Waking Night Officer - Ref: CH02426 in Walsall

Waking Night Officer – Part time (Bluebells short Breaks) - Ref: CH02426

Grade G5: Salary Range: £28,598 - £31,022 pro-rata to hours worked. (Plus 15% unsociable hours payment)

Part Time 20 hours per week. Bluebells Short Breaks Service provides specialist overnight residential care for children and young people with physical and learning disabilities within the Walsall area. Bluebells has a longstanding reputation for providing quality care and support to children with complex needs from its purpose-built facility located within Walsall.

We currently have an opportunity for the right person to join our established team of waking night officer staff. The successful candidate will join a team focused on making a huge difference to the lives of children and young people who use the service.

Do you have experience of working with children within a residential (or similar) setting? Are you a patient and nurturing child-focused individual who can give attention to detail? Do you have a clear and robust safeguarding approach? Do you have a strong ability to work on your own initiative and respond effectively to potentially challenging and unexpected circumstances? If this is you, we would love to hear from you!

As a waking Night Officer you will provide overnight care and support to children who are overnight residents at Bluebells. You will attend to a range of tasks relating to direct care and support to children and also carry out a variety of administrative and domestic duties during your shifts whilst the Bluebells service operates on Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday. This includes school holidays and Public Bank Holidays.

Working hours are 21:45 to 07:45 twice per week on any of the above days. A working Rota is provided four weeks in advance. There is also an occasional requirement to be available during the daytime for training and team events.

When you complete your personal statement, please make sure you refer to the attached Job description and Personal Specification and tell us about all your experience and your qualifications. Our Residential Homes can accommodate children up to 18 years of age. Due to the nature of this post, the Department for Education National Minimum Standards state that the employees must be 4 years older than the oldest resident. Therefore, applicants must be 22 years of age or older.

Important note: When completing your online application form, you will be asked to enter supporting information. You must enter a detailed supporting information statement describing how your skills, abilities and experience meet the specific criteria included in the employee specification. If you do not include a supporting information statement, you will not be shortlisted. Please also ensure that you complete the work history and qualifications sections of your application form. Please do not add a CV as we do not accept them.

We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact us regarding this job vacancy. We are not accepting agency applications or referrals at this time.

At Walsall Council, we appreciate that AI can be a useful tool for ideas or guidance. However, we encourage you to make sure your application reflects your own voice and experiences. Over-reliance on AI can make responses feel less personal, and we really want to understand what makes you unique. Your experiences, skills, and perspective are what set you apart, so please ensure your application as a whole – particularly your ‘Supporting Information’ – reflects your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 28th June 2026.

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers. The post holder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.

Walsall Council takes seriously the responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all the children, young people and vulnerable adults entrusted to our care and it is our expectation that all staff will share this commitment. We will ensure continuous development and improvement of robust recruitment processes and procedures that promote a culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce.

Completion of an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is a requirement for working with children and young people and vulnerable adults. Note: Applicants appointed to posts that require an enhanced DBS clearance must declare any periods of time that they have lived, studied or worked abroad and be prepared to provide an Overseas Criminal Records Certificate (OCRC) or a Statement of Good Conduct (SOGC) relating to anytime they were overseas.

For this role, the successful candidates must undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check. BPSS is the minimum standard to ensure the identity and integrity of an employee who has access to official information using secure networks linking central government and local authorities. A BPSS check involves four main elements: Identity Check, National and Immigration Status, Employment History (last 3 years) and Verification of Criminal Record (unspent convictions only).