Service Operations Manager - Clinical Services. Fixed Term Contract

Healthcare Operations | Mental Health | Service Delivery | Clinical Pathways | Stakeholder Management Exceptional Services Need Exceptional Operations Behind Them. Behind every clinical service is an operational engine making sure the right people receive the right support, at the right time. For PAIRS Kent , that means supporting families experiencing parent-infant relationship difficulties through a service that is safe, responsive, compassionate and exceptionally well organised. We’re looking for an experienced Service Operations Manager to make that happen. This is a varied, hands-on operational role sitting at the heart of the service. You’ll work closely with Clinical Leads and Directors to oversee everything from referrals, triage workflows and appointments to capacity planning, clinical venues, case management systems, reporting and stakeholder relationships. Just as importantly, you’ll be working with sensitive information and communicating with parents, caregivers, clinicians and referrers. So alongside operational excellence, we’re looking for someone with genuine emotional intelligence, empathy, resilience and professional maturity. If you’ve built your career within healthcare, mental health, psychological or clinical services and know how to keep a complex service running brilliantly behind the scenes, we’d love to hear from you . The Role at a Glance Service Operations Manager Canterbury, Kent | Hybrid – 3 Days Office £40,000 Fixed-Term Contract until 25 August 2028 Full Time | 37.5 Hours | Flexible around Core 9am–5pm Hours Service: Parent and Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS Kent) About Real Group & PAIRS Kent Real Group is a growing organisation providing training, qualifications, apprenticeships and psychological services across education, psychology and technology. PAIRS Kent, delivered by Real Group and funded by Best Start in Life through Kent County Council, provides emotional wellbeing and therapeutic support to families across Kent. The Opportunity As Service Operations Manager, you’ll take ownership of the operational delivery, administration and referral-screening functions that enable PAIRS Kent to deliver an efficient and responsive clinical service. Working closely with Clinical Leads and Directors within a strict clinical governance framework, you’ll help manage the entire referral-to-treatment workflow, ensuring families move through the appropriate pathways efficiently while clinicians, venues, systems and capacity are coordinated effectively. What You’ll Be Doing

• Screen referrals for completeness and eligibility, coordinating triage and allocation with Clinical Leads.
• Manage appointments and sensitive communication with parents and caregivers.
• Support caseload, demand and capacity planning.
• Manage Iaptus, digital workflows and data accuracy.
• Coordinate clinical venues, contracts, clinician locations and travel logistics.
• Monitor KPIs, performance, reporting and delivery risks.
• Support GDPR, safeguarding and information governance.
• Build relationships with commissioners, referrers and external partners.
• Support clinician onboarding and systems training.
• Use stakeholder feedback to improve service delivery.

About You You’ll be an experienced operations or service-delivery professional, ideally with a background in healthcare, psychological, mental health or another clinical service environment. You understand that excellent clinical services depend on excellent operations. You can manage multiple moving parts, organise people and resources, maintain accurate systems and keep workflows progressing without losing sight of the people behind them. You’ll bring:

• Proven experience in operational management and administration, ideally within a healthcare, psychological or clinical setting
• Strong organisational, logistical and capacity-planning skills
• Experience using electronic Case Management Systems (CMS) and digital workflows
• Confidence managing diaries, appointments, caseloads and competing service demands
• Strong stakeholder skills across clinicians, referrers, commissioners and external partners
• An understanding of GDPR, safeguarding and information governance within a clinical setting
• The emotional intelligence and resilience to handle sensitive information calmly and professionally
• Excellent communication skills, particularly when dealing with families who may be anxious or vulnerable

The Person Behind the CV This isn't a role for someone who simply likes systems and spreadsheets. You'll be dealing with clinicians, commissioners, external partners and families, sometimes while navigating sensitive or challenging circumstances. You’ll need to be calm, organised and compassionate, able to communicate sensitively while still ensuring processes, deadlines and service standards are maintained. You’ll know when something needs escalating, when someone needs reassurance and when a process simply needs fixing. What’s On Offer

• Hybrid working
• Flexible working within a friendly, supportive team
• Pension
• Training and professional development opportunities
• Health and dental plan
• Access to free mental health support
• Salary sacrifice options for purchasing a bicycle or leasing an electric car

You’ll also need to successfully complete Real Group’s Safer Recruitment process and an enhanced DBS check. If you understand the operational demands of delivering sensitive clinical services and would love to use that experience to help families access the support they need, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now. Application notice... We take your privacy seriously. As you might expect you may be contacted by email, text or telephone. Your data is processed by our talent partner RR (Recruitment Revolution) on the basis of their legitimate interests in fulfilling the recruitment process. Please refer to their Data Privacy Policy & Notice on their website for further details.