Most deputy manager roles in residential care feel like you're firefighting: understaffed, undervalued, lost in the noise. This one is different. We're looking for someone who's ready to step up into real leadership, work alongside an experienced Manager, and actually shape how a small, intimate home operates - where your decisions directly improve children's lives
Picture this: you're co-leading a two-bed children's home where you know every young person deeply. You're not buried in bureaucracy - you're in the thick of it, building real relationships with the kids, mentoring staff, and creating the kind of environment where young people genuinely feel safe enough to change. That's the scale here. Small enough to matter. Big enough to lead
You'll work alongside a Manager as a genuine partnership, not a hierarchy. Together you'll handle staff supervision, care planning, safeguarding, and making sure every policy actually works in practice - not just sits in a folder. You'll be accountable for the home's direction, its culture, its compliance, and its heart. That's proper responsibility
This provider invests in their leaders. You'll get management coaching, 1:1 support, and group workshops designed specifically for Managers and Deputy Managers. They're not leaving you to figure it out alone. There's a clear progression route too - this role is a genuine stepping stone if you want to move into full management later
The young people here get placements because they need skilled, thoughtful care. Your background in residential settings, your understanding of trauma, safeguarding and multi-agency working - that all matters here. You'll be part of a team that actually knows how to meet complex needs
What you will be doing
- Assist the Manager in leading and managing the home - staff supervision, care planning, safeguarding decisions, and quality compliance all sit with you both
- Ensure every statutory requirement and organisational policy is properly implemented: the home Regulations, the Children's Act, Working Together to Safeguard Children, Health and Safety - you'll know these inside out and you'll model them
- Build and maintain the relationships that matter: with staff, with the young people, with social workers, schools, health services and families. You're the glue holding the team around the child together
- Create care plans tailored to each young person's specific needs - education, health, emotional, social, psychological - and monitor they're actually working
- Produce monitoring reports, data and evaluations as required, and help the Manager be accountable for the home's budget
- Lead the home in a way that's aspirational and inspiring: embedding equality, diversity and children's rights into everything the culture of the home does
Why you will love working here
- £38,500 to £40,000 per year for a full-time, 40-hour week - proper pay for proper responsibility
- Management coaching and 1:1 support specifically designed for Managers and Deputy Managers, so you're never left figuring it out alone
- A clear progression route: this role is a genuine step towards full Manager status if that's where you want to go
- Leadership of a small, intimate two-bed home where you'll know every young person and actually see the impact of your work every single day
Is this you?
- You've worked with young people in the last five years, with at least one year at senior or supervisory level - you know what good leadership looks like in this sector
- You have experience working in residential settings and understand the specific challenges of looked after children - trauma, attachment, behaviour, health and education needs aren't theoretical to you
- You hold or are willing to work towards a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People's Services (or equivalent), and ideally NVQ Level 4 in Children, Young People and Families Practice
- You've got real knowledge of child protection, safeguarding, the impact of abuse and neglect, and you understand the legal framework: the home Regulations, the Children's Act, Care Standards Act, Single Social Care Inspection Framework
- You've done multi-agency work and know how to build constructive relationships across children's services - social care, education, health, families
- You're someone who genuinely wants to unlock young people's potential and embed equality and diversity into everything you do
Applications close on 12 October 2026. Great roles like this are filled quickly, so the sooner you apply the better.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All roles are subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.