Deputy Head of Service - Weight Management

The role provides technical and operational leadership for the weight management, physical activity, and lifestyle pathways within One You Kent, ensuring delivery is aligned with national guidance, evidence-based practice, and established behaviour change principles. It holds responsibility for maintaining oversight of intervention models, practitioner competence, training, and quality assurance to ensure consistently high standards of service delivery. Operationally, the role leads the day-to-day delivery of weight management and lifestyle services, driving performance against key performance indicators relating to referrals, engagement, programme completion, and outcomes. It uses performance data and insight to identify variation, manage risk, and highlight opportunities for improvement. The post holder contributes to monthly and quarterly reporting in line with commissioner requirements and supports the development of annual impact reporting and associated communications to evidence service outcomes. The role includes line management responsibility for Operational Team Leads, providing leadership, supervision, and performance management. It supports workforce development through structured training, coaching, reflective practice, and ongoing professional development, while ensuring consistent standards, processes, and ways of working across all delivery teams. In addition, the role plays an active part in service development and improvement, contributing to the evolution of the weight management and lifestyle service model to ensure it continues to meet population need. This includes leading or supporting service improvement initiatives, pathway redesign, and innovation activity, as well as assisting in the mobilisation of new delivery approaches for priority groups and communities. A key aspect of the role involves partnership and system working, with responsibility for building and maintaining strong relationships across primary care, local authorities, leisure services, VCSE organisations, and community groups. It supports effective referral pathways into and out of lifestyle services to sustain behaviour change and represents the pathway at relevant operational stakeholder meetings. The post holder is also responsible for governance and assurance, ensuring compliance with information governance, safeguarding, health and safety, and clinical governance requirements. This includes contributing to audit processes, assurance activity, and quality reporting in line with organisational frameworks. The role includes deputising for the Head of Service when required to ensure continuity of service delivery, as well as undertaking additional duties appropriate to the role as service needs evolve.