Job Introduction
Bradford Children and Families Trust was established in April 2023 to enhance the quality and delivery of Children’s Services across our district. Our purpose is clear, to ensure that our promise to improve the lives of children and young people in Bradford becomes a reality. It’s a tough ask. It requires dedication, determination, and resilience – but under a new Chief Executive, Senior Leadership team and an unswerving drive to deliver the best outcomes, we are confident that we’ll achieve our ambition – and you, yours.
So, if you’re up for the challenge we’d love to hear from you!
About the role
We are recruiting for an innovative and aspirational Service Manager for Children’s Residential Homes across the district. We currently have 7 mainstream children’s homes and 2 for children with complex health and disabilities and are looking for someone who is dedicated, creative, highly professional, and caring, with the passion to provide exceptional care for residential childcare in Bradford.
Children's Social Care is changing, developing, and improving and we are investing, and developing our estate of Children’s Homes.
What our children want
- Warm and caring personality
- Playing with them
- Watching television with us and joining in with hobbies that we like
- You won’t see the role as a job and will instead see it our home that we live in
What our children say
- “I love to go out to have a pamper day getting my nails and eyebrows done!”
- “I enjoy dedicated time with those who care for me especially going for a walk and getting a Starbuck’s. We have a good chat about what’s going well for me or anything I may need support”
- “I love going to the farm and horse riding, I had never ridden a horse before”
- “I loved the caravan as it was my first ever holiday and it was very nice. I especially loved the kids disco and playing in the arcades.”
- “I love getting my bedtime stories read to me at nighttime.”
What we expect from you
- Experience of managing residential children’s homes.
- Experience of Ofsted inspections.
- Ability to plan, prioritise and manage a heavy workload from a variety of sources while maintaining a high standard of quality and working under time constraints.
- Able to manage successful service delivery in complex partnerships and an ability to build and manage relationships effectively and to bring people together to optimise partnership working.
- Practical understanding of managing attendance and capability issues with the ability to exercise strong leadership skills and experience of investigating complaints/requests and demonstrate a high level of initiative, strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Must have recent substantial relevant statutory experience of managing regulated resources for children and young people, particularly children’s homes and short break provisions.
- A proven track record of excellent leadership and management skills, with a passion to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children and young people.
- Level 5 diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) (or working towards it). If you have an equivalent qualification, you must be willing to undertake (and complete within 18 months) the Level 5 diploma once in post.
What you can expect from us
- The opportunity to give children and young people a childhood that they deserve
- £3000 retention bonus paid in 12 month increments
- Generous employer contributions in a Local Government Pension Scheme
- Competitive salary and pay progression structure
- Real living wage as the minimum rate of pay
- Supportive carer and parental policies
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
- Access to Occupational Health and confidential counselling services
- Supportive staff networks
- Access to Blue Light Card discounts
- Professional development
- Career progression
- Enhanced annual leave entitlement
Next Steps
For an informal discussion about this role please contact Emma Naylor via email at emma.naylor@bradfordcft.org.uk.
Closing Date: 6th April
Bradford Children and Families Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees to share this commitment.
If shortlisted, you will be required to disclose relevant information regarding criminal history prior to interview.
An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check including a check against the Children’s barred list, will be carried out on preferred candidates.
