Registered Manager – Children’s Residential Home

Location: Loughinisland, Northern Ireland

Salary: £49,311.08 per annum

Contract: Full Time (subject to probation)

Hours: 38 hours per week (flexible, including shifts and sleepovers)

About Safe Places for Children

Founded in 2016, Safe Places for Children is a registered charity dedicated to supporting some of the most vulnerable and complex traumatised children and young people in care across Northern Ireland.

Our mission is simple: it’s all about the young people.

We provide small, therapeutic, homely residential environments where children and young people can experience stability, safety, and meaningful relationships. Our values – supportive, responsive, passionate, professional, and united – underpin everything we do.

The young people we support may present with complex trauma and pain-based behaviours, including emotional dysregulation, aggression, absconding, self-harm, trauma re-enactment, and risk-taking behaviours. Our trauma-informed approach recognises that all behaviour has meaning, and we focus on understanding and meeting underlying needs, not simply managing behaviours.

We are committed to recruiting leaders who share our vision, embody our values, and are passionate about delivering outstanding therapeutic care.

The Role

As Registered Manager, you will provide strong, compassionate and accountable leadership to one of our registered children’s homes, ensuring:

· Exceptional standards of care

· Full regulatory compliance

· A safe, nurturing environment for young people

· A confident, supported and high-performing staff team

This is a pivotal leadership role within Safe Places, combining operational management, strategic development, safeguarding responsibility, and people leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership & Culture

· Champion Safe Places’ mission, values and ethos in all aspects of practice.

· Build and sustain a positive, professional, trauma-informed team culture.

· Act as a role model for best practice, professionalism, and ethical leadership.

· Promote Safe Places positively to stakeholders and the wider community.

Care & Safeguarding

· Lead the delivery of high-quality, child-centred care in line with the Children’s Homes Regulations (NI) 2005 and Minimum Standards.

· Take overall responsibility for safeguarding within the home.

· Ensure children’s physical, emotional, behavioural and developmental needs are consistently met.

· Promote meaningful child participation in all aspects of care planning and daily life.

Operational & Regulatory Management

· Oversee the day-to-day running of the home, including staffing, rotas, resources and care planning.

· Maintain compliance with all organisational policies, procedures, and statutory requirements.

· Lead on inspections, audits, and regulatory engagement, striving for outstanding outcomes.

· Complete Schedule 5 notifications and statutory reporting.

· Ensure accurate oversight of shift reports, incident reports, care plans and case records.

Team Development & Supervision

· Provide monthly formal supervision, annual appraisals and probation reviews.

· Support recruitment, induction, training and ongoing professional development of staff.

· Lead performance management, coaching and competency development.

· Facilitate team meetings, training sessions and reflective practice forums.

Multi-Agency Working

· Represent the home at multi-agency meetings with social services, education, health professionals, families and partner organisations.

· Coordinate case management and care planning with relevant authorities.

Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement

· Analyse incident data and service trends to improve practice.

· Lead service development, evaluation and quality improvement initiatives.

· Contribute to the wider organisational development of Safe Places for Children.

On-Call & Flexibility

· Participate in the 24-hour on-call rota (minimum four days per week).

· Work flexibly, including shifts and sleepovers, in line with service needs.

Pay, Hours & Benefits

· Salary: £49,311.08 per annum

· Hours: 38 per week (flexible working required)

· Annual Leave: 33 days including bank holidays

· Probation: 6 months (may be extended)

· Hours Bank System: Operated for additional shift and sleepover hours

· Waiting List: Maintained for similar vacancies for up to 12 months

Essential Criteria

· Minimum 2 years’ experience working with traumatised children/young people displaying challenging and pain-based behaviours.

· Recognised Social Work qualification (Degree or Diploma – NI).

· Minimum 2 years’ experience managing and supervising staff.

· Full UK or Irish driving licence (held for over 1 year, max 3 penalty points).

· Ability to obtain Enhanced Access NI clearance.

· Registered or willing to register with Northern Ireland Social Care Council (Part 1).

· Strong leadership, communication, report-writing and IT skills (Microsoft Word/Excel, internet use).

· High levels of resilience, professionalism and emotional intelligence.

Records Management & Data Protection

All staff are legally responsible for the secure and confidential handling of client and organisational data in accordance with GDPR 2018 and the Data Protection Act 2018. Any data breaches or concerns must be reported immediately in line with organisational policy.

Additional Information

· Canvassing will result in disqualification.

· The role may evolve in line with organisational needs.

· Candidates may be considered for future vacancies if unsuccessful.

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Registered Manager