· Manage, lead and motivate residential staff within a 24-hour rota, including leading shifts, allocating duties, monitoring staffing levels and ensuring children receive safe, responsive and person-centred care.
· Deputise for the Registered Manager during planned or unplanned absence within delegated authority, maintaining safe operational oversight and escalating matters appropriately to the Registered Manager, Head of Operations or Responsible Individual.
· Provide direct line management, supervision, coaching and performance support to allocated staff, contributing to induction, probation, appraisal, training and capability processes where required.
· Apply the home’s self-evaluation and quality-assurance arrangements to identify strengths, shortfalls, trends and required improvements, and ensure agreed actions are completed and embedded in practice.
· Ensure safeguarding, safer recruitment, health and safety, medication, positive behaviour support, missing-from-care and other key policies are implemented consistently within the Deputy Manager’s area of responsibility.
· Lead by example in direct care, ensuring children are supported with communication, personal care, medication, health needs, education, activities, independence and emotional regulation in accordance with their individual plans.
· Promote PACE-informed practice and Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), including prevention, co-regulation, de-escalation, positive reinforcement and least-restrictive responses to behaviours of concern.
· Hold delegated responsibility for individual children, including complex cases, and oversee assessment, placement planning, risk assessment, behaviour support planning, outcome setting, key work and review activity.
· Ensure children’s views, wishes, feelings and communication are actively sought and reflected in care planning, reviews, daily routines, activities and decision-making.
· Build and maintain effective professional relationships with children, families, social workers, schools, health professionals, therapists, advocates and other partner agencies.
· Collate information from children, families and multi-agency professionals; analyse the information; and produce clear reports, chronologies, assessments and management summaries as required.
· Attend and contribute effectively to professional meetings, statutory reviews, PEP/EHCP meetings, strategy discussions, safeguarding meetings, court-related work and other multi-agency forums where required.
· Ensure paper and electronic records are accurate, timely, respectful, analytical and uploaded or filed within the correct systems, with clear evidence of management oversight and follow-up.
· Monitor and review incidents, physical interventions, missing episodes, medication issues, complaints and safeguarding concerns to ensure appropriate action, debriefing, notifications, learning and management review.
· Support the Registered Manager with Regulation 44 visits, Regulation 45 quality-of-care reviews, Ofsted inspection preparation and action plans arising from audits, inspections, complaints or safeguarding activity.
· Contribute to rota planning, safe staff deployment, annual leave management, use of bank/agency staff and maintenance of an appropriate skills mix in accordance with children’s needs.
· Exercise delegated responsibility for service resources, petty cash, household expenditure and budget monitoring as required, ensuring accurate recording and appropriate financial controls.
· Support a safe, positive and inclusive working environment, challenge poor practice, maintain professional boundaries and promote an open culture in which staff understand their duty to whistleblow and safeguard children.
· Deliver or contribute to staff briefings, team meetings, reflective practice, presentations and training sessions within competence, and ensure learning is translated into day-to-day practice.
· Undertake other reasonable duties consistent with the seniority and purpose of the post.
Leadership Expectations
· Be visible and accessible to children and staff, maintaining a strong connection between management oversight and children’s lived experience.
· Use a positive, solution-focused leadership style and remain calm, organised and professionally curious under pressure.
· Set clear expectations, address shortfalls promptly and recognise good practice and staff development.
· Support staff to respond flexibly and positively to change while maintaining consistency for children.
· Maintain an inspection-ready culture in which regulatory compliance is demonstrated through everyday practice rather than created for inspection.
Pay: £35,000.00-£38,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Experience:
- Working with Children and young people: 1 year (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- DBS and Right to Work (preferred)
Work Location: In person
