Most care jobs feel like you're treading water, fighting the system rather than changing lives. This one is different: you'll lead a small, specialised team supporting vulnerable young people in their own supported living spaces, with real autonomy, proper training, and the chance to shape how young people transition to independence. If you've got the experience and the heart to do this well, this role has your name on it
Picture this: you're working with young people who've been through displacement and trauma, but you're not just managing crises. You're coaching them through the steps that matter - building skills, holding them accountable, celebrating the small wins that lead to genuine independence. You're the person they trust when things get hard, and the adult who believes they can make it. That's what this role is really about
You won't be alone in this. You'll work across five days on a rota with a Care and Support Manager who has your back, and a specialist mentoring and coaching team who all understand what it takes to support young people with complex needs. When the manager is away, you step up - not because you're thrown in the deep end, but because you're genuinely ready and the team respects your leadership
The Hinckley Road Hub is built on the principle that every young person deserves a safe, welcoming environment and a genuine pathway forward. You'll hold a caseload of young people you can actually invest in, complete trauma-informed assessments that capture the real story, and work hand-in-hand with social workers and local authorities to get the support right. This is specialist work, and you'll be doing it somewhere it genuinely matters
What you will be doing
- Lead the mentoring and coaching team day to day, providing practical guidance, managing rotas to keep staffing safe, and stepping up as service lead when your manager is away
- Hold and manage your own caseload of young people - delivering targeted mentoring, risk assessments, independent living pathway planning, and advocacy that genuinely changes how they see their future
- Conduct specialist, trauma-informed interviews and assessments with young people applying to the service or where complex risk needs to be reviewed, capturing their voice and what really matters
- Oversee Looked After Children functions - care plans, statutory reviews, safeguarding concerns - ensuring everything aligns with local authority frameworks and young people get what they're entitled to
- Support the team to manage challenging behaviour, respond to incidents, and maintain the high standards of safeguarding and record-keeping the service demands
- Participate in the organisation's on-call rota and contribute to service performance - occupancy, room readiness and the key performance indicators that show you're delivering impact
Why you will love working here
- £29,500 salary for a full-time role, 37.5 hours per week worked across five days on a rota - proper pay for specialist work
- Real leadership experience: you'll deputise for the Care and Support Manager, participate in on-call duties, and lead a team that respects your expertise
- A small, manageable caseload you can genuinely invest in - not a conveyor belt of faces, but real relationships where you see change happen
- Training, development and a team committed to trauma-informed practice - you'll be sharpening your skills alongside people who take this work as seriously as you do
- The chance to shape how young people transition to independence and work hand-in-hand with social workers and multi-agency partners - your voice matters here
Is this you?
- You've got a strong background in supported accommodation, residential youth care, or a comparable young people's service - you know how to make spaces work for vulnerable teenagers
- You've worked directly with Looked After Children and care leavers, and you understand the local authority frameworks, pathways and what young people actually need from the system
- You're experienced with young people who have complex needs, risk factors and real barriers to independent living - you don't shy away from the hard cases, you step towards them
- You've deputised for a service manager or held a senior operational role before - you know what it takes to lead a team and make the calls when it matters
- You're grounded in trauma-informed, strengths-based and person-centred practice - you believe young people can change, and you know how to help them do it
- You're a safeguarding professional - you spot concerns, respond appropriately, and foster a culture where everyone understands that safeguarding is their responsibility
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.