Residential Registered Manager in Lowestoft

Registered Manager – Specialist Children’s Home

Lowestoft, Suffolk | JMR Healthcare

Lead a specialist service and help shape its future.

Job Title: Specialist Registered Manager
Location: Lowestoft, Suffolk
Salary: up to £55,000 per annum, plus potential specialist complexity supplement depending on experience
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Pattern: 37.5 hours per week, full-time
Closing Date: Sunday 1st November 2026*

JMR Healthcare is looking for an ambitious, experienced Registered Manager to lead our specialist one-bed children’s home and play a central role in its next stage of development.

We have exciting plans to develop the home into a highly skilled four-bed specialist service for children and young people with complex emotional, mental health and safeguarding needs. Subject to commissioning agreements and Ofsted approval, the successful candidate will help shape the model, develop the team and lead this transition.

This is an opportunity for someone who wants to do something different in residential childcare: build specialist expertise within a team, develop an ambitious service and help young people achieve stability and progress where previous placements may have struggled.

The role

You will initially lead the existing one-bed service, ensuring the young person receives safe, consistent and individually tailored care. Alongside this, you will work closely with the Head of Residential Services and senior leadership team to prepare for the proposed expansion.

Our ambition goes beyond increasing the number of beds. We want to build a skilled, confident team that understands complex needs, responds thoughtfully to risk and provides care that helps young people build trusting relationships and move forward.

You will lead the home with support from your Deputy Manager, working collaboratively with a multidisciplinary network of social care, health, education and other specialist professionals.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the quality of care, safeguarding and day-to-day management of the home.
• Recruiting, developing and supporting a skilled specialist team.
• Ensuring individual care plans translate into consistent, effective everyday practice.
• Building strong relationships with young people, families, placing authorities and professional partners.
• Leading careful referral and matching decisions, keeping children’s needs and safety central.
• Helping develop the future service model, staffing arrangements and specialist practice.
• Supporting preparation for the proposed Ofsted registration variation.
• Creating a culture of professional curiosity, reflective practice and clear accountability.

What we can offer you

We know that leading a children’s home is demanding, especially when supporting young people with complex needs. That is why we are committed to making sure our managers have the support, structure and professional backing they need.

In this role, you will benefit from:

• a salary of up to £55,000 per annum, plus potential specialist complexity supplement;
• regular supervision and support from experienced senior leaders;
• a supportive residential leadership team;
• reflective practice and access to specialist input where required;
• the opportunity to shape and develop a specialist service;
• support with quality assurance, Ofsted readiness and service development;
• a culture that values collaboration, professional curiosity and doing the right thing for children.

You will not be expected to lead in isolation. You will be part of a wider team that is committed to safeguarding, quality, reflective practice and positive outcomes.

About the role

As Registered Manager, you will be responsible for the safe, effective and compliant running of Airey Close.

You will provide strong, visible leadership to the home, supporting your team to deliver consistent, nurturing and trauma-informed care. You will make sure that care planning, safeguarding, risk management and day-to-day practice are centred around the needs and experiences of each child.

You will also play an important role in developing the service, strengthening practice and helping the home continue to grow in a safe, thoughtful and well-supported way.

You will be responsible for:

• leading and supporting the staff team;
• maintaining high standards of safeguarding, care and compliance;
• preparing for and leading Ofsted inspections;
• embedding trauma-informed, relational and least-restrictive practice;
• supporting robust care planning, risk assessment and matching decisions;
• working closely with social workers, commissioners, families, education, health and safeguarding partners;
• creating a home environment where children feel safe, understood and supported.

About you

We are looking for a visible, involved manager who combines sound judgement with the ambition to develop a service. You will be confident supporting staff through challenging situations, maintaining high standards and keeping children’s experiences at the centre of your decisions.

You will bring:

• Strong leadership experience within children’s residential care.
• Experience supporting young people with complex needs, including trauma, emotional distress, self-harm or placement instability.
• A strong understanding of safeguarding, regulatory requirements and working with Ofsted.
• Confidence in working collaboratively with families and professional networks.
• A commitment to trauma-informed, relationship-based care and reducing restrictive practice.
• A relevant Level 5 leadership and management qualification, or equivalent, appropriate to children’s residential management.

Experience developing a service, leading change or building a specialist team would be particularly valuable.

Our values

Our values shape how we care, lead and make decisions.

Compassion — we act with empathy and care.
Excellence — we continuously develop ourselves, our people and our services.
Integrity — we do what we say we will do and hold ourselves accountable.
Courage — we speak up, challenge where needed and work to improve outcomes.

For this role, those values matter every day. You will need the compassion to understand each child’s experience, the excellence to maintain high standards, the integrity to make safe decisions, and the courage to lead confidently in complex situations.

Why join JMR Healthcare?

You will have a meaningful opportunity to influence how the home develops, working closely with senior leaders and drawing on JMR’s wider experience in residential care and crisis support.

As the service grows, you will have scope to develop your own leadership and specialist expertise. You will help turn an ambitious proposal into a carefully planned service that makes a lasting difference to young people’s lives.

If you are ready to lead a specialist home, develop a skilled team and help shape the future of the service, we would like to hear from you.

JMR Healthcare is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment will be subject to safer recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer:

• Health Cash Plan through SimplyHealth, including 24/7 GP access;
• discounted gym membership;
• money back on eligible health costs;
• high street and online shopping discounts;
• life cover protection of 3x salary;
• Employee Assistance Programme;
• 28 days’ holiday entitlement, increasing up to 33 days including bank holidays;
• salary sacrifice pension scheme;
• occupational sick pay;
• regular company events, including our Summer Fun Day and Annual Christmas Awards Evening.

Ready to join us?

If you are an experienced children’s residential leader looking for a specialist Registered Manager role with purpose, complexity and support, we would love to hear from you.

Submit your application through the portal. For a confidential conversation, please contact the Recruitment Team at recruitment@jmrhealthcareagency.co.uk.

Essential information for candidates

JMR Healthcare LTD and JMR Recruitment LTD are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all staff to share in this responsibility.

All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check with Adult and Child barred list checks, alongside other pre-employment checks to confirm suitability to work with children and young people.

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

Please note, we do not offer sponsorship.

*We will review applications as they are received and reserve the right to close this advert early.