Operations Manager
Operations Manager
Base Negotiable
Full Time (39 Hours per week)
We anticipate interviews for this role will take place on Monday 28th September 2026 - Subject to change based on business needs
Several services, one person setting the standard for what good support looks like.
Positive Futures supports people with a learning disability, acquired brain injury or autism to live the life they choose, and the Operations Manager is the person who makes sure that promise holds true across a whole area of services, not just one. You'll lead the Service Managers who run those services day to day, and you'll carry the responsibility for getting it right on their behalf.
Day to day, that means setting direction as much as managing it. You'll help shape how Positive Futures plans and improves, lead the change projects that come out of that thinking, and keep a close enough eye on quality, compliance and finances that problems get caught early rather than found later. You'll coach and develop the managers who report to you, take the lead on specific organisational responsibilities as they're assigned to you, and step in for the Operations Director when required.
Real accountability: you'll answer for the quality, compliance and financial performance of every service in your area, and deputise for the Operations Director as needed.
A hand in strategy: you'll contribute to corporate planning and policy, and lead the change projects that shape how services actually run.
Leadership that multiplies: coach and develop the Service Managers who report to you, and your impact reaches every person their services support.
Your office base is negotiable, but this role covers ground across the Republic of Ireland and the wider island of Ireland, so regular travel is part of the job.
About this role
This role doesn't just oversee services, it ensures our values reach the people who count on them.
You'll help shape how Positive Futures works, not just deliver what's already been decided. That means contributing to corporate planning, policy development and operational and business plans, and acting as an agent of change, leading projects and initiatives both in your own services and across the wider organisation.
Working closely with your Service and Project Managers, you'll make sure every service under your remit meets the standards expected by HIQA, HSE, TUSLA and other funding or commissioning bodies, embedding good governance, risk management and health and safety practice throughout. Where something needs to improve, whether that's a HIQA recommendation, an internal audit finding or a complaint, you'll lead that work and report back to the Operations Director with clear findings and action plans.
Your Service Managers will look to you for direction: setting performance standards, coaching and mentoring, and building a culture of person-centred supervision that gets the best from people while holding accountability where it belongs. You'll play a part in recruitment and, where needed, employee relations investigations, take lead responsibility for specific areas across the Operations Department as designated (for example, Deputy Adult Safeguarding Champion), and deputise for the Operations Director as required.
On the finance side, you'll oversee budgets and cost centres across your services, working with the Operations Director and senior leadership team to hit financial targets and flag risks early enough to act on them. You'll also keep half an eye on the future: identifying opportunities to develop new or existing services and building the partnerships that make that possible.
What you will need
Required criteria
- Honours Degree in Social Studies / Social Care or Equivalent, FETAC Level 5 Management, Social work qualification, Registered Nurse OR Allied Health Professional registered with HPC or CORU
- 4-6 years experience in a health and social care setting (depending on qualification, see job profile)
- 3 years' relevant experience in a service / senior operational capacity in a health and social care setting - including the supervision of staff and financial oversight
- Full, Valid UK/EU/EEA Driving Licence and access to a car insured for business purpose s to meet the needs of the role
Desired criteria
- Experience supporting people (children and/or adults) with a learning disability and/or autism and/or acquired brain injury.
- Experience working in the disability sector.
- Recent experience in managing a regulated service.
