Role Description
Grief Services Manager
Hours:
37.5 hours per week (full-time) or a minimum of 25 hours per week, worked across Monday–Friday, we can be flexible for the right candidate. This role will require some flexibility for core service delivery evenings and weekends, this is always planned well in advance.
Location:
Jeremiah's Journey HQ, Union Street, Plymouth
Salary and benefits:
Circa 37k per year(full time equivalent),pension, holiday allowance, external supervision
About Us
Since 1996, Jeremiah's Journey has been supporting bereaved children, young people, and their families across Plymouth, the surrounding areas, and South-East Cornwall. Around 50% of the children and young people we support have been bereaved of a parent.
We are developing a portfolio of community-based activities to support young people with their resilience and wellbeing in the longer-term aftermath of bereavement.
We are specialists in providing support where bereavement is complex or traumatic (e.g., suicide, road traffic collision, addiction, or domestic violence) and have significant critical incident response experience.
Our services include:
● Our flagship 7-week Grief Journey programme (delivered three times a year)
● One-to-one sessions and peer-to-peer support groups
● Family therapy
● Art journaling
● Jeremiah's Joy singing group
● Memory days
● Bespoke age-appropriate support up to age 25 for those anticipating or experiencing bereavement
● Training, advice, and guidance for schools and professionals
We enjoy a positive and respectful working relationship with similar bereavement support services across the Southwest peninsula and actively contribute nationally to the children's Bereavement Sector, led by the Childhood Bereavement Network (CBN) and National Bereavement Alliance (NBA).
Why join us?
You'll be part of a small, passionate and experienced team making a real impact in people's lives. We believe in collaboration, kindness, and creating a supportive environment for all our people. We may be a small Charity yet generate an ambitious vision.
If you have a compassionate and confident leadership style that integrates personal sensitivity and reflective capacity with clear expectations and accountability, we'd love to hear from you.
About the Role:
As Bereavement Services Manager, you will lead and inspire our experienced team to deliver high-quality emotional and practical support for bereaved children, young people, families, carers, teachers, and professionals.
Reporting directly to the CEO, with clinical oversight from our clinical lead trustee, you will play a pivotal role in shaping, developing, and growing our bereavement services programme. Your priority is to ensure that the wellbeing and positive outcomes for our beneficiaries remain at the heart of all decisions.
Key responsibilities:
● Develop a new bereavement services 3-5 strategy and manage annual delivery plans
● Work closely with our Clinical Lead Trustee, providing thorough updates and transparent oversight on all aspects of service delivery.
● Lead on all bereavement service delivery to ensure it is coordinated, high quality, and aligned with our ethos.
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● To ensure that service provision is effectively managed, well-coordinated, supervised and line with the charity's ethos.
● Develop service provision to enable more capacity within budgetary constraints, working closely with the Manager of Volunteer Services to enable quality volunteering opportunities and build community reach.
● To hold overall responsibility for the monitoring, evaluation, and auditing of the service regularly and in accordance with funding requirements.
● Line management of the grief services team, supporting the development of specialist lead roles.
● Lead the charity's supervision plan for team members involved in service delivery for staff and group sessions for volunteers) – hold a relevant qualification to enable you to provide supervision internally to team members, providing support with their caseloads and their own wellbeing.
● Acting as a positive ambassador for the charity and representing us in key forums and partnerships, be confident at public speaking and delivering presentations.
● Collaborating with local health, education, and social care professionals.
● Managing the grief services budget, KPIs, and any insight reporting as required.
● Supporting income generation by being alert to potential funding opportunities.
● Build peer networks and stay abreast of best practice in grief / bereavement support services. Disseminate information all relevant matters to the wider team.
● Ensure the grief services data base is maintained and information is recorded accurately.
● Ensure that projects are managed in line with criteria expected by both the charity and funders.
● Ensure appropriate advice and support to teachers and other professionals accessing our services.
● To review and develop grief / bereavement information and resources provided by the service.
● Ensuring team compliance with GDPR and best practice in data collection.
● You will be the charities safeguarding lead, responsible for the oversight of safeguarding compliance across the charity, this will also encompass 'low level' concern monitoring. You will hold responsibly for safeguarding and managing risk associated with the provision of support.
● Oversee training and development plans for staff, and volunteers in collaboration with the Operations Manager and Manager of Volunteer Services.
● Ensure the grief services team has appropriate policies and processes in place.
● To work within the limits and boundaries of the charity.
● To work under own initiative, managing and prioritising workload under the direction of the CEO.
● To undertake any other reasonable tasks delegated by the CEO.
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About You:
We are looking for a compassionate, skilled, and motivated individual who can lead with both professional expertise and empathy.
This role would suit someone who can show initiative, is happy to take on a challenge and has the ability to work across the organisation on many different aspects of the charity.
Scope and Accountability
The Grief Services Manager will work closely with other team members to ensure effective service delivery and contribute to the overall success of the charity's expansion plans, with a focus on increasing beneficiary numbers, expanding our age range and geographical reach, and enhancing support for families experiencing complex grief.
Person Specification:
Essential:
● Background of working with children, young people, and families in some capacity.
● Professional relevant qualification (social work, psychology, psychotherapy, counselling, or another relevant field) .
● Have led a team.
● Experience in lone working, understanding the issues relating to personal safety for self and others.
● Experienced in providing clinical/therapeutic supervision.
● Experienced in managing clinical and safeguarding and risk.
● Sound understanding of the impact of bereavement on children, young people and families.
● Excellent interpersonal, communication, and relationship-building skills.
● Strong organisational and time management skills with the ability to prioritise effectively.
● Proficient in IT. Specifically, Microsoft Windows and office suites.
● Knowledge of data bases - CRMs or equivalent.
● Be able to produce insight reports and data as required.
● An understanding of data protection requirements and confidentiality.
● Clean driving licence with own transport
● Willingness to take on different tasks as the role develops and to support the wider team at key events where everyone needs to pull together.
● Good assessment and therapeutic skills.
● Adaptable to a diverse workload. Be a team player.
● Flexibility to work outside of core hours when needed, with advanced notice. Our 7-week core group programme takes place 3 times a year on Wednesday evenings. We also hold family events occasionally at weekends.
● Ability to prepare insight reports as needed.
● The ability to engage people, generate enthusiasm and commitment from others.
● A positive and encouraging approach to colleagues, volunteers and beneficiaries.
● Role is subject to an enhanced DBS check.
● Resilient and able to handle and resolve conflict.
● Ability to manage stress and distress in self and others.
● A high degree of personal motivation and a willingness to learn new skills, taking on challenges and relevant CPD opportunities.
● Good sense of humour
● Eligibility to work in the UK.
Desirable:
● Understanding of grief and bereavement support.
● Trauma informed training
● First Aid Training.
● Experience of working alongside volunteers.
● Experience of service coordination.
● Able to prepare own presentations.
● Experience working with diverse communities.
● Experience of public speaking.
● A working knowledge and a wide range of experience of communication media, including report writing, newsletter production, social media forums.
● Experience in writing statutory funding bids or cases for support.
● An understanding of the importance of ethically sourced case studies and storytelling.
● Experience of working or volunteering within a charity that provides services to the community.
● Ability to produce leaflets and other resources.
● Experience of using social media.
● Good working knowledge of local CYP services
● Experience of community outreach work
● Experience of working therapeutically with CYPs and or families
● Experience of service evaluation
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What We Offer:
● Competitive salary within the sector
● External supervision
● Reflective space held with our clinical lead trustee and co-founder
● Ongoing professional development opportunities
● The chance to shape and lead services in a respected, long-established charity
● A supportive, compassionate, and passionate team environment
How to Apply:
If you are ready to take on a rewarding leadership role and make a lasting difference to the lives of bereaved children, young people, and their families, we would love to hear from you.
Please submit your CV and a cover letter detailing your suitability (and enthusiasm) for the role and why you want to join Team JJs by email to
Closing Date:
Wednesday 1st October 2025, 12 noon.
NB: We will close the vacancy early if we find the perfect candidate before this date.
We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Job Types: Full-time, Part-time
Pay: £37,000.00-£40,000.00 per year
Expected hours: No less than 25 per week
Benefits:
* Bereavement leave
* Company pension
* Free parking
* Sick pay
Work Location: In person