Deputy Manager - Supported Living Services

About Outward

For 50 years, Outward has been providing high-quality support and care services to vulnerable people across London, predominantly in North East London. Established by families seeking alternatives to institutional care, we’ve grown into a respected provider of person-centred support for adults with learning disabilities, autism, mental health needs, and complex needs. We support over 1,000 people across nine boroughs, guided by our core values: engage, enable, and empower.

Please Note

Outward has a number of Deputy Service Manager roles across a range of services in North and East London. Deputy Managers may occasionally move between services depending on organisational needs. If your experience fits the wider profile of service management and complex needs support, even if not every detail matches, we strongly encourage you to apply — we will consider your application across our current opportunities .

About the Role

We are seeking an enthusiastic, committed and values-driven Deputy Manager to join our Care & Support services. You will support adults with learning disabilities and/or autism, many of whom have moved towards independent living, to achieve greater autonomy, build confidence, and engage fully with their communities.

You will play a key leadership role in the day-to-day running of one or more services, supporting the Team Manager in supervising staff, overseeing rota planning, promoting quality and compliance, and maintaining strong partnerships with families and professionals.

We currently have vacancies at several supported living services across North East London, where we support adults with autism, learning disabilities and PMLD.

Key Responsibilities

• Work in partnership with the Team Manager to ensure the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care and support.
• Provide hands-on support, with at least 50% of your working hours directly supporting people.
• Mentor, coach and lead staff through best practice, reflective supervision, and day-to-day operational guidance.
• Support the development and regular review of support and risk plans tailored to individuals’ goals and preferences.
• Provide a robust induction to new staff to include regular 1:1 mentoring, coaching and modelling best practice
• Build effective relationships with family members and stakeholders, advocating for the people we support.
• Support positive behaviour support (PBS) approaches within the team and promote a strengths-based culture.
• Monitor service performance and quality, ensuring services meet or exceed CQC standards.
• Help manage rotas, finances (including petty cash and purchasing), staff inductions and competency assessments.
• Monitor service budgets and work closely with operation team to ensure services are financially viable.
• Be a key player in implementing upcoming digital systems e.g Nourish, Sona etc
• Work closely with Team manager with change implementation for frontline staff as and when required.
• Liaise with HM/Landlord/colleagues, lead on and have main oversight of sign up process, referrals and assessments, following up in-action.
• Contribute to audits, reporting, and inspection readiness.
• Participate in on-call duties as part of the management rota.
• Take part in assessments from receiving referrals and oversee void management.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone with integrity, energy and a commitment to empowering people with complex needs to lead fulfilling lives. You will support the team to develop support plans and risk assessments that reflect people’s needs, preferences and aspirations; creating a culture where plans are actively implemented and reviewed so that people are supported in the way that they want

Requirements

Essential:

• Experience supporting adults with learning disabilities and/or autism, including behaviours of distress
• At least 1 year of experience in a supervisory or leadership role within social care.
• Proven knowledge and skills to co-produce and review person-centred support and risk management plans.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; able to liaise with professionals, families, and staff.
• Ability to motivate, support and lead a team in a flexible and responsive manner.
• Established commitment to safeguarding, equality, and the rights of people with disabilities.
• Comfortable working weekends, evenings, and providing on-call support on a rota basis.
• Proficient IT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office, case management systems).

Desirable:

• Experience supporting service users in supported living or outreach services.
• Formal qualification in health and social care (e.g. Level 3 or 5 Diploma).
• Experience working with Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).
• Experience contributing to service quality audits and CQC compliance.
• Budget awareness or experience managing petty cash or local service budgets.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of adults at risk and expect all staff to share this commitment. If the post you apply for involves working with or having access to adults at risk and/or their records, we will require an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Services. This will be fully subsidised by Outward.

Diversity at Outward

Outward applies its Equal Opportunities Policy at all stages of recruitment and selection. Shortlisting, interviewing and selection is carried out without regard to gender, sexual orientation, marital status, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, age or trade union membership. Those with disabilities meeting the minimum requirements for the post will be shortlisted and reasonable adjustments will be made to ensure they are not disadvantaged during the interview process.

As an employer, who aspire to become Disability Confident Committed, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. Please indicate clearly at the beginning of your supporting statement if you have a disability (as defined by the Equality Act 2010), and you wish to be considered for an Offer Of an Interview (OOI) Please note that the OOI is available to disabled candidates only. Regrettably, any false declaration of disability in order to secure an interview will impact on your overall application

How to Apply

If you think you have the necessary skills and experience for this role please send your CV and a covering letter (preferably in one document). In your covering letter, outline your motivation for applying, how your skills align with the role, and highlight relevant achievements. In the subject line, please state clearly the role you are applying for and your name.

The closing date for all applications is open-ended. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. It would be great to hear from you.