Area Manager
Location: Leicester or North London
Sector: Supported Living, Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, Autism and Complex Needs
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience
Our client is looking to appoint experienced Area Managers to support a portfolio of services across Leicestershire and surrounding areas.
This is a senior operational role suited to someone who understands regulated care, can lead managers properly, and is confident operating between frontline services, senior leadership, commissioners, professionals and CQC.
You will hold overall responsibility for several services, including line management of Service Managers, quality oversight, compliance, safeguarding, staffing stability, service improvement and external stakeholder engagement.
All Area Managers within this division are also Registered Managers, so you must be confident with CQC expectations, inspection readiness and regulatory governance.
What the role involves
You will be responsible for:
* Operational leadership: Managing and supporting Service Managers across your area, ensuring services are safe, compliant, well‑led and stable.
* Quality and compliance: Reviewing audits, incidents, care documentation, dashboards and service performance to identify what is really happening behind the numbers.
* CQC readiness: Maintaining strong regulatory oversight, preparing services for inspection and ensuring action plans are followed through properly.
* People leadership: Developing Service Managers, deputies, team leaders and frontline staff through supervision, appraisal, coaching and structured development plans.
* Stakeholder engagement: Working with commissioners, families, professionals, internal quality teams and senior leaders to keep services moving in the right direction.
* Service presence: Spending time in services, observing culture, supporting managers directly, challenging poor practice and helping teams improve.
The right person
* Experience managing services within regulated care, ideally supported living, mental health, learning disabilities, autism, complex needs or similar.
* Managed managers before – supporting, challenging and developing Service Managers.
* Strong CQC knowledge – understanding quality, compliance, safeguarding, MCA, risk, inspection standards and governance.
* A calm, practical leadership style – staying composed under pressure, making decisions, and supporting services through difficult situations.
* A hands‑on approach – presence in services matters; not a desk‑only role.
* Level 5 Leadership in Health and Social Care – completed or willing to work towards it; higher‑level leadership development welcomed.
Why this role is worth considering
This is a strong opportunity for someone who wants more than a standard Area Manager post. You will be joining a large national provider with significant infrastructure, established systems and complex operational scope. The role gives you real exposure to service turnaround, quality improvement, manager development, commissioner engagement and CQC‑facing leadership.
For the right person, this is a platform to step into a serious senior leadership pathway.
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