network of 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.

Our Strategic Advice and Development team lead on our Shared Lives innovation programmes, as well as providing support to local areas to develop and grow Shared Lives.

Shared Lives Plus is currently launching a national pilot programme to support an innovative Shared Lives offer for people living with dementia and pilot activities will be primarily focused in the North West of England.

This programme is initially planned for one year but may extend beyond this period.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager to lead a dementia-focused programme that aims to enhance the lives of people living with dementia through co-designed and innovative approaches.

This role will be responsible for managing the full project lifecycle, facilitating engagement workshops, coordinating steering group meetings, and overseeing communications and data monitoring to ensure the programme’s success.

The overarching objectives of this role include:

1. Lead on all aspects of the dementia programme planning and management to ensure programme timelines, reporting, deliverables and outcomes are achieved throughout the programme lifecycle.
2. Manage programme governance arrangements to ensure effective oversight, decision making and risk management processes are in place throughout the programme lifecycle.
3. Lead on managing relationships and engagements with key programme partners and beneficiaries, including workshops and events to co-design and co-produce key programme outputs.
4. Lead on the design, collation and monitoring of key programme data and key performance indicators to support programme delivery, reporting and learning.
5. Work closely with internal Shared Lives Plus and external programme partners and stakeholders to ensure clear programme communication, learning and evaluation.

• Develop and maintain a detailed project plan, ensuring timelines and key milestones are met
• Manage the co-design, co-delivery and co-evaluation of the programme to support the programme outcomes and produce agreed deliverables
• Establish and manage reporting arrangements to capture and share programme delivery activities, identify risks and monitor impact
• Work collaboratively with the wider programme team and stakeholders to manage the programme against key performance indicators

• Lead on the scheduling, facilitation and documentation of steering group meetings with the programme team and key stakeholders to ensure effective governance and decision-making
• Work collaboratively with key partners to define risk management approach, to identify potential risks and challenges, implementing strategies to mitigate and resolve them proactively

• Organise and facilitate design and co-production workshops, bringing together stakeholders, people with lived experience, carers, and professionals
• Manage relationships with key partners, including local authorities, health and social care organisations, and community groups

• Establish and maintain systems to collect, track, and analyse routine project data, ensuring alignment with key performance indicators
• Lead on capturing and utilising collected data to support programme reporting and evaluation throughout

• Work closely with external evaluation partner to ensure aligned and robust programme evaluation
• Work closely with the programme partners and communications team to develop and share updates about the programme, ensuring transparency and engagement with all stakeholders
• Work collaboratively with programme team and external partners to develop clear programme outputs based on ongoing programme learning
• Work collaboratively with all internal Shared Lives Plus teams to share learning and insights on the programme throughout

• Work cooperatively with Shared Lives Plus colleagues UK-wide
• Work in a way which promotes diversity, equality and equity of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, embracing the principles of coproduction
• Work in accordance with Shared Lives Plus aims and objectives and policies and procedures and to promote a positive image of Shared Lives
• Undertake such other duties as may reasonably be required, commensurate with the level of the post. As Shared Lives Plus is a small organisation, all staff carry out ‘hands-on’ work at all levels, on occasion

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 are open when we cannot meet expectations and give an honest explanation that builds mutual trust

Integrity

• We take responsibility for our teams, maintaining a ‘no blame culture’, while ensuring staff are accountable and can learn from their mistakes
• 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

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.

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

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.

Please email your CV and supporting statement to recruitment@sharedlivesplus.org.uk by midday 28^th April 2025.

The closing date for applications is by midday 28^th April 2025

Interviews will be held between the 7^th – 13^th May 2025