Brighter Days Residential Ltd is a passionate and ambitious provider of residential care for children and young people with complex emotional, behavioural and social needs.
Our approach is trauma-informed, child-centred and relationship-based. We are committed to providing safe, nurturing homes where young people are understood as individuals, their voices are heard, and staff are supported to provide consistent, high-quality care.
As we continue to develop our service, we are looking for an experienced and confident Responsible Individual (RI) who shares our values and can provide strong strategic, regulatory and safeguarding oversight.
The Role
The Responsible Individual will provide effective oversight of the home and work closely with the Registered Manager and Directors to ensure the service is safe, compliant and delivering positive outcomes for children.
This is a senior leadership position requiring someone who can provide both support and constructive challenge. You will have a strong understanding of children's residential care and be confident working within an Ofsted-regulated environment.
The role is expected to be worked across a minimum of 3 days (22.5 hours) per week, with flexibility to respond to significant safeguarding, regulatory or operational matters when required.
Key Responsibilities
The Responsible Individual will:
- Provide effective strategic and regulatory oversight of the children's home.
- Support, supervise and appropriately challenge the Registered Manager.
- Ensure the home operates in accordance with the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, including the Quality Standards.
- Maintain strong oversight of safeguarding practice, significant incidents, complaints, allegations and notifications.
- Monitor the quality of care being provided and ensure children's welfare remains central to decision-making.
- Review patterns and themes arising from incidents, safeguarding concerns and placement stability.
- Ensure appropriate learning and improvement actions are identified and embedded into practice.
- Support the Registered Manager with preparation for Ofsted inspections and regulatory visits.
- Maintain oversight of Regulation 44 and Regulation 45 processes and ensure identified actions are addressed.
- Provide scrutiny of staffing, safer recruitment, training, supervision and workforce development.
- Ensure policies, procedures and operational practice remain compliant with legislation, regulation and best practice.
- Support effective partnership working with local authorities, social workers, commissioners, education, health, police and other professionals.
- Provide senior-level oversight where placements involve complex or escalating risks.
- Ensure children's wishes, feelings and experiences are reflected within service development and decision-making.
- Work collaboratively with the Directors and Registered Manager to support the continued development and growth of Brighter Days Residential.
About You
We are looking for someone who has:
- Significant experience within children's residential care.
- Previous experience as a Responsible Individual, Registered Manager, senior operational leader or equivalent within children's services.
- A strong working knowledge of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards.
- A thorough understanding of safeguarding children and managing complex risk.
- Experience of working with Ofsted and a good understanding of the inspection framework.
- Strong leadership, auditing and quality-assurance skills.
- The confidence to appropriately challenge practice while maintaining positive and supportive professional relationships.
- Experience of supporting services caring for children with complex trauma, emotional and behavioural needs.
- Excellent written communication, professional judgement and analytical skills.
- The ability to remain child-focused when managing complex operational, safeguarding and regulatory pressures.
A relevant professional or leadership qualification within social care, social work, health, education or children's residential services would be highly desirable.
What We Offer
- £58,000 – £62,000 per annum, dependent upon experience.
- 3-day working week.
- Flexibility within the role.
- Opportunity to have a significant influence on the development of a growing children's residential provider.
- Close working relationship with the Directors and Registered Manager.
- A supportive organisation that values reflective practice, professional challenge and continuous improvement.
- The opportunity to help shape services designed around the needs of children rather than simply organisational processes.
Our Values
At Brighter Days Residential, we recognise that children with the most complex experiences need adults and organisations that remain consistent, curious and committed.
We want our Responsible Individual to be visible, approachable and genuinely involved in the quality of care children receive. This is not intended to be a purely administrative RI position. We are looking for someone who understands the realities of residential childcare and can combine strong regulatory oversight with compassionate and supportive leadership.
If you are an experienced children's services professional who is passionate about improving residential care and wants the opportunity to help shape a developing organisation, we would love to hear from you.
Pay: £58,000.00-£62,000.00 per year
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Newhaven (East Sussex, South East Region, England)
