Team Leader

Team Leader
Job Pack

**Our Vision**:
A better world where people with disabilities contribute as unique and valued members of dynamic and inclusive communities

**Our Mission**:
To support, empower and enable people with disabilities to live their lives to the full

Team Leader, Job Description:
**Reports to: Development Manager**

Role: To lead and manage a team to provide fabulous support to enable people with learning disabilities to lead full and rich lives, taking full responsibility for all aspects of people’s support.

**Person/People Supported**:
1. Enable people supported to achieve their full potential.
2. Shape the support provided and how it is provided to ensure it reflects people’s wishes, using person-centered planning and specifically Essential Lifestyle Planning.
3. Ensure the support focuses on delivery of what people want through developing and managing team action plans.
4. Promote Options’ Mission, Vision, Aims, and Beliefs
5. Maximise the safety of people supported, staff and the community within the overall goal of supporting them to achieve positive outcomes in their lives (producing comprehensive risk assessments, and MOSTs).
6. Develop and maintain Guidelines for Support, which ensure people are well supported, when anxious or worried (including proactive and reactive strategies).
7. Ensure people’s primary health needs are met, including safe and proper administration of medication.
8. Evaluate the performance of the support against outcomes for people supported.
9. Provide direct support to people, role-modelling best practice.
10. Ensure support is given to enable people supported to budget and understand their finances.

**Staff Team**:
1. Provide clear direction to the team setting goals and objectives reflecting what the person supported wants.
2. Enable staff to achieve their full potential through effective leadership and management.
3. Identify the individual talents and abilities of staff, and reflecting the needs of people supported, develop these through training and development.
4. Develop the individual staff to become a team through training, development and regular meetings.
5. Recruit and induct new staff in conjunction with the development manager and recruitment team.
6. Provide support and supervision for all staff.
7. Manage rotas, sickness, absence, and annual leave to provide fully for people supported and also to ensure staff can have a balanced life.
8. Act as a role model for staff.
9. Manage and direct staff in line with organisation’s Working Values.
10. Ensure all staff comply with policies, procedures and systems.
11. Develop, implement and evaluate annual Team Action Plans.
12. Carry out disciplinary investigations when necessary.

**Management and Organisation**:
1. Participate in the on-call system.
2. Implement and work to all policies and procedures.
3. Promote positive relationships with those closest to people supported, and all others helping to support them.
4. Liaise with other professional staff involved in support.
5. Ensure effective communication between all parties.

**Self-Development**:
1. Develop effective self-management with the assistance of the Development
Manager.
2. Attend and participate in all training and development as identified to develop one’s own skills, and abilities. (This may well be in addition to contracted weekly hours and up to 15 days per year.)
3. Maintain a constant desire to learn and grow.

Team Leader, Person Specification:
**Experience**
At least two years experience of working in a supported living environment with people with learning disabilities.
A track record of making things happen in people’s lives.

**Leadership Skills**
Demonstrate the ability to set direction, lead staff, to motivate them, and to ensure things get done within the context of teamwork and enabling staff. Able to develop and deliver comprehensive and detailed plans.

**Positive Value Base and Person-Centred Approach**
Must be committed to ensuring that people with learning disabilities are valued and enabled to take control of their own lives. To champion this when the going gets tough.

**Relationship Skills**
To get on well with people supported and others around them. To be comfortable and relaxed in their presence, supporting them and helping them to get to know others in their community.

**Positive Role Model**
Must be hard-working, motivated, flexible, and pro-active. Someone who understands what needs to be done but can be relaxed about the pace at which some things will happen.

**Communication Skills**
Able to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing, with strong interpersonal skills.

**Integrity**
Have a clear desire and commitment to working out one’s values openly and honestly.

**Problem Solving Skills**
Demonstrate skills in understanding complex situations and difficulties, and work thoughtfully, sensitively, creatively and purposefully to solve these.

**Listening Skills**
Able to acti