Department Co-Ordinator

Role Purpose: 

The Department Co-ordinator position is a rewarding role which supports service users with their ongoing skills development and employability. Overseeing work-as-therapy departments in our busy Therapeutic Community is about being a visible leader with clear co-ordination, communication, and enablement. Within the role there is much diversity ranging from overseeing maintenance, supporting and assisting the kitchen departments to prepare healthy and nutritional meals, and creating new opportunities for service user involvement and development which could for example be involvement of our RTN (Recovery through Nature) within our gardens, increasing service user skills in decorating and exploring ideas for new social enterprises. We are open to innovation and would welcome applications from a range of skills-based backgrounds. The role will also include Health & Safety checks.

Coordinating service users

1. To lead, motivate and coordinate service users in the provision of the ‘Work as Therapy’ Programme including the gardening and grounds maintenance, food preparation and catering, cleaning, and health & safety provision, and to liaise with and involve all service users and volunteers to support this process in line with the Therapeutic Community model.
2. To work with the Therapeutic Team responsible for the implementation of the therapeutic programme within the residential service, ensuring service users' individualised care plan targets are being met.
3. To support the day to day running of the therapeutic community, ensuring service user needs are met and the best possible care is provided in an environment that promotes a culture of recovery in line with a recovery orientated system of care.
4. To support the Therapeutic Team to deliver an effective induction programme (the Welcome House) designed to appropriately support service users to effectively engage with the treatment programme including ‘Tasters’ in Departments.
5. To help develop, organise, and run a range of therapeutic approaches designed to address the service users’ emotional, social, health and practical needs, including department work, group work, education, and activities.
6. To liaise with local agencies and services to develop appropriate employment and volunteering opportunities for service users on their discharge from the service.
7. To be able to utilise skills flexibly, offering a range of recognised therapeutic and treatment options such as motivational interviewing, CBT, and social learning to assist those who wish to cease using alcohol and drugs to do so safely. 

Service provision

1. To complete all administrative tasks such as report writing, data base maintenance, maintenance of accurate files and up to date service user case notes, relevant form filling in order to meet the requirements of organisation, stakeholders, programme and legal requirements.
2. To liaise with the Residential Managers and the Learning & Development team in Central Office in the development and management of an eLearning programme for service users and staff.
3.   To perform as a full team member supporting colleagues, participating in effective handovers and being open to reasonable requests from line manager in order to ensure effective working relationships.
4.   To observe professional standards of good practice and care in all aspects of the programme and fulfil the duty of care in the course of practice and in adherence with the accredited manualised treatment programme.
5.   To maintain a working knowledge and work in accordance with current law, clinical and social work practice including the Quality Principles relevant to the circumstances of individual service users.
6.   To contribute to, and support the service to meet targets, including occupancy, retention and discharge.
7.   To administer medication and maintain appropriate logs, in accordance with Care Quality Commission Regulations & Phoenix Futures policies and procedures.
8.   To ensure that medicines and Dangerous Drugs Act records are kept up to date as required by law.
9.   To support the development of volunteers within the service through Supervision, Link Working, buddying, mentoring, and coaching
10.   To ensure that the day to day running of the residential is maintained (e.g., standards of living, hygiene of the house) at the highest possible level.
11. To lead on the provision of a buildings and facilities management service, ensuring that there is an inventory of facilities, a planned maintenance programme and an emergency repair service, liaising with consultants, contractors and suppliers as appropriate.
12. To lead on the provision of a hygienic catering service, ensuring that facilities, equipment and meal preparations meet required health and safety standards and that menus are nutritious and satisfy the reasonable requirements of the residents.
13. To ensure that recycling and composting is enabled, managed and monitored.
14. To ensure that provision is made for growing vegetables, fruits and other food produce that can be utilised for the benefit of the service and service-users.
15. To ensure that there is a health and safety management plan covering all areas of responsibility such as fire safety, kitchen, grounds and general maintenance.
16. To facilitate the running of the recovery through nature programme in the service.

Person Specification

1. S/NVQ 3 in Care (Danos-accredited) or equivalent (or ability to achieve this within the designated period)
2. Knowledge of therapeutic communities & Recovery Orientated Systems of Care
3. Experience of either property maintenance, facilities management, or catering management
4. A relevant qualification that includes a large element of Health and Safety such as IOSH Managing Safely (or ability to achieve this within the trial or probationary period)
5. A relevant qualification in Food Hygiene (or ability to achieve this within the trial or probationary period)
6. Relevant experience of work in the field of substance use or another comparable field   
7. Experience of working on own initiative and managing workload appropriately   
8. Experience of working with volunteers or leading a team
9. Ability to develop networks with relevant further education bodies to develop S/NVQ or similar qualifications for service users
10. Ability to work a rota pattern, including evening, weekends and sleep-ins.
11. Proficient in the use of Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Word and familiar with relevant database management systems desirable
12. Ability to travel
13. No criminal record that prevents work with our client group or which would harm our reputation.

Your Rewards

• Brand new refurbished service
• You will be paid annual salary of £24,637
• On site Gym, staff changing rooms and showers
• Car parking and electric car charging points
• Continuous training and career development via PXL our dedicated learning management system
• Opportunity to complete the Care Certificate, a robust induction to roles in health and social care developed by Skills for Care and Health Education England.
• Access to a 24/7 Employee Assistance programme including telephone and online access.

About Us

Phoenix Futures Group is a charity with over 50 years’ experience and a leading provider of drug and alcohol treatment.

Our values are what define us and ensure we work to the highest standards. We believe in being the best, we are passionate about recovery, we value our history and use it to inform our future.

We work with local authorities, other charities, and service providers across the country to deliver innovative programmes and projects that change lives for the better, setting people on the path to health and emotional wellbeing. We provide a diverse range of services, our expertise in psychosocial treatment and support is the common thread that runs through everything we do. People need psychological interventions, social support, meaningful use of time, sense of purpose and a place of safety to sustain their recovery. At our core, we support people, families, and communities to recover from drug and alcohol dependency.

We encourage and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and believe it is important to include people with lived experience to ensure the needs of the people we support are represented. We are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where everyone is free to be themselves and we ensure equity of opportunity.

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