Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer
Contract: Part-time, 0.8 WTE
Location: Based in our Maynooth head office with options for Hybrid working
Salary: €83,458 WTE / €66,767 at 0.8 WTE
Direct reports: Three Regional Mental Health Team Leaders, Media Programme Team Leader, Workplace Programme Coordinator, Education and Training Coordinator
About Shine
Shine is a national organisation dedicated to supporting individuals and families affected by mental illness and challenging the stigma and discrimination that can accompany it. Our work combines direct support, recovery education, family support, community engagement, lived-experience participation, advocacy, communications and stigma reduction. Our mission: We specialise in supporting and educating individuals, family members and communities impacted by mental illness and stigma.
Purpose of the Role
The Head of Support and Education provides strategic and professional leadership across Shine’s support, education and programme-delivery functions, ensuring high-quality, evidence-informed and person-centred work aligned with Shine’s mission, strategy and funding commitments. The role strengthens quality, management accountability and consistency across community services, while supporting education, training and programme development. It is accountable for service delivery and SLA compliance across its portfolio, working with other members of the Senior Leadership Team where responsibilities intersect. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, the postholder also contributes to Shine’s overall leadership, governance, sustainability and strategic development.
Key Areas of Accountability
The role has five principal areas of accountability: strategic and organisational leadership; community services and professional practice; education and training; the Workplace and Media Programmes; and service quality, performance and compliance.
- Strategic and organisational leadership
- The postholder will contribute to Shine’s strategic direction as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, working with the CEO and other senior colleagues to translate organisational priorities into clear service and programme plans. They will contribute to governance, risk management, workforce planning, budgetary and resource planning, organisational sustainability, Board and Committee reporting, collaboration across functions and external representation where required.
- Community services, people and practice leadership
- The role provides leadership across Community Recovery and community services, ensuring clear accountability through regional and programme management structures. The postholder will develop Team Leaders and programme leads, support appropriate delegation, strengthen supervision and performance management, and ensure appropriate delegation and that operational decisions are taken as close as practicable to the point of delivery. They will promote consistent, recovery-oriented, person-centred and family-inclusive practice, with appropriate safeguarding, appropriate professional and management supervision and escalation arrangements.
- Education, training and programme development
- The postholder will lead the development of Shine’s education and training activity, ensuring that content is evidence-informed, accessible and shaped by lived experience. They will support the development of learning resources, evaluate learning outcomes, identify opportunities to extend Shine’s reach through professional and community education, and strengthen links between community services experience, recovery education and wider organisational learning.
- Workplace and Media Programmes
- The postholder will oversee the quality, delivery and development of the Workplace and Media Programmes, ensuring alignment with Shine’s strategy, agreed outputs, funding requirements and evaluation processes. They will support programme leads and contracted contributors, identify opportunities for sustainable development, and ensure learning from these programmes informs Shine’s wider education and stigma-reduction work. The Media Programme is distinct from Shine’s corporate communications and external affairs functions, which sit with the Head of Communications and Advocacy.
- Service delivery, quality and compliance
- The postholder is accountable for service delivery and SLA compliance across the portfolio, including delivery against contractual commitments, performance indicators, reporting requirements, data quality and evidence of impact. They will identify and address material delivery variances, lead or support funder relationships relating to service performance, support external review or assurance processes, and escalate material delivery risks through appropriate governance arrangements.
Person Specification
The Person We Are Looking For
We are seeking an experienced leader who can provide strategic and professional leadership through others. The successful candidate will understand complex community services work but will not need to personally resolve every operational or practice issue. They will create clear accountability, develop managers and ensure decisions are made at the appropriate organisational level.
They will be capable of moving between service quality, people leadership, contractual performance and organisational decision-making. They will know when an issue should remain with a Team Leader, when leadership intervention is required and when a matter needs to be escalated through organisational governance structures. They will combine compassion and professional credibility with clear accountability, proportionate decision-making and a strong focus on quality and outcomes.
Above all, they will strengthen the capability of the people around them rather than creating dependency on the Head role itself.
Essential
Service Leadership: Significant management experience within mental health, health, social care, community services, education or another directly relevant environment, including responsibility for complex services or programmes.
Leadership Through Managers: Demonstrable experience of leading managers, Team Leaders or programme leads and creating effective delegated accountability.
Professional Practice: Strong understanding of person-centred, recovery-oriented and family-inclusive practice, together with the ethical, safeguarding and professional responsibilities associated with supporting people experiencing significant mental health difficulties.
Service and Programme Management: Demonstrable experience managing complex services or programmes, including performance, resources, quality, contractual or funding commitments and delivery against agreed outcomes.
Quality and Governance: Demonstrable experience of quality assurance, safeguarding, risk management, service improvement and governance within a regulated, publicly funded or otherwise accountable service environment.
Leadership Capability: Experience contributing at senior level to organisational strategy, governance, workforce planning, resource allocation and organisational development.
Communication and Relationships: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build constructive relationships with staff, funders, statutory bodies, partners and senior stakeholders.
Values and Approach: Demonstrable commitment to recovery, human rights, family-inclusive practice, meaningful lived-experience participation and reducing stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness.
Desirable
Experience in one or more of the following would be advantageous:
- national or multi-regional service leadership;
- community mental health, recovery or family-support services;
- education, training or programme development;
- workplace mental health, media education or stigma-reduction programmes;
- evaluation, quality assurance or outcomes measurement;
- charity, voluntary-sector or publicly funded service delivery;
- organisational change and service development; and
- partnership working with the HSE or other statutory bodies.
Qualifications
- Essential: A relevant third-level qualification at Level 8 or equivalent in health, social care, social work, nursing, occupational therapy, psychology, counselling, education, community development, management or another discipline relevant to the role.
- Desirable: A relevant postgraduate qualification in management, leadership, mental health, education, health, social care or a related field.
Shine Benefits
Shine offers a supportive and flexible working environment, with benefits designed to support wellbeing, professional development and work-life balance. Benefits include:
- access to Shine’s pension scheme, with a 5% employer contribution;
- 24 days’ annual leave per annum, plus one wellbeing day;
- hybrid and flexible working arrangements, subject to organisational needs and Shine policy;
- access to Shine’s Employee Assistance Programme;
- paid maternity and paternity leave;
- death in service benefit;
- Bike to Work Scheme;
- regular management support and supervision; and
- access to training and continuing professional development.
Applications
Please submit a CV and a cover letter in word of pdf format to: recruit@shine.ie
Applications will be accepted up to 5pm on Monday 2nd November
