Senior Residential Worker in Ilford, Somerset

Senior Residential Children and Young People Worker - Join us at the start of something special: Changing Childhoods. Changing Lives.

Do you live in London? Are you ready for the next step in your career? Do you have experience working with young people with additional needs? We deliver homes for children with additional needs, physical and neurological, and we're looking for compassionate and skilled Senior Children and Young People Workers to help bring it to life and continue to achieve greater outcomes for more young people.

This is a unique opportunity to be part of something special: a nurturing, trauma-informed home where children feel safe, respected, and empowered. Our practice is grounded in the PACE model (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), which underpins our relationships, routines, and responses.

If you're passionate about relational care and ready to help shape a home where children feel safe and valued, we'd love to hear from you.

What Young People Say About the Home:

• "I really like it here." - Young person, age 17
• "Homely." - Young person, age 17
• "Spacious." - Young person, age 17

These first impressions matter. As a Senior Residential Worker, you'll help turn this beautiful new house into a home, one where children feel they belong. These voices guide our practice. You'll help ensure children's views shape the daily life and culture of the home.

What You'll Do:

• Lead shifts and provide guidance to the residential team
• Build strong, trusting relationships with children and young people
• Model and embed PACE principles in everyday practice
• Support the development of a reflective, trauma-informed team
• Contribute to care planning, safeguarding, and quality improvement
• Act as a key worker and advocate for children's needs and rights
• Step up in the absence of management to ensure continuity of care
• Produce clear records of children's journeys for regulatory and evidencing outcomes.

What We're Looking For:

• Experience in residential childcare (Level 3 Diploma minimum)
• A relational, trauma-informed approach to care
• Strong safeguarding knowledge
• Emotional resilience
• Ability to lead shifts and support colleagues
• Commitment to listening to and empowering children
• Experience of learning disabilities
• To meet a genuine occupational requirement, candidates must be a minimum age of 22.

What We Offer:

• Training in PACE and trauma-informed practice, enrolment onto Level 4 Diploma after probation period
• Opportunities for progression and leadership development
• Access to clinical supervision and wellbeing support
• A values-driven organisation focused on excellence
• A chance to make a lasting difference in children's lives

If you're ready to support with purpose and help shape an environment where young people can thrive, we'd love to hear from you.

When completing your application please refer to your skills, knowledge and experience in relation to the Person Specification, Job Description and Additional Information document (if applicable). This should be done with an understanding of the context of the service described.

Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.

Pay & Reward Framework:

We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo's and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.

Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band - this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo's pay framework can be found upon application.