Residential Child Care Worker | East Lancashire in Nelson

Salary: £28,142 - £32,061 per annum

Permanent, Full Time 37 hours per week

Location: East Lancashire – Clitheroe, Nelson, Padiham, Great Harwood

Who we are

Our Children's Residential Service is expanding with the introduction of new Children's Homes and changes to existing homes across the County. This means that we have a number of exciting opportunities for passionate, dedicated individuals to join us as Residential Child Care Workers at homes based in Padiham, Nelson, Clitheroe and Great Harwood. Our Residential Service holds strong views and beliefs that our children deserve the very best care and support that we can offer. We pride ourselves in developing positive, meaningful, and lifelong relationships with our children. With an emphasis on working creatively, we promote lots of fun activities for our children inside and outside the homes and ensure that our children and young people are supported to develop in all areas of life.

About The Role

As a Residential Child Care Worker, you would work from a children’s home where children and young people aged between 11 and 17 years live. Residential Child Care Workers eat and sleep at the home with the children and young people and undertake basic household tasks – cleaning, cooking, shopping. Our children cannot live safely with their parent(s) or family, for a variety of reasons such as adverse childhood experience or trauma. Residential Child Care Workers listen and engage our children in 1:1 work around feelings, emotions and behaviours and link with other professionals, such as social workers, schools, police, and health workers to ensure our children’s needs are met. Please note, this role will involve working on a rota basis, working a mix of days, evenings, weekends and sleep-in shifts.

What you can expect from us

We have an ambitious, confident, and motivated management team who are experienced, supportive, and keen to help you learn and grow. We have over 50 free courses for you to learn new things, and even have funded qualifications we can support you with obtaining, up to degree level, should this be something that interests you. We have a detailed induction programme specifically designed to cover all elements of the role, so that you have all the tools and knowledge ready to get going. For all permanent staff, we will provide a monthly 1:1 reflective space with managers, a comprehensive Employee Support Offer, and lots of opportunity to network with other professionals that support children. As an organisation we offer a wide range of staff benefits including access to our Blues and Twos Credit Union, Membership of Blue Light Card, and various discounts at local retailers.

What we are looking for

• Passion – Thinking creatively to ensure that our children are supported to achieve their aspirations will need to be top of your list. We are looking for passionate practitioners who truly care and want to make a difference to children, young people and families.
• Challenge – Some days will be tough for our children, for you, and for your colleagues. We are looking for someone who is dedicated and committed, and who will always go that extra mile for our children, even on the bad days. Being a team player is important to get through tough times.
• Forward thinking – We are an expanding service with big ideas and aspirational views. We are looking for workers who can join our team and contribute to shaping the future of the service for our children.
• Values – We are looking for someone with values aligned to those integral to our service and organisation: supportive, innovative, respectful and collaborative. If you have a passion for building relationships with children and supporting them to achieve the best possible outcomes, then we want to hear from you!

Informal discussion

If you would like more information regarding the role, please contact our Talent Team via email – talent@lancashire.gov.uk, to arrange an informal chat.

Applying

To apply for a post, you can apply via the 'Apply Now' button below. Please ensure you attach the following: CV Supporting Statement. Please ensure you have uploaded and attached your supporting statement to evidence how you meet the criteria for the role. The panel may be unable to shortlist you for interview without this evidence.

Closing Date: Sunday 1st February 2026

Interview Dates: Weekly basis, every Wednesday.

The post you are applying for is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). If successful you will be required to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a disclosure. Further information can be found on the Our Recruitment Process tab.

If you are applying for a part time position, please note the salary quoted is full time equivalent; the salary received will be paid on a pro–rata basis. We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.