Suicide Bereavement Specialist Manager

The Suicide Bereavement Specialist Manager leads and manages a team of approximately 10-12 Suicide Bereavement Specialists, providing strong and supportive management alongside clear professional accountability and oversight of practice.

The postholder will also maintain a small caseload of approximately 5-10 beneficiaries, enabling them to remain connected to frontline practice and the experiences of people accessing the service.

The postholder has operational responsibility for the beneficiary journey from the point a referral enters the service through assessment, triage and allocation to a Suicide Bereavement Specialist, and for ensuring that subsequent support is safe, timely, appropriate, person-centred and delivered to Pete's Dragons' expected standards.

Relationship with the Beneficiary Services Manager

The Beneficiary Services Manager holds overall strategic responsibility for Beneficiary Services, including the direction, development and performance of beneficiary-facing services across Pete's Dragons.

The SBS Manager holds operational responsibility for the day-to-day delivery, management and quality of the Suicide Bereavement Specialist service.

The SBS Manager is expected to exercise appropriate professional and managerial autonomy in the daily operation of the SBS service, escalating significant safeguarding, workforce, performance, capacity, service-quality or organisational concerns to the Beneficiary Services Manager.

The two roles will work closely together to ensure that strategic decisions are translated into consistent, safe and effective practice.

Key Responsibilities

Referral, Triage and Allocation

The SBS Manager will:

• Take overall responsibility for all incoming referrals to the SBS service from the point of entry through to allocation.
• Review referrals to establish need, urgency, risk, suitability and any additional considerations affecting the provision of support.
• Ensure referrals are processed promptly and in accordance with Pete's Dragons' referral pathways, eligibility criteria and service standards.
• Identify and appropriately escalate safeguarding, suicide risk or other significant concerns arising during the referral process.
• Allocate beneficiaries to the most appropriate SBS, considering individual need, practitioner skills and experience, existing caseload, capacity, location and other relevant factors.
• Maintain oversight of referrals awaiting allocation and ensure that beneficiaries do not become lost or unnecessarily delayed within the system.
• Monitor demand, waiting times, caseloads and team capacity and raise emerging pressures with the Beneficiary Services Manager.
• Ensure referral and allocation decisions are clearly and appropriately recorded.

Management and Leadership of the SBS Team

The SBS Manager will:

• Provide day-to-day leadership and management to approximately 10-12 Suicide Bereavement Specialists.
• Lead regular individual management 1:1s with each SBS.
• Lead group supervision and reflective practice opportunities as required.
• Lead daily SBS team meetings and scheduled practice meetings.
• Create a team culture which combines compassion and psychological safety with professional accountability and consistently high standards.
• Maintain regular contact with staff working across different Pete's Dragons locations.
• Ensure staff have appropriate opportunities to raise concerns, discuss difficult work and seek management guidance.
• Monitor individual workload, caseload and capacity and intervene where concerns arise.
• Support staff wellbeing while maintaining clear expectations regarding professional responsibilities and service delivery.
• Provide appropriate telephone management support for SBS staff working outside normal office hours as required.

Quality Assurance and Practice Standards

The SBS Manager will hold responsibility for the quality of SBS practice and will:

• Undertake formal case audits for each SBS on a quarterly basis.
• Regularly review the quality, accuracy and completeness of beneficiary records and case documentation.
• Monitor SBS practice against Pete's Dragons' policies, procedures, practice standards and expected professional boundaries.
• Arrange and review recorded beneficiary sessions at appropriate intervals as part of ongoing practice quality assurance and practitioner development.
• Provide constructive feedback following practice reviews and agree actions or development plans where required.
• Identify excellent practice and ensure learning is shared across the team.
• Identify practice which falls below the expected standard and take timely action to support improvement.
• Monitor beneficiary engagement, missed appointments, case progression, case duration and closure practices.
• Ensure concerns regarding practice, conduct, competence or beneficiary safety are appropriately documented, addressed and escalated.
• Promote reflective professional practice and continuous improvement throughout the SBS team.

Safeguarding and Risk

The SBS Manager will:

• Act as a Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) for Pete's Dragons. Appropriate DSO training can be provided where required.
• Share responsibility for the management and oversight of safeguarding cases within the organisation.
• Provide advice and support to SBSs where safeguarding concerns arise.
• Ensure safeguarding concerns are identified, recorded, escalated and acted upon in accordance with Pete's Dragons' Safeguarding Policy and relevant statutory guidance.
• Work collaboratively with other safeguarding leads and senior managers where complex or significant concerns arise.
• Promote confident and consistent safeguarding practice throughout the SBS team.
• Ensure staff understand the distinction between safeguarding, suicide risk, clinical concern and other forms of beneficiary risk and follow the appropriate organisational pathway.

Beneficiary Casework

To remain connected to frontline practice, the SBS Manager will:

• Maintain a small caseload of approximately 5-10 beneficiaries.
• Provide high-quality suicide bereavement support in accordance with Pete's Dragons' practice model, policies and standards.
• Maintain timely, accurate and appropriate case records.
• Model excellent professional boundaries, beneficiary communication and case management.
• Participate in appropriate clinical supervision for their own beneficiary work.
• Ensure management responsibilities remain the priority of the role and that their personal caseload does not compromise their availability to manage the service or support the SBS team.

People Management and HR

The SBS Manager will be responsible for all routine HR management relating to their direct reports, including:

• Recruitment and selection of Suicide Bereavement Specialists.
• Induction and probation.
• Regular management supervision.
• Annual appraisal and performance review.
• Identifying individual and team development needs.
• Supporting professional development and CPD.
• Attendance and absence management.
• Managing annual leave and ensuring adequate service capacity.
• Addressing performance, capability, conduct or behavioural concerns promptly and appropriately.
• Supporting staff wellbeing and identifying when additional support may be required.
• Working with the Beneficiary Services Manager and other appropriate colleagues on formal HR matters where necessary.
• Maintaining appropriate and confidential management records.

Training and Development

The SBS Manager will:

• Identify individual and collective training and development needs across the SBS team.
• Ensure mandatory training remains current.
• Support SBSs to develop their knowledge, confidence and professional practice.
• Use case audits, recorded-session reviews, supervision, beneficiary feedback and other quality measures to identify areas for development.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of internal practice training and workshops.
• Support newly appointed SBSs through induction and their transition into independent practice.

Policy, Procedure and Service Development

The SBS Manager will:

• Ensure organisational policies, procedures and agreed ways of working are consistently implemented within the SBS team.
• Communicate changes in policy or practice clearly and ensure staff understand what is expected of them.
• Monitor compliance and address inconsistent practice.
• Contribute frontline operational knowledge to the review and development of policies, procedures, pathways and practice standards.
• Support the Beneficiary Services Manager in implementing service developments and organisational change.
• Identify opportunities to improve beneficiary experience, efficiency, quality and consistency.

Monitoring and Reporting

The SBS Manager will maintain an accurate operational picture of the SBS service, including:

• Referral volumes.
• Referral processing and allocation.
• Waiting times.
• Individual and team caseloads.
• Team capacity.
• Beneficiary engagement.
• Case progression and closures.
• Safeguarding and risk themes.
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