Head of Service | Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS FoundationTrust

Posting date:	03 February 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£64,455 - £74,896 per annum
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	05 March 2026
Location:	Birkenhead, CH42 7HB
Company:	Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	7745360/373-AAD0095

Summary

An opportunity has arisen in our Community Mental Health Team for a Head of Service to oversee the social care component of the service. Our mental health service comprises primarily of two CMHTs, an Early Onset Dementia Team, and an Early Intervention Team. As the Head of Service, you will oversee the principal managers to manage these teams, providing operational and social work practice advice. You will also have overall responsibility for our Approved Mental Health Practitioner (AMHP) function and will need to have direct experience of this type of statutory work. You will also have responsibility for managing the social care and staffing budget, as well as the performance of your service. The Head of Service role also plays a key role in the Local Authority management structure, and you will need to lead on development and improvement work in the service. It is therefore essential that you have experience of leading on change and development.

In return, CWP offers a full range of benefits including access to leadership and other specialist training. Through our close links with the Local Authority, we also provide bespoke training on a wide range of statutory issues.

This role will involve remote/hybrid working, however there will be a requirement to work from the office on certain days.

As Head of Service you will need to ensure that all work carried out by social work staff is compliant with statutory guidance and good practice. You will need to authorise support plans ensuring that the person’s outcomes are being met and the service provides value for money for commissioners. You will also oversee the specialist work of the Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs) so need to have a good understanding of their role and the Mental Health act. The role also includes developing and implementing new ways of working to improve outcomes for people,

You will also be responsible for managing you staffing budget and team performance metrics ensuring that supervision, appraisal and training of all of your staff is up to date. The Head of Service post has close links to our Local Authority commissioner’s senior leadership team and you will be expected to contribute to these meetings and to also play a key role in all internal governance structures including contract meetings.

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.

We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton, Liverpool and Stockport.

Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.

As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.
All new starters will commence in post on one fixed start date each month, in line with our Prepare to Care (P2C) induction programme date. P2C offers up to 3 weeks training to support you to meet the induction / initial training requirements of the role.

Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to use your existing skills and experience in a new role, you’ll find something to suit you at CWP.

Please download a copy of the job description (see ‘documents to download’ section below) for full details of the main responsibilities for this role.

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust’s Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust’s Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trust’s Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. Further help and support for completing your application can be accessed via our website. If you need any further guidance to help you complete your application, contact our recruitment team via email at: cwp.recruitment@nhs.net or by calling 01244 393100.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer ‘YES’ to the question: ‘Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?’

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team CWP very soon!


This advert closes on Tuesday 10 Feb 2026

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.