Service Operations Manager - Clinical Services

Position: 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,…