Residential Children and Young Person Worker in Shortlands

Changing Childhoods. Changing Lives. We're getting ready to open the doors of a brand-new children's home, and we're looking for caring, committed Residential Children and Young Person Workers to help us make it a place where children feel safe, valued, and truly at home. This is more than a job, it's a chance to be part of something from the very beginning. Our home is built on the foundations of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and the PACE model (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), creating a culture of connection, trust, and healing.

What Young People Say About the Home

• "I'd love to live in a place like this." - Young person, age 17
• "It's a nice house. Really big." - Young person, age 17

We're proud of the space we've created, and even prouder of the relationships we'll build inside it.

What Children Say They Want in Staff

• "Someone who won't give up on me" Anon.
• "People that understand me; to make me feel like I fit in" Anon.

These voices guide what we do. We're committed to child-centred care, and we want staff who share that commitment.

What You'll Do

• Build positive, trusting relationships with children and young people
• Support emotional wellbeing, daily routines, and therapeutic care
• Work as part of a team to create a safe, stable, and nurturing home
• Engage in reflective practice and ongoing training
• Contribute to a culture of kindness, curiosity, and connection

What We're Looking For

• Experience in residential childcare (Level 3 Diploma minimum desirable)
• A relational, trauma-informed approach to care
• Strong safeguarding knowledge
• Emotional resilience
• Commitment to listening to and empowering children
• Ability to work in a team
• Flexibility to commit to sleep-ins and shift work, including weekends and bank holidays.

What We Offer

• A comprehensive induction and training in trauma-informed practice
• Enrolment onto Level 4 Diploma after probation period
• Career development pathways and progression opportunities
• Access to clinical supervision and wellbeing support
• A workplace culture that values your voice, and the voices of the children we support

If you're ready to bring warmth, resilience, and purpose to a new home where young people can thrive, we'd love to hear from you. 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.

Benefits Workplace Offer:

• Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment.
• Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service.
• The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme.
• A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options.
• Service related sick pay from day 1.
• Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's.
• Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension.
• 20% discount at Barnardo's stores.
• Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc.
• Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support.

About Barnardo's

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce.