Head of Engagement & Social Care

Job summary

As Head of Engagement and Social Care, you will provide strategic leadership for our national Peer Support, Family Support, Safeguarding, and Co-production functions. You'll ensure our services are innovative, effective and deliver the highest standards of care, while championing safeguarding excellence across the organisation.

Main duties of the job Lead the strategic development, delivery and evaluation of our national Peer Support and Family Support services. Provide organisational leadership for safeguarding, ensuring excellent governance and best practice. Champion co-production, ensuring veterans' voices are central to service design and development.

Build and maintain strong partnerships with organisations across the military, health and charity sectors. Lead the development of integrated care pathways that provide seamless support for veterans. Line manage and mentor senior service managers and the Veteran Engagement Officer, supporting high-performing teams.

Promote innovation, evidence-based practice and continuous service improvement. Oversee audits, quality assurance, service evaluation and reporting to support strategic decision-making. Contribute to organisational strategy as a member of the senior leadership team.

About us

Combat Stress is the UKs leading mental health charity for veterans. For over a century, weve been helping former service personnel deal with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from military service.

We have teams across the UK providing online and in-person treatment and support, depending on the individuals needs and circumstances of those who need us.

Job description

Job

responsibilities

Homebased with regular office attendance and national travel as required Status: Permanent Salary: Band 8b, £66,546 - £76,950, per annum, dependent on experience Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week ________________________________________________________________________________ About Us: Combat Stress is the UKs leading mental health charity for veterans.

For over a century, weve been helping former service personnel deal with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from military service. We have teams across the UK providing online and in-person treatment and support, depending on the individuals needs and circumstances of those who need us.

About

the role:

As Head of Engagement and Social Care, you will provide strategic leadership for our national Peer Support, Family Support, Safeguarding, and Co-production functions. You'll ensure our services are innovative, effective and deliver the highest standards of care, while championing safeguarding excellence across the organisation.

Working closely with colleagues across Combat Stress and with external partners, you'll help develop seamless pathways of support for veterans, strengthen partnerships across the sector, and ensure that the voices and lived experiences of veterans influence the design and delivery of our services.

This is a highly collaborative role requiring a confident leader who can inspire teams, build strong relationships, and drive continuous improvement.

What you'll be doing:

Lead the strategic development, delivery and evaluation of our national Peer Support and Family Support services. Provide organisational leadership for safeguarding, ensuring excellent governance and best practice. Champion co-production, ensuring veterans' voices are central to service design and development.

Build and maintain strong partnerships with organisations across the military, health and charity sectors. Lead the development of integrated care pathways that provide seamless support for veterans. Line manage and mentor senior service managers and the Veteran Engagement Officer, supporting high-performing teams.

Promote innovation, evidence-based practice and continuous service improvement. Oversee audits, quality assurance, service evaluation and reporting to support strategic decision-making. Contribute to organisational strategy as a member of the senior leadership team.

About you:

We're looking for a compassionate and experienced leader who combines strategic thinking with a passion for improving services for veterans and their families.

You'll bring: Significant leadership experience within health, social care, charity or related sectors. Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and developing high-quality services. Strong knowledge of safeguarding, governance and quality assurance.

Excellent relationship-building and partnership development skills. Experience influencing strategy and driving organisational change. A collaborative leadership style with the ability to inspire, coach and develop others.

A commitment to evidence-based practice, innovation and continuous improvement. This role will be subject to a DBS / PVG / ACCESS NI check.

What we offer:

You will work within a reputable charity that is constantly evolving to meet the needs of our veterans, that has a fantastic cause and a committed follower base.

Benefits: 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays and an additional increase to 33 days annual leave upon 10 years continuous service, plus bank holidays.

Competitive stakeholder pension scheme - contributions matched up to 11% of salary Discount shopping vouchers Access to the Employee Assistance Programme Flexible working Access to Blue Light Card scheme Death in Service Scheme How to apply: (Only apply if you can attend the interview dates, stated below.) Thank you for your interest in working for Combat Stress.

If your application is shortlisted, one of the team will contact you shortly after the closing date to let you know the next steps. Please be aware that due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to all applicants.

If you do not hear from the team within 3 weeks of the closing date, we will not be taking your application further on this occasion. We will keep your details for up to 6 months after the vacancy has been successfully filed. Please feel free to contact us if you no longer wish us to hold your details.

Once again, thank you for your interest in working at Combat Stress. To apply, head to our website and send over a CV and Covering letter. Please ensure your CV is 2 pages maximum and your covering letter 1 page maximum.

If you have been informed about the role by a current employee, please state this and the employees name in your covering letter.

Please note, you MUST have the right to work in the UK to apply for our vacancies and work at Combat Stress. _________________________________________________________________ Closing date: Monday 31 August 2026 Interview date: Interviews will be held in person at our Head Office in Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 0BX on 14 or 15 September 2026 Please note, we reserve the right to close this advert early, should we receive a sufficient amount of applicants _________________________________________________________________ Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential Educated to degree level Hold a professional registration OR be able to demonstrate significant leadership experience in leading support services A minimum of 5 years experience at a senior management level.

Has served in Her Majestys Armed Forces (preferred) OR has worked with serving military personnel/veterans Experience of leading effective services in the health and social care sector Experience of leading on an organisations safeguarding function Experience of improving governance arrangement leading to improved organisational effectiveness Desirable Educated to Masters level Has either recovered from a mental health problem as a result of their military service, or is able to demonstrate extensive experience or working within mental health and a high level of knowledge regarding mental health conditions commonly experienced by Veterans.

Experience of leading Peer Support Services Experience of leading Family Support Services Experience of scoping, establishing and nurturing collaborative relationships with key sector partners Skills & Knowledge Essential Excellent knowledge and skills around Safeguarding Good understanding of co-production and the importance of the voice of lived experience The ability to translate strategic aims into tangible outcomes Excellent working understanding of record keeping Excellent and demonstrable report writing skills Excellent IT skills Excellent telephone communication skills Ability to gather information accurately and efficiently Excellent working understanding of boundaries Excellent time management skills Good understanding of equality and diversity Good understanding of health and safety issues related to community working Ability to provide and accept constructive feedback Proven ability to make decisions Ability to manage work under pressure Sensitive to colleagues and able to promote a positive motivating environment Desirable Understanding of the third sector, funding opportunities and requirements, owing to the nature of how Peer and Family Support Services are funded within the charity 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.