Head of Service Development

Position: Head of Service Development
Hours: Full-time (35 hours a week)
Contract: Permanent
Location: Office-based in London, with flexibility to work remotely
Salary: £65,118 per annum, plus excellent benefits
Salary Band and Job Family: Band 4

About the Employer

This charity makes sure people living with MS are at the centre of everything they do. And it's this commitment that unites them across the UK.

Their strategy is based on what people affected by MS have told them is important to them. It gives the organisation a clear and determined focus.

Their work is based on the hopes and aspirations of the MS community. Together they campaign at all levels, fund ground-breaking research and provide award winning support and information.

This organisation's people are their greatest asset and the key to their success. They offer a vibrant, progressive working environment where you'll be able to make a difference.

About this job

This year, the organisation embarked on introducing a bold, exciting new operating model and structure to improve their services and support to help everyone affected by MS.

The charity is making it easier for people who use their services to find and connect to the support they need. And they are looking at ways to make their support more accessible and personalised to meet people's individual needs, no matter where they are on their MS journey.

They are creating services that are flexible so that, when someone's circumstance changes, they will change too. As demand for their services grows, the organisation will always be ready to support everyone who needs their help.

The new structure and new ways of working will bring all of these services together under one delivery model launching next year. The organisation is creating a new virtual support hub to bring together everything their community needs to manage their MS or support and care for someone living with MS.

The Services Development team is responsible for: UK-wide service development and experience design, community development.

The Head of Services Development will be:

• leading the development and continuous improvement of the organisation's UK-wide and community-based services, ensuring they are inclusive, accessible, and aligned with organisational strategy. And also working alongside the Digital Services Product Manager on all of the digital services.

• overseeing the full-service development lifecycle, using evidence to drive continuous improvement and ensuring that lived experience is embedded into design.

• ensuring that the new or improved services are operationally viable. Supporting the organisation's Fundraising to ensure that new services are funded.

• Developing and managing a service development roadmap.

• With the Director of Service Development, acting as an organisational lead for coproduction / lived experience. Driving best practice and upskilling in coproduction and lived experience involvement and participation across the organisation.

The employer is looking for:

• significant experience of leading coproduction and service experience design, and ability to support others to deliver these activities.
• ability to lead organisational discussions and be an authoritative champion based on subject expertise (for coproduction, service development and innovation).
• experience of effectively implementing change and improvement across an organisation, and ability to drive continuous improvement across a department.

• experience of leading service development and managing the service lifecycle (including horizon scanning, research, coproduction, piloting and using monitoring and evaluation data to make improvements), ideally in a health or third sector setting.

• substantial experience of people management, in a team of similar size or complexity. Demonstrable ability to lead, manage and support others to deliver high-quality results.

• Proven experience in policy implementation, compliance and risk governance (and with an understanding of Safeguarding and demonstratable experience implementing Safeguarding policies).

Closing date for applications: 9:00 on Monday 2nd February 2026

How to apply:

Please click 'Apply' and follow the job board process. You will receive an email from CHM Recruit containing further information on how to apply for the role.
Please note that although you may be asked by the job board to upload a CV, you are not applying at this stage.

Equal Opportunities
This employer particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities and or from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Disability Confident Employer
Our client is a Disability Confident Employer and they're committed to promoting equality and diversity.

You can ask for reasonable adjustments as part of both their recruitment and new starter on-boarding processes.

If you need any help or adjustments to apply for this role, please contact them to discuss. You can also ask for the application materials to be sent to you in a different format. Such as for them to be sent to you by email or in a larger word format.

More about their employee benefits:
They have a wide range of employee benefits including (but not limited to):

Encouraging work life balance

• 38 days paid annual leave (including bank holidays), pro-rata for part-time
• More annual leave entitlement, based on length of employment
• Smart working options (with the opportunity to work remotely and find a smart working pattern that suits both you and them)
• Flexible working options

Caring for you and your family

• Generous sick pay entitlement
• More sick pay entitlement, based on length of employment
• Opportunity to buy and sell annual leave in each calendar year
• Free access to a GP virtually 24 hours a day/7 days a week allowing you unlimited advice, reassurance and where appropriate diagnosis
• Enhanced leave for new parents
• Free access to a confidential 24 hours a day/7 days a week helpline service for both you and your family with a specialist range of support and information
• Special leave options (such as up to 5 days paid leave for domestic or personal emergencies a year)
• 10 days paid disability leave a year, pro-rata for part-time
• 10 days paid carers' leave a year, pro-rata for part-time
• Cycle to work scheme
• Death in service scheme
• New family-friendly benefits, including paid leave:
  • in the event of miscarriage or still birth
  • to support fertility treatments
  • for antenatal appointments for both parents

Thinking about your finances

• Enhanced salary sacrifice pension scheme
• Discounted season ticket loan and interest-free emergency loans
• Give as you earn to support other charities of your choice before tax
• New employee portal including lifestyle savings vouchers and personal wellbeing

Enriching your life at work

• Personalised development plans with a wide range of training courses and opportunities to source additional training options with your line manager
• Yearly internal apprenticeship opportunities
• New, modern offices that embrace working together both in-person and remotely
• Various opportunities to influence how this organisation internally operates (including surveys, and focus and committee groups)
• Active and supportive internal employee networking groups for collaboration and peer support
• 2 days paid leave a year for volunteering for the charity's activities during normal working hours (such as fundraising events, or campaigning in the local community)
• 2 days paid leave a year for volunteering with other charities during normal working hours

Safeguarding

This employer is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of everyone who uses their services and they come into contact with.

This is regardless of: Gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy, gender reassignment.

They recognise their particular responsibility to make sure vulnerable adults and children are protected.

They have measures in place to protect everyone they come into contact with from abuse and maltreatment of all kinds.

Your right to work in the UK
You must have the right to work in the UK to work in paid employment with this organisation. You'll need to share documents showing you're eligible to work in the UK if they offer you employment.

You can find the UK visas and permits granting you the right to work in the UK on the UK Government website. They currently don't have a Sponsor Licence agreement with the Home Office and aren't able to support you with your visa applications.

No agencies please.