Practice Leader

At United for Care (UFC) our focus is on helping people with disabilities to achieve fuller, better lives. Founded in 2020, United for Care offers independent living opportunities for members of the community living with complex disabilities to live in individual apartment accommodation with 24 hour support.

**Position Overview**

The Practice Lead oversees the day to day operations of their sites under general direction from the Operations Manager to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.

The Practice Lead will support staff though role modelling, coaching and supervision. In addition, the Practice Lead is responsible for providing customers with support that is in line with the customers’ goals and NDIS SIL plans as well as assisting them to live independently.

**Key Responsibilities**

Lead and model effective person centred practices including:
Support the team to provide high quality services are assessed, planned, evaluated and delivered in line with participant care plans, goals and outcomes.

Develop fortnightly rosters allocating staff according to contract hours, planned leave and the participants rosters of care.

Provide effective onboarding, site orientation and training to new employees to support their engagement and learning journey.

Assess staff performance and provide feedback to Operations Manager for probation and performance reviews.

Identify learning opportunities and experiences to address learning needs for the team.

Support staff in understanding and managing customer risks

Conduct regular team meetings and monthly practice supervision for each team member, escalating issues and concerns to Operations Manager.

Coordinate on-site support and review of incidents and complaints in consultation with the Operations Manager.

working individually with participants

undertaking planning and delivery work as per care plan

providing support to families and carers

working with local service providers

Work with staff, participants, families and other stakeholders to understand and resolve concerns. Escalate to the Operations Manager for advice and support as appropriate.

Establish and maintain positive relationships with participants and stakeholders and build networks with relevant community groups and services.

Ensure participant documentation and shift notes are up to date, complete and accurate.

Participate as part of the on-call roster which is rotated among all Operational Leaders.

Ensure staff work within UFC’s Code of Conduct, policies and procedures of the Quality Management System.

Demonstrate commitment to the care, safety and wellbeing of self, participants and others in work environment.

**Qualifications and Experience**
- Tertiary qualifications (minimum certificate IV) in Mental Health, Psychology, Social Work, Occupational Therapy or other health related field
- Experience and expertise in working directly with people with mental health issues, complex needs, and with their families and carers
- Demonstrated capacity to effectively lead, coach and develop a team to achieve best quality service outcomes including experience in the provision of professional supervision
- Ability to work both autonomously and as part of a team, incorporating effective planning, time management, problem solving, organisational skills, resourcing, and achieving quality outcomes
- Demonstrated ability to plan and prioritise to meet customer service delivery requirements
- Excellent customer service skills
- Demonstrated experience in documenting client notes, reporting and working with a variety of electronic systems
- Demonstrated understanding of available community services, networks and supports

Awareness and understanding of the NDIS (desirable)

**Behaviours and Competencies**

**Core Competencies**
- **Teamwork**:

- Encourages teamwork, builds effective teams and resolves problems by creating a supportive and collaborative team spirit.
- **Communication**:

- The ability to communicate information and ideas respectfully and appropriately using a variety of methods available. Uses language and style of communication appropriate to the situation and audience.
- **Cultural Awareness** - The ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across diverse cultures and backgrounds

**Position Description**
- **Ethical Practice** - Earns others’ trust and respect through consistent honesty and professionalism in all interactions
- **Values**:

- Role models United for Care's Vision and behaviours aligned to the values

**Functional Competencies**
- **Leading and Supervising** - Demonstrates initiative and role model behaviour. Is proactive and works toward supporting an achievement oriented culture and performance excellence.
- **Judgement and Decision Making** - Makes decisions within scope of job role and for all others, consults with regional manager and takes decisions in full compliance with the organisation's policies & procedures.