Society of St James (SSJ) is a leading Southampton-based homelessness charity and housing association that provides supported living services and a wide range of support to people from all walks of life experiencing homelessness, problematic alcohol or substance use and mental health problems. Responsive to the ever-changing challenges facing vulnerable people, SSJ believes people can turn their lives around with the right help.
Their services are delivered by about 25 specialist teams, each with a particular project or service. They currently employ about 350 full or part-time staff and have an annual budget of over £17 million. They accommodate over 550 people at any given time and support an additional 1,000 people in the community.
Context.
Following the retirement of their long-standing Chief Executive, the board sought an ambitious leader to become the architect of change for their service users. They were looking for a dynamic leader to be responsible and accountable for the strategy and delivery within SSJ, ensuring they continued to be responsive in a continuously evolving external environment.
“A great relationship and rapport were developed from the start to the end. A well-managed process with an excellent outcome.”
Feedback from the Board of Trustees
Brief.
Peridot was engaged to find a collaborative leader skilled in working effectively and confidently with a broad range of stakeholders, including vulnerable people, colleagues, commissioners, strategic partners, policymakers, professional organisations, suppliers and contractors, and commercial sectors. Crucially, they needed to be able to develop an ethos for SSJ with shared values and a positive and inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and respected.
We needed someone with a proven track record of success in a leadership role within the not for profit or social impact sector, with an understanding of the complexities of homelessness and addictions and the lived experiences of those affected. The successful candidate had to share SSJ’s values and vision to work alongside vulnerable people and staff to continue building on all they’d achieved. Most importantly, they were looking for an inclusive and enabling individual with a can-do attitude, someone open to embracing new ideas and comfortable taking risks.
“I found working with Peridot to be helpful with respect to making a CEO appointment. They responded well to the brief set, provided helpful guidance and suggestions throughout the process and Clare provided clear and calm input at each stage.”
Feedback from the Board of Trustees
We were tasked with finding senior leaders who could balance advocacy, stakeholder engagement, partnership building, income generation, influencing, and innovative thinking and bring the foresight, credibility, and experience to lead the organisation forward.
Process.
Peridot worked in close partnership with the board to create a recruitment campaign that would attract inclusive and collaborative leaders from a variety of relevant backgrounds.
Our targeted search focused on potential candidates from homelessness charities, community projects, social enterprises, community development and, more broadly, social justice organisations.
During our engagement, we also assessed suitability around values and fit. When presenting the longlist of final candidates, we highlighted the ones who met these criteria, along with having a clear strategic vision and the ability to translate passion into measurable impact.
Driven by our belief that diverse leadership underpins the acceleration of positive societal change for us all, diversity played a key factor in our search. We not only encouraged applicants with direct or transferable skills but also those with lived experience, which can bring empathy and authenticity to the role.
“Clare demonstrated professionalism and application of (Peridot’s) values throughout the process, gently challenging our thinking when necessary but also understanding our anxieties and constraints. It was good working with her, and I certainly valued her input.”
Feedback from the Board of Trustees
One important element was a service user stakeholder session for the final candidates. We worked collaboratively with the Service Participation Lead to ensure this was a purposeful and productive experience, both for the service users and the candidates. This became an integral part of the process, with the interactions between the candidates and service users allowing them to demonstrate their own values and approach in a meaningful way.
Outcome.
The overall response to our campaign was hugely positive, and we were delighted to present the board with a strong field of candidates from diverse backgrounds that met the brief.
Our final interview shortlist included:
- A change leader with over two decades spent managing projects and operations in the private, public and third sectors.
- An internal candidate with over 20 years as a member of the SMT of SSJ.
- A local, highly experienced, and successful charity CEO with a proven track record of results and excellent leadership working with services that help people in crisis or vulnerable people.
- An award-winning, highly experienced charity Chief Executive with a track record of positive change – including 25 years of youth work and enabling change in communities.
“I too was very impressed by their performance, as you skillfully illustrated. In addition, you put them at ease and worked with them beautifully, well done you!They felt it to be a very positive experience and enjoyed themselves as well. Pleasure meeting and working with Clare, thanks for this added value.”
Feedback from the Service Participation Lead
The successful candidate was a collaborative and transformational leader with 30 years of experience in the charity sector supporting homelessness, domestic abuse, substance use and mental health services through accommodation and community-based services.
Most recently, as the Director of a national homelessness charity, they brought significant experience of commissioned services and a commitment and purpose to provide quality, trauma-informed services alongside advocating and influencing for the system changes needed to tackle the root causes of homelessness, domestic violence and substance use.
The board was delighted with the appointment and confident they have appointed a collaborative, inclusive and enabling Chief Executive to lead them into the next phase of their continued success.
“The Peridot team were so helpful along the recruitment journey, from the knowledge of the role, the helpful advice and availability made the experience a really positive one.”
Feedback from the appointed candidate
Clare Chesworth is a Managing Consultant for our Not for Profit Practice. Clare is passionate about recruiting executive and board leaders for organisations tackling social justice. With an empathetic and driven approach, Clare can find the right leaders to suit your mission. If you’d like to get in touch with her, you can connect with Clare on Linkedin or send her an email.
James Hunt is our Head of Not for Profit Appointments, a senior executive search recruitment specialist supporting the not for profit sector since 2005. With a love for finding passionate and talented people, matchmaking leaders, experts and teams in executive appointments. You can connect with James on LinkedIn, or email him at james@peridotpartners.co.uk to start an informal chat about your career or recruitment needs.
