Home Manager – Semi-Independent Services

Salary: £50,000 per annum

Permanent position (from March 2026 candidates may be subject to a TUPE transfer)

Working pattern: Monday – Friday work (some evening and weekends shift work + on call duties)

Working hours: 40 hours per week

Location: Barnet (N12)

St Christopher’s is the supported housing provider for the London Accommodation Pathfinder – an innovative London wide service to improve accommodation and outcomes for young people aged between 16 and 17 in contact with the youth justice system at risk of custody (remand or sentence). You and your team will be working closely with local authorities across London and the Pathfinder project team to deliver meaningful programs of activity for young people promoting consequential thinking and diversions from offending by supporting positive outcomes, particularly education, training and employment in addition to life and independent living skills within a trauma informed environment.

About Us

Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future. St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people. We are proud of our history of providing fostering, children's homes and innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man. We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do. We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home. We are an equal-opportunity employer keen to develop an inclusive workforce where people feel they belong. We hope to attract applications from under-represented groups, including people from different cultures, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religions, faith, sex, orientation, childcare responsibilities, and gender-diverse identities.

About the Role

We are looking for a resourceful, energetic and outgoing individual who can deal effectively with challenging situations and behaviour, motivate young people to manage risk and support a team of professional staff. Key aspects of the job will be:

• To safeguard young people through sound management strategies, collaborative working with external agencies and emergency services and compliance with local authority safeguarding procedures.
• To work closely with the local authorities to reduce young people’s offending behaviour and support them to complete their court orders.
• To provide regular supervision for staff and assess training needs to required performance and development standards. To source and/or deliver training and coaching where appropriate.
• To ensure housing management policies and practices are effectively operated. This will include maximisation of income, licence management and implementation of fair and equitable referral procedures.
• To ensure appropriate staff cover is maintained in the home through production of rotas and, where necessary, recruitment of locum covers. To ensure that staffing needs are met within designated budgets.
• To ensure a trauma informed environment within the home at all times.

Applicants should have:

• Hold a relevant qualification in Social Work, Probation, Youth justice, Children’s Residential Care or Youth Work.
• At least three years’ experience of providing leaving care, housing support or residential care to children and young people.
• At least one year’s experience of effectively managing a supported accommodation or residential service for children and young people.
• A good understanding of contextual safeguarding, The Children’s Act 1989 and the Supported Accommodation Standards and Regulations 2023.
• Thorough knowledge of the issues pertaining to young people’s offending, including those relating to alcohol/drug dependency and mental health and complex needs.
• An understanding of restorative justice.
• Working knowledge and thorough understanding of the barriers and challenges that non-white young people face within the criminal justice system.
• Familiarity with the welfare benefits system and with the range of resources, statutory and non-statutory agencies and services relevant to supporting young people, particularly Youth Offending Services.
• Awareness of Health and Safety and GDPR Regulations.
• A strong commitment to person centred and inclusive practice.
• A commitment to the best outcomes for children and young people.

What you should expect from us:

• Salary £50,000 per annum
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry leading training programme including a certificate in youth justice practice, anti-racism, access to children’s rights and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and Social Pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, Enhanced Maternity and Company Sick Scheme.
• BUPA Employee Assistance Programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Interest-free season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme.
• Discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary funded training programmes.
• Employee Awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process

At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements. Please note that it is against the law to apply for work with Children/Young People if you are barred from working in Regulated Activity and if your name is added to a Children Barred List. Your online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting. We encourage applications from rehabilitated offenders who are able to act as positive role models for young offenders.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please visit our website.

Closing date: 3 weeks from published date. We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent homes.