Overview The Head of Service (HOS) for Adult Learning Disabilities and Autism Keyworker Services has a key leadership role acting as a role model for others. They will communicate and maintain excellent working relationships with all those that use, commission and work within the learning disability service and the wider Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Collaborative. The HOS is operationally responsible for the learning disability service across Kent, and will act as an expert within LD to support the service review and future service model with Commissioners. They will provide motivational leadership, guidance, and support to professional/clinical leads and service managers to deliver high quality services, change management and service development. It is important to us that all our staff are aligned to our Values and in particular the behaviours we expect from KCHFT managers.
As part of the selection process for this position you will be asked to complete two other activities in addition to the competency-based interview that you will invited to. This extended selection process is designed to assess your management style and the specific details of the exercises will be given if you are successfully shortlisted. The provisional date of the selection event is 25 February 2026, although this may be subject to change. The post holder is expected to be kind, responsive and professional, contributing to the quality of the service provided within the community learning disability teams across the health economy by:
Responsibilities
Developing effective and integrated care pathways in partnership with service users, commissioners and keystakeholders, particularly education and social care colleagues.
Maintaining a focus on quality and productivity throughout the Learning Disabilities and Autism Keyworker service to provide the highest possible level of care within agreed resources.
Being responsible for evidencing service quality and productivity through production of reports and data sets, and utilisation of benchmarking data in order to ensure continuous learning and improvement.
Leading on service improvement and redesign and embedding changes into everyday practice through strong management of professional leads and team managers.
Providing robust management and leadership to the professional/consultant leads ensuring teams are working in line with professional, organisational and local policies and guidelines.
Making recommendations and taking actions in order to drive forward innovative solutions to achieve business objectives, service improvements strategies and financial efficiencies linked to annual business plans.
This will involve working with commissioners to support the collaborative review and transformation of services from April 2026.
About Us
Rated 'outstanding' by the CQC, we have a passion for delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. We are looking for outstanding people who share our values: compassionate, Aspirational, Responsive, Excellent.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We know a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. We ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This isn’t visible to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except when you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Short listers will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure they apply the principles of the scheme to your submission. The data we collect helps us to ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work.
Flexible Working
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that won’t involve sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We’ll support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit us both.
Career Pathways
See where you can go with KCHFT career pathways.
Important Note
Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts and the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). Nursing vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses. As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net, quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further.
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