About the Role
We are looking for an experienced, resilient, and highly organised Deputy Manager to help lead our residential childcare team in Nottingham. You will support the Registered Manager in the day-to-day running of the home, deputise in their absence, and take a leading role in ensuring we meet the Quality Standards set out in the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015.
Our home supports high-risk young people aged 8 – 17 who have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, or placement breakdowns. Many are at high risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child criminal exploitation (CCE), including county lines involvement. Some are subject to a Deprivation of Liberty order authorised by the High Court, and some may become physically aggressive when distressed or when attempting to leave the home.
This is a role for someone who can hold a team steady on a difficult shift, write to a standard that stands up in court and inspection, and keep the young person at the centre of every decision. You will be supported by a Registered Manager who is visible on shift, clinical input, and a properly resourced staffing model.
Location: Nottingham, NG5 9LU
Key ResponsibilitiesLeadership and management
- Support the Registered Manager in the effective day-to-day operation of the home, and take full responsibility for the home in their absence.
- Lead shifts confidently, modelling therapeutic, trauma-informed practice and setting the standard for the team.
- Provide formal supervision, appraisals, and day-to-day guidance to Therapeutic Support Workers, addressing performance and practice concerns constructively and early.
- Produce and manage staff rotas, ensuring safe staffing levels, appropriate skill mix, and cover for sickness and annual leave.
- Participate in the on-call rota, providing out-of-hours advice and decision-making support to staff on shift.
- Contribute to recruitment, safer recruitment checks, and the induction of new staff.
- Promote a culture of openness in which staff feel able to raise concerns, challenge poor practice, and admit mistakes.
Safeguarding, exploitation, and risk
- Act as Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead, responding to safeguarding concerns, making referrals, and escalating to the local authority, police, and Ofsted as required.
- Oversee the quality of exploitation and contextual safeguarding risk assessments, ensuring they map people, places, and patterns of concern and are updated as risk changes.
- Lead the home's response to missing-from-home episodes, including police liaison, return home conversations, and acting on the intelligence gathered.
- Represent the home at strategy meetings, MACE/MASE panels, care planning meetings, and reviews.
- Ensure Regulation 40 notifications of serious events are made accurately and within timescales.
Deprivation of Liberty and restrictive practice
- Ensure every restriction applied in the home is authorised, necessary, proportionate, and precisely recorded — no more restrictively and no less than the order permits.
- Oversee the monitoring, reporting, and review evidence required by the High Court and placing authorities, including evidence of least-restrictive practice.
- Audit the use of physical intervention, searches, and phone or internet monitoring, identifying patterns and driving practice improvement.
- Lead post-incident debriefs and repair work, and ensure incident analysis feeds back into behaviour support plans.
- Investigate and act on any practice that appears to exceed authorisation or fall below expected standards.
Care planning and quality
- Oversee the quality of care plans, behaviour support plans, placement plans, and daily records, ensuring they are individualised, current, and evidence outcomes.
- Contribute to matching and impact risk assessments for new referrals, giving honest advice about whether a placement can be safely made.
- Support the Registered Manager with Regulation 45 quality of care reviews and respond to Regulation 44 independent visitor reports and action points.
- Prepare the home and the team for Ofsted inspection, and lead on delegated areas of any improvement plan.
- Oversee medication administration, storage, and audit, and the maintenance of health, education, and consent records.
- Support the management of the home's budget, petty cash, young people's allowances, and the maintenance and cleanliness of the property.
Direct work with young people
- Maintain a visible, consistent presence with young people, building trusting relationships and modelling the boundaried, relational practice you expect from others.
- Advocate for young people with schools, health services, social workers, and IROs, ensuring their wishes and feelings are recorded and acted upon.
- Support young people to understand healthy relationships, consent, online safety, and exploitation at a pace they can absorb.
Requirements
- Significant experience in children's residential care, including experience at senior support worker, team leader, or deputy manager level (essential).
- Demonstrable experience supporting young people at high risk of child sexual and criminal exploitation (essential).
- Experience of managing physically aggressive and challenging behaviour, and of leading a team through and after serious incidents (essential).
- Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare or equivalent (essential).
- Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare — held, or a commitment to complete it with our funding and support (essential).
- Working knowledge of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, the Quality Standards, and the Ofsted inspection framework.
- Strong understanding of trauma-informed practice, attachment, safeguarding, and restrictive practice.
- Confident, accurate written English — your records, reports, and notifications will be read by inspectors, social workers, and the courts.
- Ability to supervise, challenge, and develop staff, including holding difficult conversations about practice.
- Flexibility to work shifts including evenings, weekends, bank holidays, sleep-ins, and participation in the on-call rota.
- Full UK driving licence.
- Enhanced DBS check including the children's barred list (we will process this).
- Desirable: prior experience supporting a young person subject to a Deprivation of Liberty order or secure accommodation order.
- Desirable: current certification in an accredited positive handling approach (Team Teach, PROACT-SCIPr-UK, MAPA/CPI or similar), and experience as a trainer in one.
- Desirable: experience of preparing a home for, or being inspected under, the Ofsted framework.
- Desirable: lived experience of the care system — we particularly welcome applications from care-experienced people.
What We Offer
- Contract type: full-time, permanent, 36 hours per week.
- Hourly rate of £17.00 – £18.00 per hour, with your starting rate based on experience and whether you already hold your Level 5.
- Sleep-in allowance of £40 per night, plus enhanced rates for bank holidays
- Funded Level 5 Diploma, and a genuine development pathway towards Registered Manager.
- Comprehensive induction, plus ongoing training in safeguarding, CSE and CCE, accredited positive handling, trauma-informed practice, medication, and management skills.
- Monthly formal supervision with the Registered Manager, plus reflective practice and clinical consultation with our therapeutic lead.
- Post-incident debriefs as standard, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme.
- Supportive, professional working environment with managers who share the load rather than delegate it.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: £17.00 – £18.00 per hour
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- On-site parking
- Free enhanced DBS
- Funded Level 5 qualification
Work Location: In person
Pay: £17.00-£18.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
