About the Role
EverHope Homes is seeking an experienced and committed Deputy Manager to join the team at EverGreen Lodge, our residential children’s home.
This is an important leadership role supporting the Registered Manager with the effective day-to-day management, development and regulatory compliance of the home.
You will provide visible leadership to the staff team while remaining actively involved in frontline practice and the lives of the children we care for. You will help ensure that children receive safe, nurturing, child-centred and therapeutically informed care which promotes positive experiences, progress and outcomes.
The Deputy Manager will deputise for the Registered Manager during agreed periods of absence and will play a key role in maintaining the home’s standards, culture and readiness for regulatory inspection.
Primary Purpose of the Role
The successful candidate will:
- Support the Registered Manager in the overall leadership, management and operation of EverGreen Lodge.
- Help ensure the home operates in accordance with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, the Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the Quality Standards, relevant safeguarding legislation and EverHope Homes policies and procedures.
- Safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people living within the home.
- Ensure children receive high-quality care within a safe, stable, nurturing and homely environment.
- Lead, support, supervise and develop staff to ensure consistently high standards of care and professional practice.
- Provide operational oversight and deputise for the Registered Manager within agreed levels of authority.
- Support the continued development of a service which achieves positive and, wherever possible, outstanding outcomes for children.
Key ResponsibilitiesLeadership and Operational Management
You will:
- Deputise for the Registered Manager during agreed periods of absence.
- Support the effective day-to-day running of the home while remaining visible and connected to children and frontline practice.
- Provide direction, leadership and motivation to the staff team.
- Support shift planning, staffing deployment, handovers, allocation of responsibilities and completion of daily and weekly operational tasks.
- Help ensure appropriate staffing levels are maintained to meet the individual needs of the children.
- Support the safe management of medication, finances, appointments, vehicles, maintenance and environmental safety systems.
- Work within delegated authority and recognise when matters require escalation to the Registered Manager, Responsible Individual or relevant external agency.
- Participate fully within the staffing rota, including evenings, weekends, bank holidays, sleep-ins/overnight duties and out-of-hours responsibilities as required.
Children and Young People
You will:
- Place the child at the centre of all decision-making and practice.
- Treat every child as an individual and promote their rights, privacy, dignity, identity and emotional safety.
- Develop appropriate, trusting and professional relationships with children so they feel confident expressing their views, wishes, feelings, concerns and complaints.
- Ensure children are listened to and meaningfully involved in decisions about their care and the running of their home.
- Support children's education, health, family relationships, identity, culture, enjoyment, independence and personal development.
- Help create a warm and homely environment through ordinary routines, shared experiences, activities, celebrations, fun and meaningful relationships.
- Ensure care plans, risk assessments, behaviour support plans and other individual plans are understood and implemented consistently.
- Ensure changes in a child's presentation, risks or needs are identified, recorded, communicated and responded to appropriately.
Therapeutic and Relationship-Based Practice
EverGreen Lodge provides relationship-based and therapeutically informed care.
You will:
- Work in accordance with EverGreen Lodge's Statement of Purpose and therapeutic approach.
- Understand behaviour as a form of communication and support staff to respond with curiosity, empathy, consistency and appropriate boundaries.
- Promote connection and relationship-building while maintaining clear expectations and safe professional boundaries.
- Work collaboratively with the home's commissioned clinical therapy support team and other professionals supporting children.
- Ensure therapeutic formulations, recommendations and professional guidance are appropriately incorporated into children's care planning, behaviour support, risk management and everyday practice.
- Encourage reflective practice across the staff team and support staff to consider the needs underlying children's behaviour.
Staff Leadership, Supervision and Development
You will:
- Provide regular, meaningful and purposeful supervision to members of the staff team as delegated by the Registered Manager.
- Support staff through induction, probation, appraisal, training and continuing professional development.
- Assist with safe recruitment and the development of new staff.
- Monitor staff competence through observation, records, feedback, practice and outcomes.
- Promote a stable, reflective, professional and accountable staff culture.
- Monitor professional boundaries and challenge inappropriate or unsafe practice.
- Support staff performance and address concerns promptly, consistently and fairly in accordance with organisational procedures.
- Encourage staff to take responsibility for their own professional development and qualifications.
- Support and assess staff working towards relevant qualifications where appropriate.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding children is central to this role.
You will:
- Promote and safeguard the welfare of all children living at EverGreen Lodge.
- Ensure practice is carried out in accordance with relevant legislation, statutory guidance, local safeguarding procedures and EverHope Homes policies.
- Take immediate and appropriate action in response to safeguarding concerns.
- Understand and follow procedures relating to allegations, whistleblowing, LADO referrals, missing-from-care episodes and safeguarding escalation.
- Demonstrate professional curiosity and respectfully challenge information or responses that appear insufficient.
- Ensure safeguarding concerns, incidents and actions are clearly and accurately recorded.
- Ensure staff understand their individual safeguarding responsibilities and know how to escalate concerns.
Behaviour Support
You will:
- Support staff to understand and respond appropriately to behaviour which may communicate distress, trauma or unmet need.
- Promote de-escalation, positive behaviour support and least-restrictive practice.
- Encourage appropriate behaviour through consistent, nurturing and relationship-based approaches.
- Ensure physical intervention is only used as a last resort and in accordance with training, children's plans and organisational procedures.
- Ensure incidents are followed by appropriate recording, notification, medical attention where required, debriefing, reflection and review.
Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance
You will:
- Support the Registered Manager to maintain compliance with the Children's Homes Regulations and Quality Standards.
- Contribute to quality assurance processes, audits and monitoring of practice.
- Support preparation for Regulation 44 visits, Regulation 45 reviews and Ofsted inspections.
- Assist with the completion and monitoring of improvement and development plans.
- Identify areas of strength and areas requiring improvement within the service.
- Support the Registered Manager in ensuring actions arising from audits, inspections, complaints and investigations are completed effectively.
- Help maintain a culture of continuous improvement and ongoing Ofsted readiness.
Recording, Confidentiality and Communication
You will:
- Ensure records are accurate, timely, factual, professional and child-centred.
- Monitor the quality of staff recording and address concerns where standards are not met.
- Ensure children's records, staff information and organisational information are handled securely and confidentially.
- Maintain effective communication between shifts and ensure important information is shared promptly with appropriate people.
- Support effective partnership working between children, families, social workers, education, health professionals, local authorities, commissioners, the commissioned clinical therapy support team and other agencies.
- Ensure information is shared only where necessary, lawful and appropriate.
Health and Safety
You will:
- Support the Registered Manager in maintaining a safe environment for children, staff and visitors.
- Ensure staff comply with health and safety requirements and relevant organisational procedures.
- Support systems relating to fire safety, first aid, medication, infection control, food safety, COSHH, legionella, vehicles, security and emergency planning.
- Ensure required safety and operational checks are completed accurately.
- Ensure faults, defects, accidents, medication errors, injuries and unsafe practice are reported and acted upon promptly.
- Help maintain a clean, safe, comfortable and welcoming home without allowing administrative or domestic tasks to replace meaningful time with children.
Working Relationships
The Deputy Manager will be expected to develop positive and professional working relationships with:
- Children and young people.
- The Registered Manager and Responsible Individual.
- Residential care staff and senior staff.
- Families and carers where appropriate.
- Social workers and placing authorities.
- Education and health professionals.
- Local authorities and commissioners.
- The home's commissioned clinical therapy support team.
- Ofsted and other regulatory or professional agencies.
- Other partner organisations involved in supporting children.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The Deputy Manager will:
- Promote equality, diversity, inclusion and respect throughout the home.
- Ensure the individual identity, culture, religion, language, sexuality and personal circumstances of each child are recognised and supported.
- Challenge discriminatory practice, language or behaviour.
- Ensure the needs of children from diverse communities are appropriately recognised within care planning and service development.
- Carry out all duties with full regard to EverHope Homes' Equality and Diversity policies.
Qualifications and Experience
We are looking for someone who has:
- A relevant Level 3 qualification in Residential Childcare, or an equivalent recognised qualification.
- An appropriate leadership or management qualification, or a commitment to achieve the qualification required for the role.
- Substantial experience working within residential childcare.
- Experience of safeguarding children and responding appropriately to safeguarding concerns.
- Experience of providing leadership, guidance or supervision to staff.
- A good understanding of the Children's Homes Regulations 2015 and the Quality Standards.
- Experience of quality assurance, audits, monitoring or service improvement within a residential care environment.
- The ability to manage competing priorities and maintain effective operational oversight.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- The ability to work collaboratively with children, families, professionals and partner agencies.
- The confidence to challenge poor practice and escalate concerns appropriately.
- The ability to work flexibly as part of the home's rota.
The successful applicant will be required to complete an Enhanced DBS check and all Schedule 2 safer recruitment checks before undertaking unsupervised work.
What We Are Looking For
Above all, we are looking for someone who understands that excellent residential childcare is about much more than completing tasks.
We want a Deputy Manager who is:
- Child-centred and genuinely interested in children's lives.
- Warm, nurturing and relationship-focused.
- Professionally curious and confident enough to challenge when something does not feel right.
- Calm and consistent when situations become difficult.
- Reflective and willing to learn.
- Able to balance leadership responsibilities with being present within the home.
- Committed to developing staff rather than simply managing them.
- Organised and able to maintain strong regulatory and operational standards.
- Ambitious for the children we care for and committed to helping them achieve positive outcomes.
Additional Requirements
The post holder must:
- Maintain clear professional boundaries at all times.
- Take responsibility for their own professional development, supervision and mandatory training.
- Work within their training, competence and delegated authority.
- Maintain strict confidentiality in relation to children, families, staff and organisational information.
- Undertake other reasonable duties appropriate to the role, skills and level of responsibility.
- Work flexibly in accordance with the needs of the children and the service, including evenings, weekends, bank holidays and duties identified within the rota.
EverHope Homes is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to robust safer recruitment procedures, including an Enhanced DBS check and satisfactory Schedule 2 checks.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £35,000.00-£40,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
