Team Lead - Supported Accommodation in Wigan

Bear Care Services is an Ofsted-registered supported accommodation provider based in the North West of England.

We support looked-after young people and care leavers aged 16 and 17 to live semi-independently, with four homes across Wigan, Preston and Chorley.

We are regulated under the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and inspected by Ofsted against the four quality standards: leadership and management, protection, accommodation and support.

Everything in this role is built around meeting those standards in practice, not just on paper.

Purpose of the role

The Team Lead is the day-to-day operational lead for one home.

You set the standard for practice on shift, hold the quality of support plans and records, supervise and develop the support team, and act as the first line of response when something goes wrong.

You are the person who makes sure that what is written in the Statement of Purpose is what actually happens in the house.

Key responsibilities

• Leadership and management (Regulation 4)
• Lead a culture in the home that puts young people first and prioritises their wellbeing and development
• Deliver day-to-day practice in line with the home's Statement of Purpose and the organisational workforce plan
• Support the Deputy Manager and Service Manager in delivering regular, recorded supervision to Support Workers, with clear agreed actions and follow-up
• Induct, coach and mentor new Support Workers, and identify training needs to feed into the workforce plan
• Audit records, support plans, logs and handovers, identify shortfalls, and escalating patterns to management with proposed solutions
• Contribute evidence and reflections to the six-monthly quality of support review (Regulation 32)
• Chair or lead team meetings and handovers, making sure updates reach every member of the team
• Ensure young people are genuinely involved in decisions about their support and about how the home is run, and that their feedback demonstrably changes things
• Protection (Regulation 5)
• Act as a safeguarding lead on shift, responding to concerns immediately, recording accurately and escalating to the DSL, local authority and Ofsted as required
• Work to the home's safeguarding policy (Reg 20), missing child policy (Reg 21) and behaviour management policy (Reg 22), including return home interviews and push/pull factor analysis
• Hold a working knowledge of child criminal exploitation, child sexual exploitation, county lines, modern slavery, contextual and online safeguarding, radicalisation and self-harm
• Make sure risk assessments are current, understood by every member of the team, and updated after every significant incident or change
• Support the Registered Service Manager with serious event notifications (Reg 27) and admission and discharge notifications (Reg 28), providing accurate and timely information
• Understand and apply allegation and whistleblowing procedures, including LADO referral routes across Lancashire
• Maintain professional boundaries and challenge poor practice in others
• Accommodation (Regulation 6)
• Own the physical standard of the home: clean, safe, well-maintained and somewhere a young person is proud to live
• Complete and record health and safety checks, fire safety checks and drills, water temperature and legionella checks, and equipment testing
• Log maintenance issues and chase them to completion within agreed timescales
• Make sure young people can personalise their own space and that their privacy is respected
• Manage the home's environmental budget and food, utilities and household spend responsibly
• Support (Regulation 7)
• Oversee support plans, independence plans, pathway plans and transition plans, keeping them live, personalised and outcome-focused rather than generic
• Delegate specific plan actions to named Support Workers and check they are completed
• Drive practical independence work: budgeting, cooking, tenancy skills, health registration, travel, employment and benefits
• Promote engagement in education, employment and training, and challenge drift where a young person is not in EET
• Support access to physical health, mental health, sexual health and substance misuse services, and advocate where services are slow to respond
• Prepare young people for the move to independent living, including the transition at 18
• Work closely with social workers, personal advisers, YOT, colleges, health services and other partners, and be a reliable point of contact for them
• Keep accurate children's case records (Reg 24) and other records (Reg 25), stored securely (Reg 26)
• Support young people to raise concerns and use the complaints process (Reg 31), and treat complaints as learning
• Minimum 2 years' experience in supported accommodation, residential childcare, youth work or a comparable social care setting
• NVQ or Diploma Level 3 in Residential Childcare, Health and Social Care, Youth Work or equivalent
• Willingness to work towards Level 4 or Level 5 in Leadership and Management (fully funded by Bear Care)
• Thorough working knowledge of safeguarding practice and child protection legislation, including Working Together to Safeguard Children and the Children Act 1989
• Understanding of the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the four quality standards
• Confident written English, with the ability to produce clear, accurate, evidence-based records that would stand up to inspection or a court
• Sound judgement and crisis management skills, with the ability to stay calm and make decisions under pressure
• Strong organisational skills across rotas, plans, audits and competing priorities
• Ability to give and receive feedback, and to challenge practice constructively
• Enhanced DBS check with children's barred list (we will process this)
• Full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle
• Level 4 or Level 5 in Health and Social Care, Leadership and Management, or equivalent
• Prior experience as a Team Lead, Senior Support Worker or Shift Lead
• Experience supporting young people with complex needs, including exploitation risk, offending behaviour, mental health needs or substance misuse
• Experience of supervising or mentoring staff
• Knowledge of the Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010 and pathway planning
• Training in de-escalation, first aid, food hygiene, mental health first aid or safer recruitment
• What we look for in a person

Qualifications get you through the door. These are what make someone good at this job.

Proactivity - Anticipates what a young person or colleague will need and acts before being asked.

Positivity - Brings genuine warmth to the home. Young people can tell the difference between someone who wants to be there and someone counting down the shift.

Problem solving - Solution-focused. Assesses quickly, weighs the practical options and follows through.

Initiative - Spots what could be better and takes ownership of fixing it.

Common sense - Applies practical, level-headed reasoning, particularly when things are going wrong at 2am.

Reliability - Turns up, follows through, and is consistent. Young people who have been let down before notice consistency more than anything else.

Communication - Clear, empathetic and professional with young people, colleagues, social workers and families alike. Listens properly.

Resilience - Handles setbacks without taking them personally, and comes back the next shift.

Tenacity - Keeps going with a young person who is pushing back, and keeps chasing the agency that has not replied.

Positive interests - Hobbies and passions that give you common ground with young people. Some of the best support work starts with a shared interest.

Genuine commitment - Finds real meaning in helping young people move into adulthood better equipped than they arrived.

What we offer

• £14.00 per hour, plus sleep-in allowance
• 2 on / 4 off rota giving predictable time off and a genuine work-life balance
• Fully funded qualifications up to Level 5
• Full induction, ongoing training and regular reflective supervision
• Clear progression route into Deputy Manager and Service Manager roles
• Company pension
• Employee assistance programme
• A small, supportive management team who know every young person and every staff member by name
• Safer recruitment

Bear Care Services is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff to share that commitment.

Our recruitment process follows the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and safer recruitment good practice.

All appointments are subject to

• Proof of identity
• An enhanced DBS check including the children's barred list
• Two written references, including one from your most recent employer, and where you have previously worked with children, a reference from that employer
• A full employment history with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps
• Documentary evidence of relevant qualifications
• Proof of right to work in the UK
• A satisfactory interview covering suitability to work with children

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

You must declare all convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings that are not protected under the DBS filtering rules.

We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are committed to equality of opportunity.

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