.
Area Manager - Lancashire
Location: Lancashire
Working Hours: 37
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: £40,160 - £57,730
Make a real difference in your community
Are you passionate about helping others live safer, healthier and more independent lives?
Join Waythrough, one of the UK’s leading mental health and social support charities, and make a lasting impact every day.
We support over 125,000 people each year through our 200 services, empowering individuals to overcome challenges around mental health, housing, and substance use.
About the Role
As an Area Manager at Waythrough, you’ll lead and inspire teams delivering a diverse range of services supporting people with mental health needs and substance misuse challenges, including drug and alcohol recovery. Our portfolio goes beyond traditional treatment, spanning mental health housing, recovery, and employment support, to help people build stability, resilience, and independence.
You’ll oversee a portfolio of services within your region, ensuring they are safe, sustainable, person-centred, and high performing. Your leadership will create a culture of care, learning, and continuous improvement, empowering teams to deliver high-quality support and achieve meaningful outcomes.
Working closely with Service Managers, commissioners, and partners, you’ll drive innovation, performance, and excellence across all areas, ensuring compliance with CQC, Ofsted, and other quality frameworks.
What You’ll Do
1. Lead, develop, and oversee operational delivery across multiple services.
2. Ensure compliance with regulatory and quality standards, safeguarding, and governance frameworks.
3. Manage and mentor Service Managers, fostering a positive, high-performing team culture.
4. Oversee budgets, financial performance, and risk management.
5. Analyse performance data to drive continuous improvement and innovation.
6. Build strong partnerships with commissioners, stakeholders, and community organisations.
7. Contribute to strategic planning, service transformation, and business development.
8. Act as CQC Registered Manager where required.
To Succeed in This Role, You’ll Need:
To be an experienced leader with a strong background in mental health, substance misuse, or housing services, passionate about empowering people and transforming lives. You thrive in a dynamic environment and are skilled at balancing operational oversight with people leadership.
Essential skills and experience include:
9. Proven leadership experience within drug and alcohol recovery, mental health, housing, or related services.
10. Experience managing performance and budgets across multiple teams.
11. Strong understanding of safeguarding, compliance, and quality frameworks (CQC, Ofsted, QAF).
12. Excellent communication, analytical, and organisational skills.
13. Ability to build partnerships and drive service excellence through collaboration and innovation.
Desirable:
14. Business development experience and familiarity with government strategy and policy.
15. Understanding of void management.
About Waythrough
Formed in 2024 through the merger of Humankind and Richmond Fellowship, Waythrough is now one of the largest mental health and social support charities in England.
With 3,500 staff and volunteers across more than 200 services, we help people to live full, meaningful lives.
Some roles may still appear under our legacy brands (Humankind, Richmond Fellowship, Aquarius) while we complete our integration — but wherever you join us, you’ll be part of one supportive team, sharing one purpose.
What We Offer
We value the people who make a difference every day. Alongside meaningful work, you’ll enjoy a comprehensive benefits package:
16. 27 days’ annual leave, rising to 32 after 1 year (plus bank holidays)
17. Pension scheme with 4.5% employer contribution, matched up to 6.5%
18. Life assurance (3× annual salary)
19. Enhanced sick pay and family-friendly pay
20. Birthday leave and the option to buy up to 5 extra days’ annual leave
21. Professional fee reimbursement for relevant qualifications
22. 24/7 online GP access and Employee Assistance Programme
23. Recognition and long service awards via our and portals
24. £500 bonus
25. Cycle to Work scheme and Credit Union membership
26. Discounts via Blue Light Card, Charity Discounts, Extras and Tickets for Good
27. Free will writing service and wellbeing initiatives throughout the year
Inclusion and Accessibility
Waythrough is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and communities — especially those with lived experience of the issues we support.
If you need adjustments or support to apply, please email .
How to Apply
If you’re viewing this advert on an external platform such as Indeed, please click ‘Apply via Company Website’ to view the full job description and submit your application.