Registered Manager - Children's Home in Wallasey

At First Steps Together, we believe every child deserves to feel safe, listened to, understood and supported to achieve positive outcomes. First Steps Together Care Services provides specialist residential care for children and young people with additional and complex needs. We are committed to creating safe, nurturing and ambitious homes where children can build positive relationships, develop independence and experience consistent, high-quality care.

As our Care Services continue to grow, we are looking for an experienced and values-driven Registered Manager to lead one of our homes in Wirral, Merseyside. This is much more than managing the day-to-day running of a children’s home. Reporting to the Responsible Individual, you will have overall responsibility for the leadership and management of the home, leading the Deputy Manager, Senior Residential Support Workers and Residential Support Workers to deliver a child-centred service that safeguards children, promotes their welfare and achieves consistently high standards of care.

You’ll ensure the home operates in accordance with its Statement of Purpose, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, the Quality Standards, statutory guidance and Ofsted requirements, while creating a culture where children’s views, wishes and rights are at the heart of everything we do.

What you’ll be doing:

• You’ll provide confident and effective leadership of the home, maintaining oversight of care practice, safeguarding, staffing, risk, records, resources and quality assurance, while working closely with the Responsible Individual to identify risks, drive improvement and maintain regulatory compliance.
• You’ll make sure every child receives individualised, nurturing and ambitious care based on their needs, plans, background, identity, wishes and feelings.
• You’ll promote positive relationships and trauma-informed practice, while ensuring children are supported to access education, healthcare, family relationships, activities and opportunities that build independence and prepare them for adulthood.
• Safeguarding will be central to your role. As the home’s operational safeguarding lead, you’ll ensure concerns are recognised, recorded and escalated appropriately, risks are effectively assessed and managed, and serious events are notified to Ofsted and other relevant agencies when required.
• You’ll also lead on placement matching, admissions and transitions, making sure the home can safely and effectively meet a child’s needs before a placement is agreed and that care plans translate into consistent day‑to‑day practice.
• People leadership will be a significant part of the role. You’ll build and develop a capable, accountable and reflective team through safer recruitment, induction, supervision, appraisal, learning and development and effective performance management.
• You’ll make sure staffing levels, deployment and skills remain appropriate for the needs of the children living in the home.
• You’ll use Regulation 44 visits, Regulation 45 quality of care reviews, audits, performance information, feedback and learning from incidents to identify what is working well, where improvements are needed and ensure actions lead to meaningful improvements in children’s experiences and outcomes.

Bring your difference:

We’re looking for someone who understands children’s residential care and, most importantly, understands the responsibility that comes with leading a home. You’ll have at least two years’ relevant experience in residential childcare within the last five years, including at least one year supervising and managing staff working in a care role. You’ll have, or be able to achieve within the required regulatory timescale, the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare (England) or an equivalent qualification. Experience managing or deputising within a children’s home and leading service improvement is also important.

You’ll bring strong knowledge of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, Quality Standards, safeguarding and child protection, alongside experience of care planning, placement matching, risk assessment, safer recruitment, workforce development and preparing for regulatory inspection and monitoring.

We’re looking for a leader who is child-centred, compassionate and rights-focused, with high levels of integrity, professional curiosity and accountability. You’ll be calm and decisive when situations are challenging, able to balance supportive leadership with appropriate professional challenge, and committed to reflection and continuous improvement.

Above all, you’ll understand that running an exceptional children’s home isn’t simply about achieving compliance. It’s about creating a home where children feel safe, valued and listened to, and where the quality of care they receive makes a meaningful difference to their lives.

Why First Steps Together?

This is an opportunity to join First Steps Together Care Services at an exciting stage of our growth. You won’t simply manage a service. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a home, develop its team and influence the experiences and outcomes of the children who live there. You’ll have the support of the Responsible Individual and the wider First Steps Together Group, alongside opportunities for ongoing professional development and leadership development.

Safeguarding:

First Steps Together is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment to this role will be subject to appropriate safer recruitment and pre‑employment checks, including an Enhanced DBS, satisfactory references, online checks and overseas police checks where required.

Application:

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role with our Head of People Services, please contact us by emailing recruitment@fstmanagement.uk. Completed application forms must be sent to recruitment@fstmanagement.uk prior to the application closing date. We reserve the right to close applications earlier should we receive a number of suitable applications which meet the essential criteria. We will not accept CVs in place of completed application forms.